Read the first volume of the manga Emma. I don't know whether it's the fault of the mangaka or the translators, but...Piccadilly Circus? Not, with rare exceptions, the kind with elephants.
I...You know how Earl Cain or whatever they're calling it this week basically makes no historical sense at all (not to mention story sense or dialogue sense), but you don't really care?
Emma tries its best to be historically accurate, the supplementary material makes a huge deal of how much the mangaka researches, we're told it's meant to be a portrayal of the relationships between classes, etc., etc., and you just sit there going, well, the art is nice, the objects and architecture seem right on, but the story and characters are total bullshit.
Some of it (forms of address and stuff like that) could be mistranslation by someone who knows modern Japanese better than Victorian English. But some of it obviously isn't. Also, the lead characters seem to be mildly brain damaged, and I want to hit them with a mallet.
Authors who try to fake Victorian English usually shouldn't. Expecially if English isn't their first language. Especially Japanese.
Also, the lead characters seem to be mildly brain damaged, and I want to hit them with a mallet. Never a good sign.
You know, I can't remember if this book started the fad or is the result of the current fad that the Japanese (males, anyway) have for maids. As in the cute girls/women in traditional maid uniforms. Seriously. They even have maid cafes where "maids treat the customers as their master in a home". Leave it to the Japanese.
I'm not sure. The supplementary material implies that Emma started the whole maid vogue, but my memory of Dollpa web site photos past says that the dates don't add up. And the moe-style maid seems to owe more to Loligoth than it does to Upstairs, Downstairs.
The hype is that Emma started the fad, but I'm more of the opinion that it's riding the wave. Publishers need an angle to sell books some how. I'm inclined to think the maid vogue is more of a Gothloli thing.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-10 04:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-10 05:07 pm (UTC)Maybe the mangakun got it mixed up with Elephant and Castle
BTW, how is Emma anyway? I haven't decided whether or not to bother.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-10 06:00 pm (UTC)Emma tries its best to be historically accurate, the supplementary material makes a huge deal of how much the mangaka researches, we're told it's meant to be a portrayal of the relationships between classes, etc., etc., and you just sit there going, well, the art is nice, the objects and architecture seem right on, but the story and characters are total bullshit.
Some of it (forms of address and stuff like that) could be mistranslation by someone who knows modern Japanese better than Victorian English. But some of it obviously isn't. Also, the lead characters seem to be mildly brain damaged, and I want to hit them with a mallet.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-10 06:16 pm (UTC)Also, the lead characters seem to be mildly brain damaged, and I want to hit them with a mallet. Never a good sign.
You know, I can't remember if this book started the fad or is the result of the current fad that the Japanese (males, anyway) have for maids. As in the cute girls/women in traditional maid uniforms. Seriously. They even have maid cafes where "maids treat the customers as their master in a home". Leave it to the Japanese.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-10 06:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-10 06:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-10 05:56 pm (UTC)Ok never mind, I got nothing
especially since my pictures of the place mostly show scaffolds because they were cleaning the statute.