Ode to Kirihito

[CMC]

Figure'd this would make for some good discussion. That and get the word out on a great piece of literature

Found it at my local library of all places. Checked it out and read it today. And I must say it really is a departure from anything else I've seen of his work. Not in the sense of quality or the such, but in the genre. It examines human nature and it's decay better than any other manga I've read. At times some situations feel and looked rushed, leaving the reader a lot to make up or figure out on their own. But it's not likely one would come to any other conclusion than what is intended. Also I felt that early on some characters made some big decisions too quickly without much thought. Such as:

Osanai's decision to marry Tazu. She tells him it's his only choice and he only thinks but for a moment and agrees.

Later on I felt that:

Izumi acted as if she had forgotten or ignored the fact that Urabe had raped her. It was as if there was no anger or disgust towards him after what he did. It's the kinda the thing that had me thinking she may have wanted it or liked it and wanted to then be with him instead of Osanai. That or she had forgiven him, but that's not really made clear.

Otherwsie I feel the story doesn't really have any gaps or holes in it. The one scene that really stood out as a shocker to me was:

At one of Mahn's "Banquets", the first that you're introduced to, one of the spectacales was a snake swallowing a baby. And while you don't see the snake actually eat the child you are shown a portion of the snake that has a large lump in it. Now that's the visual shocker, but the mental one is the fact that Mahn only cared that the baby was bought legally from Pakistan. And that is pushed further by one of his guest shrugging the act off saying, "Boring! All you need is money to buy a snake and a baby."

There's other moments through out the book that will have you thinking, but I felt that that one in particular stood out. And it's not the only time Tezuka uses an infant to show how far gone a character is.

Another topic that is delt with heavily in the book is racism. At one point it's clear that Tezuka is using Osanai's condition as a metaphor for it.

So, if you've read it, what's your take? If you haven't, I suggest you do.

[CMC]

Damn, no one has read this or thought to read it?

Come on, it's got fury sex, sorta.