Comments on: Helen ESP – What disability?

By: moritheil

moritheil — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:04:19 +0000

@Harimau – The premise of a story is established early on, so it’s perfectly valid. (For reference, the following chapters continue in the same pattern – the third, for instance, features a machine bypassing Helen’s disabilities to let her watch movies. Again, this is trivializing the struggles of blind-deaf-mutes rather than telling their tale.)

Nothing’s stopping you from enjoying it for the artwork. All I’m saying is, it’s devoid of literary merit.

By: Harimau

Harimau — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:54:41 +0000

Wow, you inferred THAT much from two chapters.

Honestly you sound like another case of “Fat Princess is offensive to overweight people”.

Found this article through google when searching Helen ESP. Nothing to see here, move along.

By: moritheil

moritheil — Fri, 01 May 2009 10:06:26 +0000

@Omisyth – All right, you have me there. I shouldn’t say all endings are totally bad, though many of the “sweet” endings are quite twisted and thus not really what I would call “good” endings. Case in point – the plastic surgery/transplant story. Everyone gets what they want, and is happy momentarily, at the cost of being freaks forever. Once they get out of school they’ll have to find jobs in the hyperconformist Japanese workplace, where their altered physiologies probably won’t go over too well.

My point remains – Kigitsu has no problem with writing unhappy endings. Furthermore, if he wants a happy story, I feel that he could write one in a way that does not require completely negating the premise of the main character.

@Smashingtofu – Thanks! I will add it to my list.

By: Smashingtofu

Smashingtofu — Fri, 01 May 2009 06:13:43 +0000

Off the top of my head the only ones that I know that touches on disablities well is Real by Inoue Takehiko (Slam Dunk, Vagabond) It’s worth reading if only for the art or its seasoned and poignant storytelling.

I can’t say I’m an avid fan of Franken Fan; even if I’m generally an avid fan of the horror/black comedy/etc genre of comics.

By: Omisyth

Omisyth — Fri, 01 May 2009 05:43:37 +0000

Duuuude haet post.

And there are definitely happy conclusions in Franken Fran, or at least sweet ones, every few chapters or so.

By: moritheil

moritheil — Fri, 01 May 2009 03:57:26 +0000

@animemiz – Perhaps, but if you’ve read Franken Fran, the endings are horrific, grisly conclusions that will give you nightmares. Clearly, then, Kigitsu does not have a problem writing unhappy endings.

I can accept that this is intended to be story-driven rather than character-driven, but then, why did he insist on a character whose defining characteristics really don’t fit the story? I still think there were poor decisions made.

By: animemiz

animemiz — Fri, 01 May 2009 00:45:05 +0000

That does seem sad.. well I think that usually people write stories to make sure there is a perfection state. The main character has to be this certain way or that way.. Especially in picture… So to show disability, there must be a happy ending scenario. Otherwise would people purchase the book?

By: moritheil

moritheil — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:49:38 +0000

@Martin – Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll check it out when I have time!

By: Martin

Martin — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:53:18 +0000

This is indeed a shame – there isn’t much manga around that addresses these issues so it’s a pity that this particular example fails.

I strongly recommend Translucent, however. That examines how a disability (albeit a relatively minor one that doesn’t affect the sufferer’s physical wellbeing in any way) affects the day-to-day lives of ordinary people, and is really sweet into the bargain. I believe Dark Horse are going to resume the release schedule for that, too, which was a relief to me.