Kiriko Nananan

In the past, I've read a couple "light" novels, a type of sparse novella that commuters in japan could theoretically read on their phones*. Specifically, I've read some of those that inspired the manga, anime and probably other stuff, called Strawberry Panic!. Which occupy a nebulous area of romantic fantasy about a barely physical relationship, a platonic, fiercely romantic friendship between (frequently) two highschool girls a year or two apart*. In hearts and minds they are a sort of 'starter' relationship, a test-run and a safe space for emotions run rampant**. These relationships may lead to kissing or even groping, but rarely last long, typically never past graduation.** I wonder how that might feel to a girl more like myself.

I think this is where Blue comes in. Though at first the relationship seems sparse, as the artwork is, you feel the connection between the girls as something that might last a long time, you can imagine them moving to Tokyo and starting a life together, as in the Korean tv-movie Daughters of Bilitis Club, or the Japanese manga Girlfriends by Milk Morinaga (no review as yet).

Eventually, a couple moments after I'd closed the volume, a single relationship told in just over 200 illustrated pages, I was reminded of Strawberry Panic! and the patina of temporary circumstance. Though I believe both girls cared for each other very much, and that the feelings were real, and that the sentiments that pushed them apart were sincere, I ultimately think that one of the girls saw the relationship as more tangible and able to last longer than the other did. In my mind this raises the single volume story above the glittering anthology omnibus of SP! to something more literary, cruel and beautiful in its honesty. But I probably shouldn't believe everything fiction tells me about society.

Add.: Reading about Kiriko Nananan on wikipedia leads to learning about la nouvelle movement in manga, which is also interesting reading.

*Barely researched supposition.

**I'm speculating.… (mehr)

I first discovered Kiriko Nananan's work while reading Secret Comics Japan: Underground Comics Now. Two of her short manga--"Heartless Bitch" and "Painful Love"--were included in the volume. I was quite taken by the pieces and so was determined to find more of Nananan's manga in English. Sadly, very little has been translated. Another of her short manga, "Kisses," was collected in Sake Jock: Comics from Today’s Japanese Underground, an early English anthology of alternative Japanese manga. Nananan debuted in the avant-garde manga magazine Garo in 1993, which is one of the reasons her work is found in these "underground" collections. She is particularly well-known for her short manga; Blue is her only long-form manga to have been released in English. Originally published in Japan in 1997, Fanfare/Ponent Mon published the English edition of the manga in 2006 after releasing a Spanish-language edition in 2004. Blue has also been translated into French and German. The manga was also popular enough to receive a live-action film adaptation directed by Hiroshi Ando in 2002.

"The sky that stretches out above the dark sea. The school uniforms and our desperate awkwardness. If those adornments of our youth held any color it would have been deep blue." Thus begins Kiriko Nananan's Blue. Kayako Kirishima, a senior at the Hijiri all-girls high school, is fascinated by her classmate Masami Endō, the young woman who sits directly in front of her. Endō was suspended from school the previous year. Because of that and her general attitude, many of the students at Hijiri find her difficult to approach. But Kirishima eventually musters up the courage to finally talk to Endō. Her fascination becomes friendship and eventually love. But their relationship isn't an easy one. Uncertainty, worry for the future, and past regrets all have an impact on Kirishima and Endō and how they relate to each other and to the rest of their friends. Love can be a wonderful thing, but it can also be painful. As high school draws to an end, they must face the inevitable changes in their lives either together or alone.

Nananan's artwork in Blue is very simple, almost minimalistic, and yet it is also incredibly arresting. There is very little shading employed. In fact, the use of negative and white space is just as important to the manga's composition as the deep black of Nananan's ink work. It has a distancing and cooling effect. The fragility of Kirishima and Endō's relationship is reflected in the fragility of Nananan's lines. At times the pages are nearly empty, giving a sense of loss and contemplativeness, as if the feelings of the two young women are in danger of disappearing altogether. Body language is especially important in Blue. Hands in particular are a recurring motif and are very expressive--they reach out to grasp someone or to push them away, they hide a face in shame or frustration. Nananan shows intimacy of varying degrees in Blue through the characters' actions and touch. It can be extremely sensual, but it can also be very chaste.

Blue has a reflective, poetic, and lyrical quality to it. The manga is a fairly simple and straightforward story of first love which is both sweet and sad. However, Nananan is adept at capturing the realistic complexities of love and all of the feelings associated with it--the jealousy and heartache as well as the happiness and joy. Kirishima is constantly thinking about Endō. Even when she isn't immediately present on the page Endō is the focal point of the manga and always on Kirishima's mind. The two of them obviously care deeply about each other and so it is particularly unfortunate that they seem unable to be completely open and honest with each other or with themselves. They are both young and don't always make the best or most mature decisions. Blue is told from Kirishima's perspective as she looks back from some point in the future to her high school days with understandable sentimentality. Although the manga is frequently melancholic and intensely emotional, it never comes across as melodramatic. Blue is a beautiful and striking work; I would love to see more of Nananan's manga translated.

Experiments in Manga… (mehr)

This beautifully understated manga depicts a bittersweet romance/friendship between two high school girls. Ms. Nananan's style is delicate and oblique, portraying character emotions with great nuance. The passage of time is depicted with subtlety, encouraging the reader to read between the lines, inhabiting the characters' world. A gentle eroticism permeates the book, the obscure tenderness of a touch, a word, a glance. Eschewing the melodramatic fireworks of most mainstream shoujo manga, Blue is a miniature masterpiece. My sole quibble is the occasionally sloppy English localization--the translation is occasionally awkward, and there are a few typos.… (mehr)