Endgame Part 3 - The Happily Ever After Ending

The denouement ending is hardly the only one that's cliche. In fact, most type of endings tend to get done to bits because, let's face it, there are only so many ways to end something. But there are variations within those types of endings that make them suitable to certain types of stories and certain story resolutions.

For instance, the "happy ever after" ending (and variations thereof) is ubiquitous to romance novels but you can find them in all kinds of novels that (a) end happily and (b) aren't in a series. Although it's as cliché as possible, it's also effective and satisfying if done properly (more on that later), but it's also not appropriate for dealing with stories that have ugly or tragic endings or stories that are part of a larger saga where we'll be revisiting our characters elsewhere. A happily-ever-after ending is well suited to romance or adventure or character-driven stories where our characters end up in a happy place.

Happily-ever-after endings have tremendous variations. Some follow so closely on the climax or revelation ("I love you!") they could look like a climax/revelation ending, but there are several key factors that makes them different.

First, the relationship situation must be resolved—love confessions made and accepted, friendships, partnerships, and familial relationships clarified and perhaps celebrated. Generally, the action/excitement climax has happened before we clean up the relationship aspect. So, though the relationship climax may be on the last page, chances are good the action/danger aspects have generally already been resolved. This relationship resolution can be simple and straightforward ("I love you, you know." "I know.") or complicated as one likes, taking paragraphs or whole chapters. Note that all relationships don't have to be resolved, but the key relationships of the main characters (including with each other) need to be.

The situation of the main characters have to be in a good position for the long haul. That means they're not dealing with horrible tragedy to struggle through or left in a situation where the end result is in question. That means, if they're left stranded in a lifeboat, we need to be certain rescue is coming. That means that one can't be dying of cancer unless a miracle cure is on the horizon. However, it does not mean the hero and heroine are a couple, or married, or even romantically involved in any way, just that they're both satisfied with the relationship as it has become. It does not mean that all their problems are solved—they don't have to win the lottery or have their dream jobs or make their business a success. Asthma doesn't have to be cured or the pegleg regrown, as long as the characters are content with the lives that face them. It doesn't mean that the main characters got what the wanted (gold metal), just that they're happy anyway.

All of this doesn't have to be overt either. Our main characters can just resolve/clarify the relationship, with the reader left to conclude that all is well. ("And they lived happily ever after." Or "Let's go home." etc).

Or it can be overt (even exhaustingly so). There are a whole slew of options on how to show this, including considerable time with characters post "resolution" that allow both relationship/future to be further clarified and some/all of side threads tied up. Or, there's the ever-popular foreshadowing of the future with glimpses of near or far future with situations that clarify long-term success either with walks down the aisle, watching a child graduate or the infamous old couple celebrating their umpteenth anniversary.

There's nothing inherently wrong with the happily-ever-after ending in my opinion. I've used it for three out of five novels. It's well suited, particularly, to character-driven novels when, even when the story's effectively ended, you're not quite ready to let the characters go. But, there are dangers and a reader should be aware of them.

Making everything too happy. If everything tidies itself up perfectly, with all conflicts resolved to the best possible outcome and our main characters cooing at each other incessantly, I won't be the only reader with his or her stomach turning. Life isn't that tidy and having everything too rosy is a good way to alienate the reader or to make even a very believable appealing story come off sounding false. Nor am I the only one who tends to think idealized relationships are probably doomed.

Dragging it out too long. It's hard, when you have characters you love, not to add bits and pieces to share with readers you hope love them too. Still, once the story arc is ended and the crisis is past, there's only so long you can drag out the thread-tying and relationship clarifying/reveling without boring the reader to death. Happy relationships, I might add, are boring relationships to the outside most of the time. Set up what you need to so the reader is comfortable with where they are and where they're going, then leave the rest for the reader's imagination. I have a rule of thumb that, post climax, the book should end within two chapters (and only that long if you have some big pieces that still need to be put into place). Not saying that has to be your rule, but if you look back and see the story climax happening nine chapters back, you might want to ask yourself if (a) you need everything afterwards and (b) what resolutions you might be able to clear up before the climax so that it can wind down a bit faster.

Happy endings fall in and out of fashion, even if there are some genres where they are de rigeur, but there's nothing wrong with one as long as it's not too sugary and not dragged out too long. End it when you have the resolution you need and not beyond that point. Keep the characters as charming and entertaining as they need to be until the end.

