Second volumes of The Name of the Flower, Fire Investigator Nanase

Back in March I reviewed the first volumes of these two CMX series jointly, so I figured I’d do the same for their respective second installments. Overall, in reading the second volumes of The Name of the Flower and Fire Investigator Nanase, I found that my initial impressions of both series intensified; my love for the first deepened while my (then minimal) reservations about the second solidified into some pretty serious doubts.

First up, a glowing report of The Name of the Flower, created by Ken Saito. I just don’t think I can say enough good things about this title. It’s one of my two favorite series currently being published at the moment (the other one being Sand Chronicles). Yet The Name of the Flower has a very grounded, down-to-earth sensibility that the more melodramatic Sand Chronicles sometimes lacks. The Name of the Flower is detailed, subtle, melancholy, bittersweet, pensive, surprisingly humorous, and deeply romantic. One of the things I enjoy most about this series is that all of its characters are wonderfully deep. In fact, one of the highlights of the second volume for me was the introduction of several new and equally charming characters. The Name of the Flower might not appeal to anyone looking for, say, a real action packed title, but I personally love it to bits for all the reasons listed above.

In volume two, Chouko is already avsophomore in college, and begins to overcome some of her reclusive tendencies when she joins a student organization. She actually joins a club out of pitying consideration for a recruiter who rivals even herself in terms of shyness and timidity. Thus she’s introduced to the “Taisho Authors Association”, a small literary appreciation club consisting of a somewhat ragtag group of students who specialize in two things: literature and drinking parties. Chouko finds to her mild surprise that she actually gets along with these people, in particular with the guy who recruited her. Yousuke Karasawa is a painfully shy guy with some pretty serious literary aspirations. It’s great to see Chouko interacting and forming relationships with people her own age, instead of spending all her time with Kei and Akiyama only. In addition to it being healthy for her to socialize a bit, it also demonstrates her stability and the fact that her love for Kei isn’t merely the result of her being sequestered in his house all the time.

Meanwhile, Kei spends a good chunk of this volume holed up in his room in a fit of literary productivity. When he finally emerges, it is only to discover that he will have to deal with the whole Chouko situation sooner rather than later. Thus his dilemma: does he hold on to her while he has the chance, as per his more selfish, possessive desires, or does he push her away, into the arms of her new friends as he believes he ought? I get the feeling the Kei’s a guy of extremes, and that important matters have to be all or nothing with him. Whether that’s a strength or weakness I’m not entirely certain. Anyways, a lot happens in the final part of the volume, and a many things that have been building slowly over the course of the first two volumes sort of come to a head. I’m very excited for November to see what happens next.

Alas, if only I could say the same for my other CMX title, Fire Investigator Nanase. I certainly enjoyed the first volume well enough, and I had really high expectations for the series, but after finishing volume two I’m not sure I like the direction things are headed in. My chief complaint with the series is the proliferation of unabashed fanservice that doesn’t really appeal to me at all. There are times when I don’t mind moments of fanservice when it’s limited to just that: brief moments that don’t seriously detract from the story. One example of this would be in the manga adaptation of the Haruhi Suzumiya light novels, in which the fanservice-y moments don’t seem to take away or distract from the hilariously clever plotlines. In comparison, Fire Investigator Nanase features whole sequences and chapters of purely gratuitous material (chapter 16, entitled “Stalker”, is just one example). I don’t read a lot of seinen, so maybe I’m just expressing a reaction to the genre rather than this particular series, but whatever the case I didn’t like what I saw.

Another disappointment with Fire Investigator Nanase was the fact that I still haven’t really warmed up to the main characters. I know Nanase’s gutsy and selfless, and that’s all very admirable, but I’d sure as heck like to see her figure something out without Firebug’s help for a change. Speaking of whom, I also kind of wish the creators would humanize the villain a tiny bit to make him, if not downright sympathetic, at least more interesting. So far, Firebug’s just this completely crazy maniac whom we know nothing about, except that he’s an expert on fires. That being said, I do enjoy a lot of the side characters, such as Nanase’s little ward Shingo and her supervisor Chief Tachibana (who grew on me a lot in this volume). I also like whole mode of investigating fires and solving arson cases, but only when it’s not hindered by ridiculously nonsensical plot detours. Maybe I’m just being hard on this series because I had unrealistic (or at least irrationally high) expectations for it. I haven’t definitively decided to drop it, but I’m going to have to reevaluate it pretty seriously when volume three comes out in November.

First volumes of Fire Investigator Nanase, The Name of the Flower

Ah, nothing more satisfying than starting two brand-new, promising manga series. I ordered the recently released first volumes of these two babies from CMX, and I'm very satisfied with my purchases. These two series are very different from each other, and they each present fresh and interesting-seeming premises even within their own individual genres.

