The icon should be "uselessly precious aesthetics"

[petronia]

If I'm stuck in my room for an hour before bed and am way too tired to work on projects or consume a relatively edifying book, I will just end up re-reading Viewfinder vol.2. Which is... kind of sad, okay, but by now I'm convinced there is some je ne sais quoi about it, similar to the way some albums are albums and some albums are a bunch of songs that all happen to be on the same CD. The sequencing? Counterintuitive because of how lopsided it is. The Asami x Takaba standalone episode, then the seamless arc of "High Loft", then the completely unrelated second "Koi suru..." story (which in and of itself is one of her most deft pieces IMO. You know what's funny, if I or anyone else had written that in English I'd probably have thought it "too American" to be set in Japan. Maybe teenagers really are the same everywhere.) But I like the fact that "High Loft" is framed and contextualised in a way. Length issues aside if it had been a tankoubon on its own it would've seemed... I dunno. Too un-Yamane Ayano-ish.

Possibly I just really really like "High Loft". I like it much more than I actually ship Asami x Feilong or any such balderdash, if that makes sense. I've about decided it's because I don't understand the Japanese dialogue that well. At least, every time I read it I get something different out of it. "Oh, so that's what he meant by that," I think. I overthink a little at the best of times but usually not that much. Then again I also finally read the afterword (I meant it when I said "stuck in my room"), in which Yamane apologizes for - among other sins - not completing the symmetric framing device by getting a second Takaba story out in time, and the chapters being "white" in the magazine (the phrase struck me as hysterically funny at 2AM). Apparently the latter was not because her assistant(s) dropped ded from crack as I'd assumed, but because the 恋人同士じゃなくて男同士で interaction between Asami and Feilong was really that hard to write, so much so that she plumb ran out of time to ink their raven locks and perfectly pressed trenchcoats ("Feilong," she gripes, "has THREE TIMES MORE HAIR than Asami." I would've thought it was more than three to be honest, but I defer to the artist). So the other theory is that Viewfinder is really, yanno, intentionally layered and thought-out in its subtleties.

Yeah.

Has anyone ever redone the scanlations from non-"white" scans? XD Out of curiosity? Though it does provide proper incentive to buy the book.

petronia: I am really just waiting for the Christmas issue of BeBoy now.
petronia: Because I think if this series is going to jump the shark, now is precisely the moment to do it in.
petronia: As nothing she will do in the next chapter could possibly make all the fans happy, and very likely will make none of the fans happy.
worldserpent: None of them happy? How can that be?
worldserpent: Surely she must bring joy into some fan's heart!
petronia: Well, your logical choices at this point
petronia: taking as given that the arc will last more than a couple of chapters
petronia: are: Feilong tortures Takaba horribly for a while,
worldserpent: I mean, she's not going to have them eaten by crocodiles.
worldserpent: Goodness, the boy is repetitive.
petronia: or: for some godforsaken unknown reason they actually have a conversation and it is not quite as bad as that.
worldserpent: Yeah, they could talk about how Asami sucks. XD
petronia: The former will make all the Takaba fans weep because he is being tortured, and all the Feilong fans weep because they're not convinced he's that evil.
petronia: The latter everyone would just think was cheesy.
worldserpent: Certainly some of the Feilong fans think he is evil?
petronia: Not enough of them, in my opinion.
petronia: (I think because any Feilong fans there are, aren't fans of him being a villain, they're fans of him being tragically gorgeous in the flashback story.)
petronia: They'd rather he wuz smarter.
worldserpent: Maybe he can torture him, and then they can have the cheesy conversation.
petronia: Which is a valid take as these things go.
petronia: He *could* stand to be a lot smarter.
worldserpent: True.
petronia: But then again Viewfinder HULLO.
worldserpent: They're going to be pissed off if he comes to a bad end.
petronia: Yeah.
petronia: Basically she's set it up to reap maximum profit from serialisation but it can't end without pissing someone off. XD
worldserpent: Wow, if you were Yamane Ayano's editor, how would you advise her on the future dev. of the story?
worldserpent: Besides saying "here's a nice bonus for driving up revenue"
petronia: XD
petronia: I'd introduce a mcguffin that forced everyone to cooperate!
worldserpent: Maybe they will indeed all be eaten by crocodiles?
worldserpent: Like what?
petronia: (i.e. I am shounen to the core and cannot be trusted)
worldserpent: Oh yeah, that makes sense. So you would introduce a new villain, and then we could get a fourth member of the team
worldserpent: Because Asami is like the protagonist, and Takaba like the cute small guy, and then Feilong can be the pretty sort of guy, so all we need is one more.
petronia: XDDDD
worldserpent: Then we can start working on the villains.
worldserpent: I'm seeing the gangster/martial arts theme continuing.
petronia: I think what we need is a spiky haired guy with explosives.
worldserpent: Sounds good.
worldserpent: Okay, you've resolved the serialization crisis.... by turning it into a shounen fighting manga?!?!?!
petronia: That is why I say I cannot be trusted.
petronia: I mean, there is a reason I'm not currently editing BeBoy.

