semelparous
semelparous Vol. 1
Thursday, five days after Christmas. I guess I was thinking that the town would be quiet - but it wasn’t like that at all. I had errands to run... the post office... the bank... and finally, Powell’s Books - and crowds were everywhere. Lines of people. Lines of cars. I drove obscure routes to keep from getting stuck in traffic. But I could see congested intersections on the main routes.
At Powell’s Books I had a simple mission - purchase semelparous Volume 1. I had checked out the art on an earlier visit, and it seemed generally good. My sister had given me a gift card to Powell’s for Christmas, and I didn’t hesitate to exercise the gift. New manga is hit or miss, and it’s nice that I didn’t have to gamble with my own money.
I thought I’d pop in and out of Powell’s, but the checkout line was long - about a dozen people. They had three cashiers working, though, so the line moved relatively quickly. I had the manga and gift card in one hand, and I was happy my little iPhone 13 mini is easily operated with one hand. So I read some Metafilter posts while I waited in line. It wasn’t too long before I got to the front of the line. I looked behind me, and there were another 10 people in line. I was happy that my favorite bookstore was doing good business.
At home I was doing a lot of software updates, so while waiting for operations to finish, I read my new manga volume. The story started out OK, and the main character went from grade school through middle school in a few pages. Then stuff happened, and characters changed. The world of the fighters was revealed relatively quickly. It’s... messy.
There are problems with the manga. The most blatant problem is the artist’s preoccupation with excessively buxom women - almost comically so. The objectification of the two protagonists is extremely offputting. And then the behavior of the senpai is inappropriately happy-go-lucky. This seemed absurdly out-of-place for a top combat specialist. However, the mindset of the senpai is explained near the end of the volume. OK. I accept that.
It’s too bad about the oppai, though. The action scenes had good art. However, I don’t know if I can read a manga that appears to have been created with a 14-year-old boy’s fantasies. I suppose I’ll take a peek at volume 2 whenever it comes out. I’m not optimistic.
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