tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456977340694855535.post3426287824614651535..comments2009-11-27T19:26:34.848-07:00Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16755449043816862001noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456977340694855535.post-17694114984358583942009-11-27T19:26:34.848-07:002009-11-27T19:26:34.848-07:00I&#39;m not much of a visual art person; I live for the story and characters. That&#39;s really the only reason why I wasn&#39;t put off by the cover art, which was very unique among the offerings of the time. <br /><br />I&#39;m glad I was able to read all of the Yamada releases as they came out. There is a sort of maturity to her writing (even as she is making me crack up) that gives it more depth than most things called yaoi, and I was glad to be able to read several things to get a feeling for her style. <br /><br />Others have already brought it up, but her characters are realistically clumsy, stupid, endearing, and goofy, and there is something much more authentically male about them than the usual BL stuff or the reigning yaoi art style. I don&#39;t feel condescended to, and I don&#39;t feel like I&#39;m being asked to suspend all disbelief and common sense and rational thought to enjoy the stories themselves. <br /><br />As someone who enjoys reading good stories in lots of genres, I&#39;m glad to have one more mature recommendation I can make that doesn&#39;t cause me to feel guilty. Technically, I suppose they&#39;re yaoi, but the quality of the stories means I don&#39;t have to feel embarrassed when recommending them to serious comics readers who like a good laugh and a good story. <br /><br />I&#39;m glad Ms. Yamada has some dedicated fans. :)The Moon in Autumnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00746463775107732805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456977340694855535.post-81780098070719088072009-11-13T00:11:08.491-07:002009-11-13T00:11:08.491-07:00Thanks for leaving your comments! I really appreciate the love that you are showing to Yamada-sensei. It&#39;s also nice to see that I&#39;m not alone in initially being put off by her cover art. Thanks for adding your opinions and I hope that this will not only show publishers how awesome she really is but also serve as a wake up call to those who haven&#39;t checked out her work. The more we spread the love the more books she&#39;ll sell which means more books for fans like us who appreciate her art and intellegent storytelling. Thanks again and keep your comments coming!Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16755449043816862001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456977340694855535.post-61918909447826931382009-11-12T08:12:05.741-07:002009-11-12T08:12:05.741-07:00Thank you, Kris, for speaking up for one of my all-time favourite mangaka! I was cheering aloud as I read your article – and the first two comments. <br /><br />(Actually, I have to confess that Yamada-sensei is a late discovery for me because the covers of her manga really put me off.) I owe it to the Junemanga site on YouTube for pushing me past the cover and into the manga itself; I was so won over by the extract from ‘Close the Last Door’ that I had to rush off and order it straight away. Since then I’ve doggedly tracked down all the other English editions and now I’m waiting forlornly for ‘Dry Heat’ and the second volume of ‘Close the Last Door.’<br /><br />As you so rightly say, Yamada-sensei is one of the few BL mangaka translated into English who doesn’t insult the reader’s intelligence. Funny, heart-breaking, sometimes brutally honest, her manga delivers believable characters in realistic situations and rarely falls back on the usual BL clichés. I’m not usually a fan of one-shots but the quiet, subtle little story of two men unable to communicate how they feel about each other ‘What Will Happen to Us?’ at the end of ‘Picnic’ made me cry. And, hardened reviewer that I am, I don’t cry very often when reading manga. <br /><br />‘Don’t Blame Me’ is, in my opinion, on a par with ‘Genshiken’ in its wickedly accurate portrayal of student life. I particularly admire the clever way that Yamada-sensei weaves the narration between present and past, teasing the reader with tantalising hints about the characters as she draws you deeper into their predicaments. And again, it’s a story laced with genuine laugh-out-loud moments as well as some profound observations on the pitfalls of human relationships and learning about life through experience. <br /><br />And I take back all the hateful things I thought about her art. I really love it now! It’s so expressive. From the pointy dragon teeth expressing rage in the chibi panels to the frankly gorgeous portraits of her main protagonists…and her undeniably hot sex scenes. <br /><br />So I join you, Kris, in putting out a heartfelt plea to DMP (and any other manga publisher reading this) to please license more Yugi Yamada manga. I add my vote for ‘Takaga Koi Daro’ because the partnership between Saki Aida and Yugi Yamada is too good to resist. But I’d also put in a word for ‘Yume wo Miru Hima mo Nai’ and ‘Bokura wa Tada Hashiru Dake’ because sensei is such an excellent author in her own right. Heck, I’d just like to see lots more Yugi Yamada in English.Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12482456245161492450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456977340694855535.post-3889855577432405702009-11-11T23:25:21.142-07:002009-11-11T23:25:21.142-07:00*gurgles happily* I love Yugi Yamada&#39;s manga. Though I actually became interested in reading her almost because of the art. Not that I found it appealing, because I didn&#39;t (heheh ^_^;) but I&#39;ve become pretty disinterested in the lame sameness of most all yaoi, and I&#39;ve developed this tendency to read those with weird art in the hopes that this means the writing style will be similarly unique. Though to her credit, the art inside is always more appealing than that on the cover. I don&#39;t know what it is...is it just one of those things that look better in black and white? And it does definitely grow on you.<br /><br />And yet I have such trouble describing why it is I like her (I know this from my pathetic attempts to pimp her work). Most of her plots really aren&#39;t that different that many yaoi. It&#39;s just like the person above said. She just plain writes *better* than most yaoi mangaka. More depth in characters, more realistic (without being...overly relaxed in pace or depressing), great dialogue, funny. And, like, *actually* funny. Not &#39;Hohoho! Look, the seme dressed the uke as a girl and he is ANGRY! And now he is even more ANGRY because he found out the seme raped him when he was drunk last night! OMGLMFAO!&#39; Also if I remember right her stories often tend to have...not sub-plots, as it&#39;s always wrapped (very nicely) with the main romantic plot, but...themes of personal growth and understanding. And all while still being satisfyingly romantic (as sometimes one runs into a yaoi that is good, but that focuses on being good, mature, and realistic so much that it isn&#39;t really terribly romantic anymore. Which is fine on occasion, but...)<br /><br />I even liked Glass Sky, even though I thought I&#39;d had quite enough of anthologies (no time for character development! ...guess it turns out most mangaka just aren&#39;t using their time effectively. ^^) And my friend likes her too, and her tastes are actually usually a 180 from mine (likes most all BL just fine. And tends to only read things with the most appealing art). It&#39;s so sad she doesn&#39;t sell better here. Is her work more popular in Japan?<br /><br />Aaah. ...Darn. I&#39;ve gotten myself worked up. I&#39;m...I&#39;m getting drawn to the bookshelf. I&#39;ve...I&#39;ve only read Don&#39;t Blame Me once so far. Surely...surely it wouldn&#39;t take long just to take another peek through... (As for me, when I read it the first time I only had the first volume. After I finished, I immediately ordered it online since it was not at the book store...and then lasted about an hour till I just went and read scanlations (and then was sort of irritated at self for impatience, as translation was rather funky sounding ^_^;)Nora Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13699152130283593259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456977340694855535.post-72960715715203253432009-11-11T18:40:17.366-07:002009-11-11T18:40:17.366-07:00I love Yamada-sensei&#39;s work! I was put off at first by the character designs -- they&#39;re not &quot;pretty&quot;, the way BL art tends to be, and they don&#39;t have the cleanness of a typical shonen design -- but once you take a second look and get into the story, there are very few who can match her. She just plain writes better than most BL mangaka, full stop. Her characters are these wonderfully spiky, emotionally stupid guys who trip over love more than fall into it. But that just makes the payoff even more satisfying. Not to mention the delightful humour of her stories.<br /><br />I especially liked <i>Don&#39;t Blame Me!</i>, but I&#39;d also highly recommend <i>Laugh Under the Sun</i>, which really shows her off at her best.Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09156588395324951637noreply@blogger.com