Midaresomenishi: The Legend Doesn't Live Up To Itself
Written: Feb 11 '09 (Updated Feb 11 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Drawing.
Cons: Story, characters, narrative flow, character designs for ukes.
The Bottom Line: Man -- this one had great potential and just never got there.
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| rmthunter's Full Review: Midaresomenishi: A Legend of Samurai Love |
Kazuma Kodaka's Midaresomenishi was preceded (in my experience, at least) by some advance publicity that left me somewhat ambivalent: on the one hand, it was hailed as an excellent example of yaoi marred only by its focus on rape and torture. On the other, it was condemned as unremittingly morbid and completely depressing, because of its focus on rape and torture.
Well.
Shirou is a swordsman of a particularly bloodthirsty nature, a tendency perhaps forecast by his scarlet hair. His family, finally tiring of his excesses, throws him out. His younger brother, Fujimaru, follows him and his guards into the forest, where they are beset by bandits: Shirou and Fujimaru are captured, and their escort killed. They become the property of Sougetsu, the bandit chieftain, who makes Shirou his sex toy as surety for Fujimaru's life. Shirou earns his place as one of Sougetsu's captains, but remains the chieftain's favorite, much to the disgust and resentment of Renka, who also loves the chief and has been his favorite before now. Unbeknownst to Shirou, Fujimaru is regularly violated by the other bandits, which his guardian, Saizou, a cripple who has fallen in love with Fujimaru, is unable to prevent. Just when things are looking their bleakest, Saizou offers the hope of escape, which leads to a spectacular and tragic finale to the first part of the saga of Shirou. That's all I'm going to relate of the story so far, lest I fall into spoilerhood, but I will point out that there are two further episodes in the story.
The problems in this one are many and varied. To start -- and just to set your mind at rest -- I didn't find the story depressing and morbid so much as clichéd and somewhat tiresome. I'm going to state an axiom here: cartoon depictions of rape are boring, when they manage to rise above the ridiculous. (I've seen examples of out-and-out hentai which, while more explicit than anything here, are no more interesting.) There's little subtlety in this part of the story, which the rapes only underscore. (I have to point out that Fujimaru's apparent age at capture was a bit of a squick, but by the second chapter, when we are shown his degradation, a number of years have passed. I will just decline to guess what's been going on in the meantime.)
What was perhaps the most disheartening thing and the source of most of my dissatisfaction was the unrealized potential in this story: Shirou could very easily be a tragic hero of the Lost Soul variety, doomed to an eternal quest for redemption, and pursued by Sougetsu, who offers him the redemption of love. (Hey, Wagner could do it, why not Kodaka?) There are actually hints of that in the last episode, but they are not developed. Lack of development seems to be the main problem here: Kodaka chose to focus on the sensational elements rather than building a substantial story that could have been a knock-out -- and that might also have given the rape scenes some real impact. The early relationship between Shirou and Sougetsu, and that between Fujimaru and Saizou, would both have benefited -- and benefited the story, I think -- by a more thorough exploration. Likewise the surprising relationship between Saizou and Sougetsu, which becomes a throw-away at the climax of the first episode. Shirou's "interlude" with Chihiro, a young man he encounters on his journey, could also have been much richer: Kodaka has set the stage for all of this, and then done nothing with it.
She also seems hard put to maintain a coherent narrative flow: I found the story in places to be choppy and erratic (a tendency I've also noticed in Kizuna), although it does make sense overall, just not in detail.
The drawing saves the day: it is strong, fluent, and rich, with excellent use of tone and shading to build body. Character designs on the whole are superb, although I have major objections, in concept if not in execution, to the renderings of Fujimaru, Renka, Chihiro, and the other ukes, all of whom look like nothing so much as kept women: I think the men should look like men, and I think their boyfriends should look like men, too -- and act like men.* Otherwise, what's the point? I suppose it has to be enough that Shirou and Sougetsu are both gorgeous and very masculine.
Yes, the rape scenes are many and explicit, and I don't recommend this for anyone under 18. I barely recommend it for those 18 and over. I think I'm being generous in awarding it a 3.
* I've started a game over at Booklag (my LiveJournal page) called "Cranky Ukes." Drop by and see how many you can come up with.
Note: Do you have any idea how proud I am of myself for being able to type Midaresomenishi without stopping to check the spelling?
About the recommendation: if you can get a copy for free, you might want to take a look, but don't spend money on it.
Recommended:
No
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rmthunter
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Member: Robert Tilendis
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