I am bit by the manga bug: MeruPuri
Apr. 26th, 2006 07:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieI am taking a day or so break from Saiyuki. I love the show, but I watched 25 episodes in a week or so, and while this isn't the most I've ever done by any stretch of the imagination, since this show isn't strongly arced, this concentration is getting a bit too much. This said, the latest ep I watched was excellent (when isn't it), involving Gojyo helping out a woman who's had a half-human/half-demon child. I like Gojyo, and he is probably the best adjusted of the group, but perhaps because of that, he is the least interesting, still the ep was fun. I do wonder why the half-breeds are viewed as such a curse. The baby doesn't appear to be able to twist its head 360 degrees, and Gojyo himself is a sweet guy.
Anyway, on to the topic of this post. I've been bit by a manga bug. I've found a manga I can read and like. The manga in question? MeruPuri. This isn't the first manga I've read (I've read all of the giddy angstiness of Mars long before I discovered a hidden anime nut, and I've recently read and enjoyed Alice 19th because I could follow Yuu Watase's style after watching Fushigi Yuugi, as well as reading all of the FY: Genbu Kaiden translated so far), but it's certainly a rare occasion for me, because I find mangas of stories that I haven't seen in anime form first, hard to follow. I am not used to graphic novels and my eyes jump first to the words and try to see the pictures as secondary, and it's not something you can do with manga. I have to force myself to slow down, and look at pictures and read the words at the same time, and to look at pictures carefully. Usually I find it very hard and just give up (e.g. Saiyuki manga is gorgeous, but I can't follow the fights at all).
(Aram and Airi)
But MeruPuri? Is very pretty, the flowery (and appropriate for this type of fairy tale) style of the fictional magic kingdom reminding me of Louis XV (and not just because of Jeile's outfits). It's funny, and light, and a bit mushy. Airi, the heroine, is rather fun, and Aram (the hero) is certainly a bit unusual (is he a 12 year old? A 12 year old trapped in a young man's body? A young man? Both? Neither?). And the men are certainly awfully pretty. It is also short, only four volumes. I started reading it and really wanted to finish it and had to buy it.
(Aram and Jeile)
Plot: Airi is a high school student, a bit too obsessed with normal life and finding a perfectly normal man to marry and have a family with. Unfortunately for her, one morning on the way to school, she has a 12 year old kid called "Aram" appear out of her odd, heirloom mirror. Aram insists he is a prince of a magical kingdom Astale, and has been banished as a result of a spell by his older half-brother Jeile. He is very cute, even if rude and a bit odd, so while Airi disregards his story, she does take him in to at least feed him. Airi lets the kid stay overnight, but in the morning she discovers that the spell has transformed Aram into a young man, because he ages when he is in the dark. And he tells her that only her kiss can return him to his original self (though if he get stuck in the dark, the whole cycle will have to be repeated). And it goes on from there.
And to steal an idea from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
crumpeteer, I have a Quote of the Day, and this time it's from MeruPuri.
Aram: Don't say I am cute. It's like saying "He can breathe without planning ahead."
Aram:
And more Aram. Why do magic hotties never show up in MY house? (Oh yeah, I am married. Right.)
Jeile:
Grown-up and child versions of Aram, with Airi in a bizarre sandwich:
Beefcake. Get your beefcake here. Aram is with Airi and Jeile is the left-most guy:
Airi and kid-Aram:
Airi:
Pretty:
Hey girl, I feel your pain. You fell asleep with a kid to comfort him and wake up in a hot guy's arms. Yeah. Horrible. Dreadful. Move over. (Also, maybe you should meet up with Takiko from FY: Genbu Kaiden. She thought hers was a girl):
A bigger Aram and Jeile pic. Could those pants be any lower?
Airi and Jeile. I keep wanting to spell it 'jelly:'
More pretty:
Victoriana run amuck. Airi and kid Aram:
Anyway, on to the topic of this post. I've been bit by a manga bug. I've found a manga I can read and like. The manga in question? MeruPuri. This isn't the first manga I've read (I've read all of the giddy angstiness of Mars long before I discovered a hidden anime nut, and I've recently read and enjoyed Alice 19th because I could follow Yuu Watase's style after watching Fushigi Yuugi, as well as reading all of the FY: Genbu Kaiden translated so far), but it's certainly a rare occasion for me, because I find mangas of stories that I haven't seen in anime form first, hard to follow. I am not used to graphic novels and my eyes jump first to the words and try to see the pictures as secondary, and it's not something you can do with manga. I have to force myself to slow down, and look at pictures and read the words at the same time, and to look at pictures carefully. Usually I find it very hard and just give up (e.g. Saiyuki manga is gorgeous, but I can't follow the fights at all).
