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Okay, so do you guys remember this post where I offered my services in the custom rant/rave department? So I'm a little behind on that. But anyway, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sara_tanaquil requested a rave on Silver Diamond, and she (and several of you) have been by to poke about it since then, so here is my rave on Silver Diamond. I am ill, and anything by Sugiura finds me at my fangirly worst, so don't expect anything coherent. Also, I have done my best to divest it of actual spoilers (although vague references remain) before posting, so the uninitiated (and woe, to be one of you) may read.
Anyway, Silver Diamond. How I love thee. How I love everything about thee.
First of all, anything written by Sugiura is going to be brilliant. This woman is the rarest breed of mangaka - one who can tell a complicated story that unfolds logically while still suprising readers, with complex characters who develop during the course of the manga's run, and whose actions are completely compatible with their personalities.
The genius here is that Sugiura is working with the same stock characters from her earlier works - the gruff protector, the clueless uke, the semi-antagonistic sidekicks, the group of secondary characters - most mangaka do, in fact. But unlike so many other mangaka, while Sugiura writes the same character types, she does not write the same characters.
Rakan would be Ishuca, except he's got so much more bite - he takes less crap, is aware of it when other characters give it to him, and actually does a fair bit of conscious ordering about of the other characters. Chigusa would be Blood, except he's more cheerful, more gleefully crafty, more driven, and so forth. Silver Diamond's got everything to it that made me love Koori, but it differs in enough significant and incidental ways so that it doesn't become a boring retread of Koori; it's a story in its own right.
Now let's talk about the world building. It is fabulous. I live in a constant state of jealously of any writer who knows the progression of her story in its entirety before she starts writing, and Sugiura definitely does. She has such a sense for dropping details into all the right places - there's never too much exposition, but neither is there a lack of it to leave readers bored, frustrated, or otherwise scratching their heads. She puts so much detail into her worlds - the intricacy of the names in SD being the most obvious example. It can be so touching - the humour of Rakan's grampa explaining the 'meaning' of his name leading seamlessly into Rakan's realisation that this isn't his name at all, not really. And the Silver Diamond worldbuilding isn't done all in one massive info dump either. Sugiura's timing is spot-on; readers realise what's going on just before it's revealed, which is immensely satisfying and makes me realise what an ingenious author she is.
The evenness of the story is also wonderful. Sugiura can go from serious to humorous in the blink of an eye, but it's never jarring or forced. And the serious bits are lovely. Sugiura writes SD with such a lightness of hand - when Rakan cries, it's poignant, because it isn't milked for all the angst it's worth. After all, Sugiura trusts her readers to supply sympathy themselves, and they do. When Narushige gets angry, it's rather chilling, because you just know that he doesn't react like that without very good reason. And there's a full palette at work here too - Narushige's anger is different from Rakan's annoyance, or Touji's defensive posturing. But all of these characters have their worries and insecurities and hurts and they are all so beautiful portrayed, just barely there. None of this is spelled out for you, nor are you beaten about the head with it - OMG My characters Angst with Horrible Pain! - which makes it that much more effective, because it's so understated.
The humor is wonderful too. Sugiura excels at dialogue, as she does at everything else. Each character in SD has his own personality and manner - it isn't just one META-character (the mangaka) speaking through various faces. All of the characters react so beautifully and naturally to the absurdity of their situations - Kou attacking everything in sight, Chigusa scolding him for it (although he's an offender himself), their reparte, Narushige's mild exasperation at their behavior, Touji's 'pervert' cracks. The innuendo is wonderful too; I wish I could bring it across into English more fluidly. Some favorite humor moments include the repeated Morning Ceremonies, Kou's rampages, Chigusa's gleeful seduction of Rakan (the television scene had me laughing until it hurt; BRILLIANT timing there), the little 'new driver' decal floating over Chigusa's head in the first chapter, and the way the truth about Rakan's grampa (yakuza, sex pervert), flew right over Rakan's head. I could go on forever.
The storytelling is sublime - each individual chapter leaves you panting for next month's, but it's never too-drawn out, or conversely, too-episodic. There are no monsters of the week here, and furthermore, the characters you hated in last month's chapter have now become your coo-over favorites, thanks to the revelations you've just had about their pasts, personalities, etc.
Now on to the art, which is amazing. The smoldering looks between Rakan and Chigusa, the lost look in Touji's eyes when he thinks he'll be left behind, the expression on Narushige's face when he draws his sword, Rakan's quizzical moments as he discovers more about who he is, that brilliant color page with steamy Chigusa lying on the ground beside Rakan, the breadth of Kou's expressions; it's all wonderful.
And finally: Narushige. This man is a polite, patient, soft-spoken Sex GOD, let me tell you. And the snake! And the sword! And the hair! And those sunglasses when they visit the gravesite. Just aaauuungggghhh. I wibble.
As you can see, I could go on and on forever, but I'll stop now and take remarks from the audience.
これで以上です。
sara_tanaquil requested a rave on Silver Diamond, and she (and several of you) have been by to poke about it since then, so here is my rave on Silver Diamond. I am ill, and anything by Sugiura finds me at my fangirly worst, so don't expect anything coherent. Also, I have done my best to divest it of actual spoilers (although vague references remain) before posting, so the uninitiated (and woe, to be one of you) may read. Anyway, Silver Diamond. How I love thee. How I love everything about thee.
First of all, anything written by Sugiura is going to be brilliant. This woman is the rarest breed of mangaka - one who can tell a complicated story that unfolds logically while still suprising readers, with complex characters who develop during the course of the manga's run, and whose actions are completely compatible with their personalities.