The Name of the Flower, by Ken Saito, falls somewhere in the middle ground between shoujo and josei, relying more on the strengths of its story and characters than on the standard devices and trappings of either genre. The art is rich and appealing without being gratuitously fantastical, and the story is poignant and reflective, but with enough touches of genuine humor to keep things from getting too slow or heavy. The main characters are both misfits in their own ways: flawed, damaged, but desirous and deserving of love.

Chouko is a girl who's sustained severe emotional and psychological damage after losing both her parents in a car accident. She completely shuts herself off out of grief, unable to connect with the people around her, or even to speak at all. After being passed around rather unceremoniously from relative to relative, she's finally ended up in the care of her father's cousin, Kei. Kei is a successful but gruff and reclusive author, and a man twelve years her senior. He brusquely tells her he'll pay her college tuition in return for her cooking and house keeping, and that she must above all refrain from moping around like some kind of melancholy lost soul. In order to keep her active and occupied, he casually suggests she tend his neglected garden, but for the most part he lets her alone. Slowly, gradually, in caring for the flowers and for her surly and cynical guardian, Chouko begins to emerge from within herself, to smile, and to speak. What I especially like about Chouko is that while Kei is instrumental in her recovery, she ultimately pulls her own self out of whatever dark, destructive place she was in. He silently watches over her and provides her with the necessary tools, but she is the one who must use them. She sort of learns that nobody can help you if you're unwilling to help yourself, which I thought was kind of cool.

Kei, meanwhile, has his own issues. He's achieved a degree of literary success and acclaim, but his dark, almost disturbing work seems to hint at a deeply troubled soul. He gives off the vibe of someone who doesn't feel like he deserves love, but his feelings manifest themselves as curtness and standoffishness rather than melodramatic moaning and groaning. He's gruff and anti-social, but he does genuinely care about Chouko. In fact, he cares a little bit too much. Painfully aware of the huge age difference between them, of Chouko's own inexperience, and the inappropriateness of his feelings given his role as her guardian, he does his best to keep his distance and to care for her from the background. Overall, I love this series already. I love both main characters, and I even love the comic-relief-friend Akiyama. There's lots of love; I can't wait for volume two to come out.

The first volume of Fire Investigator Nanase (story by Izo Hashimoto, art by Tomoshige Ichikawa) wasn't quite as much of a slam-dunk for me as TNotF, but it still promises to be a very enjoyable and entertaining series. I was initially drawn to it because it was likened by reviewers to one of my favorite movies of all time, "The Silence of the Lambs". The comparison is pretty apt, at least as far as the premise goes. We've got the young, driven female rookie in a male-dominated crime fighting organization who's got talent and guts, but is often held back by her self-satisfied superiors. We've got the brilliantly insane criminal who alone seems to recognize her potential, and who enjoys guiding and coaching her in solving crimes. At the same time, FIN is manga, so it's a whole different kettle of fish.

As the title would suggest, Nanase is a trainee in the section of the fire department that investigates the origins of fires, identifying and solving arson cases. As she sifts through various cases of mysterious fires, Nanase receives helpful hints (and some brutal trials) from the still-at-large serial arsonist known to the authorities only as Firebug. This Firebug character is pretty certifiable, but he knows his stuff better than anyone on the other side of the law. His motives for helping Nanase remain as of yet unclear, but we do seem to find out that he was the arsonist responsible for the fire that killed her parents. One can only imagine the mixed-ness of Nanase's feelings on receiving help from him. (I actually just now realized that both TNotF and FIN feature orphaned heroines. It just goes to show how different the two series are that I didn't notice such a huge similarity right away.)

I thought FIN was exciting and entertaining, and I think it'll be a great series, but I did have a few reservations about it. I didn't really like how it toed the line between fantasy and realism. It would start off seemingly grounded in a very realistic world, but then suddenly something really far-fetched would happen to make me question the parameters of the characters' reality. Maybe once I get a little more used to the series I won't find it so jarring, but it felt a little weird on the first reading. The author also relies pretty heavily on some scientific fire jargon that flew right over my head. It's kind of difficult to evaluate a scenario's plausibility when I can't even understand the language used to describe it. So maybe I should just stop trying to figure out how realistic FIN is supposed to be and just go with the flow.

I really liked the whole theme of the investigation of fires. I think it's a very mysterious and intriguing subject, but then again that might really be because of my lingering associations from reading the Lemony Snicket books. And while Nanase's department is a far cry from the cultish Volunteer Fire Department of those books, she's certainly got enough unsolved mysteries (both private and public) to be getting on with.

Now for the wait until May when the second volumes of these two titles will be released by CMX. Sigh.