(Aram and Airi)
But MeruPuri? Is very pretty, the flowery (and appropriate for this type of fairy tale) style of the fictional magic kingdom reminding me of Louis XV (and not just because of Jeile's outfits). It's funny, and light, and a bit mushy. Airi, the heroine, is rather fun, and Aram (the hero) is certainly a bit unusual (is he a 12 year old? A 12 year old trapped in a young man's body? A young man? Both? Neither?). And the men are certainly awfully pretty. It is also short, only four volumes. I started reading it and really wanted to finish it and had to buy it.
(Aram and Jeile)
Plot: Airi is a high school student, a bit too obsessed with normal life and finding a perfectly normal man to marry and have a family with. Unfortunately for her, one morning on the way to school, she has a 12 year old kid called "Aram" appear out of her odd, heirloom mirror. Aram insists he is a prince of a magical kingdom Astale, and has been banished as a result of a spell by his older half-brother Jeile. He is very cute, even if rude and a bit odd, so while Airi disregards his story, she does take him in to at least feed him. Airi lets the kid stay overnight, but in the morning she discovers that the spell has transformed Aram into a young man, because he ages when he is in the dark. And he tells her that only her kiss can return him to his original self (though if he get stuck in the dark, the whole cycle will have to be repeated). And it goes on from there.
And to steal an idea from
crumpeteer, I have a Quote of the Day, and this time it's from MeruPuri.Aram: Don't say I am cute. It's like saying "He can breathe without planning ahead."
Aram:
And more Aram. Why do magic hotties never show up in MY house? (Oh yeah, I am married. Right.)
Jeile:
Grown-up and child versions of Aram, with Airi in a bizarre sandwich:
Beefcake. Get your beefcake here. Aram is with Airi and Jeile is the left-most guy:
Airi and kid-Aram:
Airi:
Pretty:
Hey girl, I feel your pain. You fell asleep with a kid to comfort him and wake up in a hot guy's arms. Yeah. Horrible. Dreadful. Move over. (Also, maybe you should meet up with Takiko from FY: Genbu Kaiden. She thought hers was a girl):
A bigger Aram and Jeile pic. Could those pants be any lower?
Airi and Jeile. I keep wanting to spell it 'jelly:'
More pretty:
Victoriana run amuck. Airi and kid Aram:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-04-26 11:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-26 11:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 04:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 01:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 12:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 12:27 am (UTC)brainwashedobedient, when it comes to anime.no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 01:14 am (UTC)Personally though, I'm fond of Jeile. He's a screw up and a fop, but he's an extremely sweet guy.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 03:24 am (UTC)And speaking of sexy, whoa, grown-up Aram! HOT. I am so amused by Airi's reaction which is partially "OMG, I cannot believe the HOTNESS I got in my hands" and partially "but isn't he really 12, before the spell?" (And a bit of "I am married, what????")
stuck between being a boy and a man since he's extremely innocent...In a lot of ways he acts a lot more older and authoritative than Jeile does.
Yeah, I think Jeile is a lot more childish, even if he is older. Aram, even in his kid form, is one pretty grown-up kid. I have to say though, that grown-up Aram is definitely added to my manga/anime boyfriend list. It's that combo of sweetness and inborn arrogance and complete directness (he is utterly straightforward and as subtle as a brick). Mmmmmm. And yeah, he knows how to smolder. When he does that whole wedding thing (and later puts a tattoo on her) is very hot. I felt a bit weird reading it on the metro :P
specifically when he demands that Airi sleep with him since they're married and I get the impression he knows exactly what that means
He certainly seems to have a breast...ahem...appreciation. And the mangaka definitely likes to get the two of them alone and half-dressed, where he hugs her and is kissing her neck, it looks like, and is being all super into her.
I've also found out that I can get used to manga style of an author if I read for a bit. It just clicks. Off to read more!
Jeile is nice, but a bit too goofy for my taste.
P.S.
Date: 2006-04-27 03:42 am (UTC)Re: P.S.
Date: 2006-04-27 01:01 pm (UTC)Re: P.S.
Date: 2006-04-27 01:57 pm (UTC)Pretty pretty icon.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 12:59 pm (UTC)Hey, if I ended up with the manga version of Jared Padalecki randomly showing up in my bed, I wouldn't argue all that much either. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
It's that combo of sweetness and inborn arrogance and complete directness
And I like Aram because of that. There's just something about a guy who just so difinitively states "she's mine, you can't have her" in a conversation to other guys. And he is extremely arrogant, but he's somehow outmatched by Airi (maybe because she treats him like he's 12).
Jeile is nice, but a bit too goofy for my taste.
In volume 3 you get to see how sweet Jeile really is, as he's totally rooting for Aram/Airi but has to be careful because he's out of favor in the palace. Jeile is a sweetheart, and a good brother.
The mangaka is just releasing the series Vampire Knights in Shojo Beat in the next couple months. I'd look for the first volume sometimes soon. I love her style.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 01:53 pm (UTC)I just finished Vol. 3 and you are right. I am now a Jeile fan. He is so sweet and helpful to Airi when she is left all alone, thrown in prison, Aram not remembering her etc. He gets her out of prison and I love that he does it by claiming her as his woman, French maid outfit and all, but he tells her (and means it) that this was the only way he could protect her. He knows his slutty scatterbrain rep and uses it when needed. Which is so cool. And he is the one telling her stuff about the forbidden house, and the memory box and everything.