The goal is to leave the reader satisfied, not bored, not anxious.

More endings to come.

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Endgame Part 2

So, if climax and denouement endings are powerful and have great impact, why not end all your novels that way? Well, because they have limitations.

There isn't one perfect ending type for every story because it depends on what story you're telling and, largely, what the focus of the story is, what the emotional draw to the story is.

In general, you see climax and denouement endings on plot driven books where the emotions being drawn from the reader are terror, suspense, tension, excitement, where the story is all about the circumstances or the mystery, the danger of a situation or set of situations. Once you've addressed the mystery or the danger, the story is over. However, if you have primary characters that the reader is emotionally attached to, invested in, this kind of ending can leave the reader feeling cheated.

For example, using the same climax ending from the previous post:

Mickey smirked as the last of his shots echoed and faded. Cautiously, he approached the figure sprawled face down in a muddy puddle rapidly turning red,. His smirk turned to a grin as he saw the gaping red holes in the black duster. The bastard was dead for sure.

Mickey kicked the corpse for good measure. "Prick," he said around his cigarette. "You should have killed me when you had the chance."

"True," he heard behind him. Mickey swung around in disbelief and hardly had time to register Lamont was alive behind him before the top of his head was blown away.

"Wrong prick," Lamont said, holstering his weapon. He walked away without a glance behind him for the dead.

If Lamont is the MC, killing Mickey may mean the end of Lamont's troubles. If the reader's involvement with Lamont is completely a part of this story, the reader might close the book happily, convinced that Lamont can take care of himself without worrying what might wait in his future. Depending on how much readers liked Lamont, they might be interested in future work where he figures in, but there's no urgency. As long as the key threats and threads of this story are tied with Mickey's death, the readers are cool.

But, what if Mickey is the MC, someone the readers followed through the whole book, thrilled for, worried for, stressed for. They're unlikely to be satisfied when he's blown away and left for dead. Readers are going to want an explanation (how did Lamont fool him?). They're going to want to know what will happen to Lamont (Will anyone make him pay? Will he be going after whoever Mickey might have been shielding/defending?) They're going to feel like the whole mess was a cheat. Why were they made to care about this guy just to blow him away? Which isn't to say you can't kill your MC, but that you'd better get the reader some resolution on why it happened, what made the story worthwhile anyway. The climax ending, in this case, won't work.

If a character, like Lamont, is the focus of the story, rather than the situation, with Lamont being multi-faceted and loaded down with history, relationships, and concerns beyond the risk from Mickey, this ending won't work either. If the readers are truly invested in Lamont, in him as a person, resolving the situation here may not be enough for them unless the writer has carefully cleaned up everything else that's key before. In general, the climax ending is for a book about a particular crisis where the crisis is the focus rather than characters or other relationships. It's very effective for a surprise ending, but it's risky if it's a surprise the reader is going to hate.

The case is similar for the denouement ending. Surprises are welcome, but you'd best not impinge on characters the reader is heavily invested in, which is one reason mysteries often use complex and intriguing characters to solve the mystery that are relatively outside the mystery itself. The characters who are involved might be likable or sympathetic, but the reader is generally not so invested that any answer is going to cause heartburn. Lord Peter Wimsey and his valet, Bunter, are fantastic characters, but readers all know Wimsey/Bunter, at least, didn't do it. Anyone else is fair game. The story arc is all about the mystery, this mystery, and its resolution, so that's why the denouement ending can work for those kinds of stories over and over again. Because the reader doesn't really have an investment with the victims affected by the mystery, with the implications, addressing the mystery itself is enough.

However, get a character the reader has a stake in involved - Sherlock Holmes' theoretical daughter ends up dead/implicated - and the author will need some extra time post mystery solution to address the impacts of those events on the characters the reader might care about.

And that's why climax/denouement endings are challenging to use for situations where the reader is meant to identify closely with a concerned character. Solving the crises/mystery isn't enough - the reader wants to understand the impacts to the people he cares about, needs to be reassured that the characters are in a stable state, have dealt with any tragedy they've faced personally, are ready to move on. So, the suitability of the ending is tied to whether the reader is tied to the situation or the characters with regards to the story.

So, what do you do for character driven stories or stories that involve something bigger than the specific crisis (for example, a book focused on a war campaign and its resolution, while the war continues before and after)?

