I Reads You Review: FAMILY COMPLEX

Creator: Mikiyo Tsuda (cartoonist); Duane Johnson (translation)

Publishing Information: Digital Manga Publishing; B&W, paperback, 200pp, $12.95 U.S.

Ordering Numbers: ISBN 13: 978-1-56970-771-5

 

Rated “T” for “Teens 13+”

Mikiyo Tsuda is a manga writer and artist; she also creates under the name Taishi Zao. Tsuda is known for her comedy-shojo manga (with shojo being comics for teen girls). In the comedy-shojo vein is the manga, Family Complex, originally serialized in Japan in 1999 and 2000 and published in the U.S. by Digital Manga Publishing in 2008.

Essentially, a collection of inter-connected short stories, Family Complex focuses on the Sakamotos, a family of extremely beautiful people. There is the 41-year-old father, Hidetoshi, who is pretty rather than handsome, and the 41-year-old mother Nanami, who is more girlish than womanly. The oldest child and son is the tall, dark, and handsome, 17-year-old Harumi, and the 16-year-old elder daughter is Natsuru, a robust young woman. The youngest child is the silent and alluring 10-year-old, Fuyuki.

The only exception to the rule of beauty in the Sakamoto family is the rather ordinary younger son, 14-year-old, Akira Sakamoto. He feels out of place with his family, because people outside the family are taken with the beautiful Sakamotos, but don’t think Akira belongs with his own family! Akira has developed a complex about being different, and it may cause him to turn away from the family that loves him.

I’ve come to enjoy Mikiyo Tsuda’s work, although some of it seems to be the comic book equivalent of mindless, American television situation comedies. Even with elements of and references to Gothic-Lolita, bishounen, boys’ love, and girls’ love, this frothy concoction is for readers who love “cute” and teen-oriented manga about close and lovey-dovey relationships.

I think Family Complex works because the Sakamotos are like a cotton candy version of the Addams Family, except that unlike the Addams, the Sakamotos are liked because they are so pretty, lovable, and open-hearted. Not only are the characters within the manga drawn to them, but so are the readers. Tsuda also manages to tell a sincere story about adolescent insecurity that, in spite of the cuteness, feels authentic when it depicts the struggles of a teen to fit in with family, friends, and schoolmates.

The Sakamotos appear in another Tsuda work, Princess Princess, with Akira being a supporting character in the series. They shine in their own story, Family Complex.

B+

I Reads You Review: PRINCESS PRINCESS 5

Creator: Mikiyo Tsuda (cartoonist); Earl Gertwagen (translation)
Publishing Information: DMP/Juné Manga; B&W paperback, 200pp, $12.95 U.S.
Ordering Numbers: ISBN 10: 1-56970-850-9; ISBN 13: 978-1-56970-850-7

Rated “YA” for “Young Adults 16+”

Princess Princess is a manga series from Mikiyo Tsuda that was collected in five volumes by Digital Manga Publishing’s imprint, Juné Manga. Princess Princess has characteristics of both shojo manga and the boys’ love subset, shounen-ai manga.

Princess Princess has shojo manga elements like teen romance and high school politics. There are some romantic moments between the male characters, but that is more shounen-ai than it is the explicit boys’ love subset, yaoi. The male cast can be described as being bishounen or “beautiful boys,” a term used to describe male characters that are androgynous or clearly feminized.

Princess Princess is set at Fujimori Academy. Every year, a few boys become “princesses.” These male students dress as girls for special events and cheer on athletic squads, warm hearts, keep up school spirit, etc. Basically, by appearing in drag, these already androgynous boys have “princess power.” This is ability to smile, look pretty, and speak in a magical falsetto voice, and it all makes everyone in the school feel happier. This year the princesses are Mikoto Yutaka and the nearly-inseparable pair, Tohru Kouno and Yuujirou Shihoudani.

In Princess Princess 5, it is election season at Fujimori, and the race for student council president has torn the princesses and the school apart. Tohru Kouno and Yuujirou Shihoudani are doing everything they can to help and support Akira Sakamoto, whose older brother is the great “Sakamoto-Sama,” a former student council president.

Meanwhile, Mikoto has sided with Toui C. Mitaka, an aloof and haughty transfer student. Tall with long blond-hair, Mitaka is ambitious and sees everyone and every position as a mere stepping stone on his way to future success as a businessman. Tohru and Yuujirou despise Mitaka, and the school is in turmoil, with everyone taking sides. The soft-hearted Akira, however, is determined to play peacemaker even if it costs him the election.

Digital Manga Publishing (DMP) eventually created an imprint for titles like Princess Princess, named “DokiDoki.” This new imprint was a place for titles for female readers that were somewhere between younger teen-oriented shojo manga and shounen-ai. In fact, DMP published the Princess Princess sequel, Princess Princess Plus, under DokiDoki.

Princess Princess 5 isn’t exactly boys’ love, although there is some romance between male students, both obvious and sublimated. What does that make Princess Princess? It’s like a comedy set at an all-girls school, except the girls are actually boys – some girlish, some effeminate, and some typically teen male.

I have to admit that I enjoy this kind of shojo/shounen-ai hybrid. There is something interesting about these boys getting along and working out their problems, even after all the fussing and fighting. This is simply an idealized and fantasy version of male-bonding that both women and men like (although the men might not admit it). In this volume, there is storyline that has Tohru accompanying Yuujirou home and helping Yuujirou work through some family issues. It exemplifies this series vibe of seeing male friendship through rose-tinted glasses.

Princess Princess 5 is good character drama and good boys’ something, and readers who like this sort of thing will certainly enjoy this.

B+

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