I think I've convinced Charmian that were I to write an essay on what I think about Asami x Takaba vs. Asami x Feilong it would be perfectly shocking. Which I doubt. XD I mean, the major reason I haven't written it - other than not wanting people to take it as a manifesto of intent when I'd just be looking to air my retarded metaphors - is that all the metaphors I'd use to explain myself are retarded.

Comments

[quixotic-sense.livejournal.com]

... I wonder if I can finish that Feilong x Takaba fic before the next story arc comes along. Probably not.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

I feel you. I keep thinking I should stop babbling and just write fic, then I remember that no matter how interminable the wait is for BBG, I'd still be jossed before I'd be able to get very far. Travails of the slow writer etc.

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

Hmm, are these the conversations which are said to be unimaginable? XD

But the only reason that I think it is (would be?) shocking is because you think people will be shocked by it! If that makes any sense.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Yeah, because I keep talking about writing it and never do. (Actually, the real real reason is because I can't bring myself to devote two hours to writing a Viewfinder essay.) It's obnoxious, I really should stop. XD

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

Two hours? True. XD Well, maybe you could skimp and just write it down in bullet point form, although that form is more prone to misunderstandings.

[elfiepike.livejournal.com]

but retarded metaphors are sometimes the best!

the interesting thing about viewfinder to me is that it has really, really gotten people--i mean, what other blatantly pornographic series do people analyze as much as this one? well, probably a ton, but none of the ones i've been invested in. XD

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I always say that's the genius thing about it too. XD

[naanima.livejournal.com]

As a Feilong fan I'm all for some sort of resolution, at this point I'm not even that fussed about what happens to Feilong, I just want him to find some form of peace. Be it turning complete Evil, raping Takaba, getting it on with Asami or having a threesome (or the one I want to really read about; Feilong and Takaba bitching about Asami, then deciding to run away so they can elope. Ah, where are my fandom-crack.)

I went from grudgingly liking Takaba to 'throwing my hands in the air frustration' at the boy. So, um, Feilong fan -_-

Bu6t darling, your shoune-fight series idea is perfect. Feilong's boy-servant can be the Child genius that kicks major arse, and dies a tragic death saving Felong in one of fights, and Feilong will be like, 'I never knew Ioved you' blah, blah, only to find out there was a another Evil villain that requires him and Asami&Takaba to Team Up!

Yes, much caffine and sugar has been consumed in the making of this post. (And I await for the day you'll write the essay, as I find your metaphors funny ^^)

[petronia.livejournal.com]

That's 3+ people who would like Feilong and Takaba to turn the tables and elope! (Including me. Then I would turn it into a shounen fight series...) Yamane-sensei should write that. While it would piss off an equal number of people to the above two options it would have the merit of allowing the story to advance into uncharted and unpredictable waters, and also I would laugh and laugh and laugh.

I profoundly doubt BBG has ever done OT3s ever though, the editor would have conniptions. XDD

In all seriousness, I'm convinced Asami would step in to defend and take care of Feilong if he ever got shot again - by someone else. WHY DOES IT ALWAYS COME DOWN TO GETTING SHOT

[naanima.livejournal.com]

YAY 3+ people! We can make our OWN comm! But ohh, how I want to see VF as a shounen fight series, and the ELOPEMENT! Uncharted waters is always good, and the thought of the crack and the sheer number of screaming from both camps makes me all smiley XP

BBG may be thinking of adapting?

YES! Asami would so STEP in front of Feilong to take the shot, it would all romantic and tragic (And blah, blah, blah,) and Takaba would angst in the corner. Of course it has to be a GUN SHOT! It is ALL circular and stuff… I swear that made so much more sense in my mind. Though I admit the thought a sword though the chest (or the back, ala Utena-anime) would be kind of cool… and really dramatic with the whispering in the ear and stuff.

Hmm, VF as Utena…. MWAHAHAHAHABWAHAHAHAHA!

(Shounen fight series is much more entertaining.)

[two-if-by-sea.livejournal.com]

I'd read more shounen fight mangas if they had as much sex as Viewfinder. And I agree, I would think Feilong had at least 4x the amoung of hair Asami did.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

If there were shounen fight mangas with tons of boysex I wouldn't need fandom.

[pere-chan.livejournal.com]

*sigh* BeBoy here is so sporadic; it comes in all out of order. The first one I ever "read" was the one where Feilong runs off with Takaba in the helicopter. Then there was a little mini-booklet thing in BeBoy Gold where Asami and Takaba have a little episode in the limo....

I ADORE Viewfiinder; I don't know anything about the story but the art is so compelling--I think I'm going to start ordering it from the Japan Centre, now that I know it IS published in tankoubon.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Ah yea, that was the last chapter that came out. XD; Fandom's been sitting pretty and speculating for a good part of the year.

(If you join yamane_ayano you can download the whole thing IIRC. But it's true that the tankoubon's been corrected from the magazine scans whence the scanlations. >_>)