Good question. I'll talk about some other ending types next time.

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Endgame Part 1

So you know what an ending is supposed to do, barest minimum: resolve things and bring the story arc to a close. But is that enough?

Not hardly. The ending, like the end game in chess, makes a hell of difference on the caliber of the game. Leaving the story arc unresolved may ruin the story, but making an ending that totally rocks can mean the difference between a "not-bad" book and "the best book ever!"

If it's the second kind you're shooting for, you'd best aim to do more than just resolve a few loose ends and write "THE END." Endings can have tremendous impact and power, can really reinforce the sense of the story, set a tone, add dessert to the meal of the book as it were and even set the stage for future work (or just a future for your characters). But that doesn't just happen. You have to make it happen. To do that, you have to know what you're trying to do with your ending.

For instance, in a high-tension thriller type novel, you might want to be keeping the reader guessing until the last minute taking the climax to the very end. Something like:

Mickey smirked as the last of his shots echoed and faded. Cautiously, he approached the figure sprawled face down in a muddy puddle rapidly turning red,. His smirk turned to a grin as he saw the gaping red holes in the black duster. The bastard was dead for sure.

Mickey kicked the corpse for good measure. "Prick," he said around his cigarette. "You should have killed me when you had the chance."

"True," he heard behind him. Mickey swung around in disbelief and hardly had time to register Lamont was alive behind him before the top of his head was blown away.

"Wrong prick," Lamont said, holstering his weapon. He walked away without a glance behind him for the dead.

This kind of ending is terrific for a short story, where you don't have much to clean up and the impact of the ending is enough to flavor the whole story. You can use it for a novel too as long as you've already resolved anything else that needs cleaning up. If not, don't use it. And, if you do use it, leave it as close to the climax as you can. Don't succumb to the temptation of going back and adding more. This kind of ending is most powerful if you end it like I did without extraneous winding down like describing him getting into this car and having some philosophical thoughts. You can end with philosophical thoughts, of course, but it's no longer a climax ending.

If you need a minimum of clean-up to your climax ending you can do the mystery staple, a denouement ending wherein the climax comes only a handful of pages from the end but is still centered on shock and awe, before explaining why it ended the way it did:

"In the end, the real murderer was his apparently innocent teenage daughter, frustrated beyond belief at the limited number of text message she was allowed on her cell phone. Driven to madness by being able to text only once every other minute, she killed her father by sliding her nail file into his ear so that the wound was hardly noticeable, especially after the car accident."

[Then explain, explain, explain, perhaps some tearful remorse by our teenager, now faced with the prospect of jail where she'll be stuck with a corded phone shared with twelve other inmates. Maybe our detective with smoke a well-earned pipe.]

The tighter and shorter you make the after explanations/winding down, the more impact it tends to have, so open questions and resolutions are often crammed in there willy nilly. Mysteries tend toward this model because you don't have to tie up loose ends as you go, it keeps tension up until nearly the very end and, well, it's easy. Let's face it, it's a formula that's been played until cliché. You can use it for non-mysteries, of course, but you need to be careful. Cleaning lots of stuff up neatly in a couple of pages often feels contrived and bewildering. It can be done, cleverly and so tidily that you impress the reader instead of bore them, but it takes a crisp conclusion that tidies itself to really make it shine. Otherwise, it tends to sound slipshod and clumsy.

More to come.

[Wow, a whole blog post without mentioning manga!]

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Bringing it to a Close...Part 2

When it comes to endings, it's important to appreciate what an ending is supposed to do. And not do.

Endings, in general, should pull the story arc together and bring it to a close. There are exceptions to this, of course - television shows left hanging, manga chapters with shocking revelations on the last page so that readers will be desperate to find out why and what the implications are in the next issue. It's a gimmick that's worked well for long-running serial works for ages.

But, in my opinion, that's not the kind of "ending" for a novel. Oh, it's been done and there are series of novels where several volumes are nothing more than a lead-in to the next. But, it's a copout, and a stupid gamble for any author that doesn't already have a huge and slavish following. A novel is a sizable investment in time and effort, not just on a writer's part, but on a reader's part. If a reader comes to the end of that investment and feels cheated, well, what are the chances they're going to invest in your next book? Maybe, if they're completely in love with your characters and story, but they are just as likely, if not more likely, never to pick up anything you've written again in case they get cheated again.