You are right, hed is a very good brother. He helps Airi out partially for her sake (he isn't in love with her, because it's Jeile, but he does like her), but I think also because he knows that un-brainscrambled Aram loves her and he wants to help his brother out too.
It's funny how when you start reading you think Jeile is going to be the villain of the piece, and instead he turns out to be a typical elder brother who got a bit annoyed and carried away.
Of course, the real villain, Raz, makes me want to smack him hard. Because, boo-hoo, you are not in line to the throne because of Airi's great-grandma marrying someone else instead of your ancestor. Leaving aside the issue that it's not Airi who did it, he should be thanking great-grandma on his knees. If his forebearer married the Princess instead of who he did marry, he, Raz, would by definition not exist. Ugh. Moron.
And he is extremely arrogant, but he's somehow outmatched by Airi (maybe because she treats him like he's 12).
And the thing is, he lets her do all that because he is so into her, and you don't realize how off his baseline to be treated this way is, until the memory box takes all his memories of Airi away and so he treats her the way he would a stranger. He is unbelievably arrogant and "Who are you, commoner girl, and how dare you speak to me so informally. Don't touch me" etc. But there is still kissing :P
I've got one volume left, eeeee! I like that Airi is not taking this lying down (well, she might like to :P) but is trying to break the spell and also smack some sense into Aram. I do hope he feels really really sorry when he comes to :)
The mangaka is just releasing the series Vampire Knights in Shojo Beat in the next couple months. I'd look for the first volume sometimes soon. I love her style.
Vampires. And knights. Can it really get any better?
no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 08:55 pm (UTC)Raz annoys me as he has an unequal ratio of destructive impulse to actual childhood trauma.
The thing I love after he loses his memories even though he's all arrogant, he's still really attracted to Airi (his "well, you can be my *other* wife" is hilarious in a way) and can't figure out why. Of course if would all be fixed a lot sooner if Jeile would just wrestle little Aram to the floor and have Airi kiss his chest to prove that he won't die, but then where's the fun in that (aside from the kissing part)?
Vampire Knights is supposed to be bish-a-licious (there are apparently several pretty boys in it since the mangaka believes in the "always room for one more" policy when it comes to bishies).
no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 11:03 pm (UTC)Raz annoys me as he has an unequal ratio of destructive impulse to actual childhood trauma.
Exactly. And he is kinda wimpy, too. I have this hilarious image of him in the baddies' support group, as he lays out his trauma and people like Nakago or Kou or Folken lay the smackdown on him. Heck, maybe people like Kenshin or Hakkai even though not baddies can join in. Ugh.
he's still really attracted to Airi (his "well, you can be my *other* wife" is hilarious in a way) and can't figure out why.
Yeah, and it makes him even more cranky to her. He is so cute when he is arrogant and clueless.
aside from the kissing part
Heee. That would be worth it just for that. This manga certainly had a lot of kissing. Btw, does Aram turn back into a kid only when se kisses his face? Or how does it work?
mangaka believes in the "always room for one more" policy when it comes to bishies
Yay!
no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 03:59 am (UTC)try Hot Gimmick.... i love that manga to death!!!!
no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 04:03 am (UTC)And yeah, MeruPuri is adorable.
here you go!!!!
Date: 2006-04-27 04:20 am (UTC)Hot Gimmick
In company-owned rabbit-hutch apartments live tenants who can't afford to live anywhere else. And in the complex where sixteen year old Hatsumi Narita lives, everyone's lives are ruled by the rumor-mongering, self-righteous landlady, Mrs. Tachibana. Get on Tachibana's bad side, and life becomes hell.
When Hatsumi has to buy a pregnancy test because her popular sister Akane thinks she's pregnant, Mrs. Tachibana's son, Ryoki, who used to bully Hatsumi as a kid, catches her and promises not to tell the world about Hatsumi's secret as long as she becomes his slave.
Suddenly Azusa, Hatsumi's protector in their youth, reappears to save her again! He's moving back into the neighborhood! Despite the budding romance between Hatsumi and Azusa, Ryoki has control over her through the secret that could ruin the lives of everyone in Hatsumi's family, and he hasn't forgotten who his slave is! And he'll make sure Hatsumi doesn't forget either!
Re: here you go!!!!
Date: 2006-04-27 01:58 pm (UTC)Re: here you go!!!!
Date: 2006-04-27 04:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-11 07:53 am (UTC)Great pics by the way.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-12 02:42 am (UTC)No, haven't come across any and I would have loved to!
no subject
Date: 2006-06-12 02:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-12 03:32 am (UTC)http://insaneidiot.livejournal.com/48618.html?style=mine
no subject
Date: 2006-06-12 05:44 am (UTC)http://community.livejournal.com/merupuri/14261.html?view=98997#t98997