Since the original RinB was written, I've read this one a couple more times and registered a couple things I missed first time through, as well as having a couple of new thoughts, so this is a revision of my original comments.
The Tsai family are a clan of assassins who have been in existence for 2000 years. They have spread around the world through a deliberate policy of marrying foreigners, but the last direct descendant of the pure Chinese bloodline has just blown his brains out. There is one other rumored heir who lives in New York, Tien Ling. He is a prisoner with Archer Rogue, the main character, who is in jail for killing his father during a fight with a fairly shady character named Zigger, who on the surface is a rich sometime philanthropist. His money comes, however, from some unsavory activities.
While Archer and several of his fellow-inmates, including Ling, are being transported to another prison, someone arranges for either an abduction or a hit -- in fact, it seems that more than one team is playing here: several of the group have been poisoned, and the police van is attacked by gunmen in a large truck. Archer has his own ideas about all of this, but winds up at an estate in Miami anyway, due to the good offices of Ling, who has been picked up by his own allies. Escape, it seems, is the least of Archer's problems: not only is it apparently impossible, but it might not be in his own best interests. Of more immediate concern is figuring out who is on which side.
Although not labeled as such, this is the beginning of what looks to be an intriguing series. The story is pretty complex, which makes the beginning a little hard to follow: there are a number of characters who are going to have important roles to play, and a plot with many elements that seem at this point to be not very closely associated. As is the case with good thrillers, everyone has an agenda. There are also hints of relationships, particularly between Archer and a police detective named Kohki Joshua Enokida. In fact, the homoerotic subtext is barely disguised throughout. Ishihara has made the story compelling enough that I fully intend to follow up as new volumes become available.
The drawing is superb. Treatment of space is what I'm coming to recognize as typical for yaoi: open, abstract, with great depth and clarity. The character designs are riveting: rough-hewn, heavy-featured faces, big blocky bodies, a far cry from the willowy, androgynous figures so often portrayed, and characters maintain distinct individuality -- once you know who's who, you're not going to mistake them for anyone else. Ishihara also essays different racial types, something rare in manga in general. And narrative flow is excellent, very clear and easy to follow, even in the fight scenes.
This one's from Juné and marks something of a departure. Juné tends very strongly toward the schoolboy/young man offering, romantic tales that portray, when it comes right down to it, a nice, middle-class milieu. This is definitely not that. I haven't remarked on the handling of the sex scenes because there haven't been any yet, but there is a strong current of eroticism throughout.
Place this one near the top of your list. It looks like it's going to be a winner.
No comments:
Post a Comment