Oh, and for the record, even if you have a huge and slavish following as an author, shame on you if you play this "leave 'em hanging" game. Can't you keep your following without such gimmicks?

A novel, like a short story, should be able to stand on its own. It should have a complete story arc with beginning, middle, and ending that an unfamiliar reader should be able to absorb and enjoy without reading five novels before or having to read what follows. Everything required should be there. That doesn't mean there can't be allusion to characters and situations from before that would allow a fan who read the whole series to get something special. But the book should not require outside information pivotal to the story arc of this novel. This story has to stand on its own using only information provided inside the story or it's a cheat and a dirty trick to force more sales.

Not that I'm opinionated or anything.

Which leads me to my number one, my biggest and most essential ingredient to any ending: resolution. You've got to bring this story arc, novel or story, to a satisfactory close. Not necessarily a joyous one or a comfortable one. Happily ever after isn't required. Everyone doesn't have to fall in love and every loose end doesn't have to be neatly tied.

But the big ones do. The characters need to be in a stable condition (even if something else might be looming in the amorphous future). The crisis(es) that formed the focus(ii) of this story need to be resolved, even if it's not the ending the reader was hoping for. Ideally, relationships should be at an equilibrium (though, if that's just a sidelight instead of the focus of the story, that's less important). Key people need to have learned something, grown in some way.

As an author, you need to be aware of where your story's headed, whether you're a planner or a seat-of-the-pantser like me. Maybe not the specific ending for the story, but where you want your characters to be and what you want to accomplish with the story. The ending is your last chance to have your say and accomplish your goals, but you lay the groundwork for that ending from the very beginning, whether your ending is effectively polishing off a fulfilling entree or topping off a light meal with dessert.

You want to leave your reader feeling satisfied, you need an ending that makes the reader feel like all their time and effort was worth it. Which is the best possible advertisement for your next book. Or even an incentive to read that book again.

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Bringing It to a Close...Part 1

So. who did I scare?

I'm not talking about bringing this blog to a close, by the way, but wandering back to topic, i.e., writing. Not that I didn't think the talk on manga wasn't about writing, but it wasn't about novels per se and was focused on what both mangas and I tend to like best: characters.

In fact, I've spent an inordinate time speaking about characters, protagonists and villains and even side characters. But, as Relax Max pointed out (correctly) characters ain't enough. You're going to need a story. There's several pieces to the story: the premise, the plot, including climax and wind-down. How you introduce the story (and the characters) can make or break a novel/short story because many who might be interested in such things will stop reading quickly if the beginning doesn't grab their attention no matter how good your follow-through might be.

But, far too often I think, I find writers are lax with endings. Since I'm a backwards soul, I'm going to talk about that first. Partly because I'm contrary. Partly because I just had a distinct example.

[Spoilers here for Hana Kimi - if that's a manga you've been meaning to read and you don't want to know how it ends, stop here and come back after the "spoilers over" notice]

Pardon me for a moment as I temporarily allude back to manga. I recently read a series called Hana-Kimi, a long one (145 chapters, 23 volumes). Lovely characters, weak premise (as it frequently is), but amusing (not laugh out loud) and appealing. I wanted to know how they were going to pull it all together. I wanted to know what would happen to all these interesting people. I'm all geared to put this on my "must-have" list, put all the volumes on my wishlist for Amazon and then read the last handful of chapters.

Oh. Damn.

143 chapters of everyone working toward a single goal, allowing our heroine to stand side-by-side by her hero, no matter what. All of that was tossed away in chapter 144 for no discernible reason. True, our protagonists get "sort of" back together a year later (at least they're in the same country), but really, that was the only alternative? What was the point of the 143 chapters that came before? The dozens of friends and compatriots standing up for them? The many sacrifices made along the way? OK, it's a very Japanese ending, self-sacrifice in the face of support, but still. Everyone suffers. What were we all rooting for for so long?

And all the loose ends, those suffering from unrequited love or having the potential for all kinds of things (including winning national/international championships) left undone or unnoted. Even the MAIN characters are only promised to be promised three years after the original parting.

[End spoiler]

How frustrating!

Instead of me desperately trying to figure out how to justify buying 23 volumes of a manga when I've already bought so much, I'm quietly removing them from my wishlist. I no longer "have to have them" - now I'm not sure I want them at all.