The genius here is that Sugiura is working with the same stock characters from her earlier works - the gruff protector, the clueless uke, the semi-antagonistic sidekicks, the group of secondary characters - most mangaka do, in fact. But unlike so many other mangaka, while Sugiura writes the same character types, she does not write the same characters.
Rakan would be Ishuca, except he's got so much more bite - he takes less crap, is aware of it when other characters give it to him, and actually does a fair bit of conscious ordering about of the other characters. Chigusa would be Blood, except he's more cheerful, more gleefully crafty, more driven, and so forth. Silver Diamond's got everything to it that made me love Koori, but it differs in enough significant and incidental ways so that it doesn't become a boring retread of Koori; it's a story in its own right.
Now let's talk about the world building. It is fabulous. I live in a constant state of jealously of any writer who knows the progression of her story in its entirety before she starts writing, and Sugiura definitely does. She has such a sense for dropping details into all the right places - there's never too much exposition, but neither is there a lack of it to leave readers bored, frustrated, or otherwise scratching their heads. She puts so much detail into her worlds - the intricacy of the names in SD being the most obvious example. It can be so touching - the humour of Rakan's grampa explaining the 'meaning' of his name leading seamlessly into Rakan's realisation that this isn't his name at all, not really. And the Silver Diamond worldbuilding isn't done all in one massive info dump either. Sugiura's timing is spot-on; readers realise what's going on just before it's revealed, which is immensely satisfying and makes me realise what an ingenious author she is.
The evenness of the story is also wonderful. Sugiura can go from serious to humorous in the blink of an eye, but it's never jarring or forced. And the serious bits are lovely. Sugiura writes SD with such a lightness of hand - when Rakan cries, it's poignant, because it isn't milked for all the angst it's worth. After all, Sugiura trusts her readers to supply sympathy themselves, and they do. When Narushige gets angry, it's rather chilling, because you just know that he doesn't react like that without very good reason. And there's a full palette at work here too - Narushige's anger is different from Rakan's annoyance, or Touji's defensive posturing. But all of these characters have their worries and insecurities and hurts and they are all so beautiful portrayed, just barely there. None of this is spelled out for you, nor are you beaten about the head with it - OMG My characters Angst with Horrible Pain! - which makes it that much more effective, because it's so understated.
The humor is wonderful too. Sugiura excels at dialogue, as she does at everything else. Each character in SD has his own personality and manner - it isn't just one META-character (the mangaka) speaking through various faces. All of the characters react so beautifully and naturally to the absurdity of their situations - Kou attacking everything in sight, Chigusa scolding him for it (although he's an offender himself), their reparte, Narushige's mild exasperation at their behavior, Touji's 'pervert' cracks. The innuendo is wonderful too; I wish I could bring it across into English more fluidly. Some favorite humor moments include the repeated Morning Ceremonies, Kou's rampages, Chigusa's gleeful seduction of Rakan (the television scene had me laughing until it hurt; BRILLIANT timing there), the little 'new driver' decal floating over Chigusa's head in the first chapter, and the way the truth about Rakan's grampa (yakuza, sex pervert), flew right over Rakan's head. I could go on forever.
The storytelling is sublime - each individual chapter leaves you panting for next month's, but it's never too-drawn out, or conversely, too-episodic. There are no monsters of the week here, and furthermore, the characters you hated in last month's chapter have now become your coo-over favorites, thanks to the revelations you've just had about their pasts, personalities, etc.
Now on to the art, which is amazing. The smoldering looks between Rakan and Chigusa, the lost look in Touji's eyes when he thinks he'll be left behind, the expression on Narushige's face when he draws his sword, Rakan's quizzical moments as he discovers more about who he is, that brilliant color page with steamy Chigusa lying on the ground beside Rakan, the breadth of Kou's expressions; it's all wonderful.
And finally: Narushige. This man is a polite, patient, soft-spoken Sex GOD, let me tell you. And the snake! And the sword! And the hair! And those sunglasses when they visit the gravesite. Just aaauuungggghhh. I wibble.
As you can see, I could go on and on forever, but I'll stop now and take remarks from the audience.
これで以上です。
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From:
no subject
Which is the color page you're talking about? Not the one that I posted from the inside cover of SD 4? (Though that is hot.) Because I think in that one, they're resting on a tree branch.
And Rakan apparently wearing clothing from Chigusa's world... drool. Sugiura really draws EXCELLENT clothing.
From:
no subject
The color picture I'm talking about is actually from the June (or maybe July) 2004 issue of the monthly. Were you subscribed at that point? I hope so, cause it'd be so nice to have a scan of it. ::pokepoke::
Yeah, I love Sugiura's clothing too; it's so elegant.
From:
no subject
*sniffling*
I love Rapunzel's many outfits -- if I were a better hand at sewing (i.e. if I could so much as pick up a needle), I'd attempt one of them for cosplay. Ah well, another lifetime perhaps.
From:
no subject
And when you consider that Kou is a snake, that becomes all the more remarkable.
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::already ordered, still crying::
Silver Diamond took a bit of hunting, though.
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::ongoing thumb twiddling::
From:
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www.kinokuniya.com
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That said, DO get the series. ::pokes::
From:
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(And: yes yes, working on it...)
From:
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::soothes::
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What I most fervently agree with would be Sugiura's handling of angst - angst is why I like the yaoi/shonen-ai stuff that I do, but as you've said, Sugiura draws it in simple form, and it is so much more poignant for that reason.
Alas, SD! Be still my heart. Have yet to get my hands on the Japanese volumes. Planning to remedy that soon. ^^
From:
no subject