Now, people can sell a lot of books that way, and not just manga. There are many series that have gone on forever, dragging on love stories or a plot arc over so many books that you wonder the author can remember what the characters look like. And, in all fairness, if you managed to capture an audience's interest for book after book without a real resolution, the temptation to continue to cash in on that notion has to be pretty high PLUS you could make an argument that, once you've gone to a certain length, no ending's going to be quite good enough to make your readers satisfied.

I suspect, in the case of some book series, some movie series and undoubtedly any number of manga, the end comes across as anti-climactic or unsatisfying because there's no ending good enough. Or worse, it comes to a close unexpectedly and they just don't have enough room to put it together properly.

But it can happen within in a single novel, too. Mickey Spillane said, "Nobody reads a mystery to get to the middle. They read it to get to the end. If it's a letdown, they won't buy anymore. The first page sells that book. The last page sells your next book." That's true of any book, in my opinion, not just mysteries.

A satisfying read means that, when you're done, you feel like things have been resolved sufficiently that the time you spent with these characters and in this story arc were well-spent. A bad ending can send even the best read into a tail-spin to crash and burn.

So, what do you need for a good ending? Good question. And one for the next post.

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An Experiment

So, Relax Max on Slap and Tickle suggested I write a story about a picture as he did. He was suggesting, I think, stealing a picture from my many favorite manga, but I know too much about the stories behind the pictures. It would corrupt me. So, in keeping with that, I'll just use the picture he used for his story, whatever it is. Instead of running a dime novel, though, I'll go for a stand alone story.

"My God, man! Do you know what you've got here?"

"Who the hell are you? And what were you saying to my sister? Marian! Marian! Was this creep bothering you? Damn it, you bastard! Why is she crying?"

"She's too sensitive, can't take the truth. Given the quality of her skin, the last thing she should be doing is crying. Really, honey, you'll look like a hag before forty if you don't do something about your skin."

"Bwaah! I'm going to find a teacher! You big meanie! Will you beat him up for me, Will?"

"If he doesn't get his hands off my face. What is your problem, asshole?"

"Your skin, on the other hand, is fabulous! So soft and your pores! Do you know what Britney Spears would give for your pores?"

"Let go, you freak. Let go my leg!"

"And your hair! I have a stylist friend, Lina, who would squeal with joy to run her fingers through your hair."

"You'll be squealing in something if you don't bloody well get your hands off my face and out of my hair. What's wrong with you?"

"My dear boy, I'm makeup artist to the stars. Your face couldn't be in better hands."

"Look here, nutcase, the only reason I haven't knocked you down the stairs is because I think that would actually kill you and I don't want to have to explain it. Let me go."

"So brutal. Really, so out of keeping with your beautiful skin and hair. You should be gentle, patient."

"Killing you is looking better and better."

"It's not a joke. What do you use on your face, your hair?"

"Soap."

"I'm serious. You have to take care of that skin. Do you want to end up looking like Brad Pitt?"

"Actually, that doesn't sound too bad as long as I'm not saddled with a dozen kids. You have five seconds to let me go before I start swinging."

"Believe me, handsome, you don't want his skin. Get within five feet and he looks like a troll. Hmm. You could use some mascara, though."

"That's it!"

[Punch, tumble, tumble, tumble.]

Apparently, the story I had in mind was all in dialog.

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MangaMania Contest Concluded

So, my first ever contest is over with at least five of my thirteen entries showing up before I officially announced the contest. So, here are the books again:

Rasetsu 1
Night of the Beasts 1
Kimi ni todoke 1
Otomen 1
Bride of the Water God 1
Vampire Knight 1
Fruits Basket 20

(Rating Loved, Liked, Didn't Like, Been Taken) Note that Rasetsu and particularly Night of the Beasts are both in used (but decent) condition thanks to my toddler. The rest are in pristine like new condition (since I only read them once or not at all if they're a duplicate). All except Fruits Basket are the first in the series. Remember, just because I didn't like them didn't mean they were bad.

Winners (in order of drawing):

Jeff King
Jeff King
Jeff King
Jeff King
Relax Max
The Mother
flit

Choosing which book(s) you want is a matter of whoever comes and asks first. Send me an email stephanieebarr at gmail dot com and let me know your preferences which include:

(a) which book(s) you want [or "surprise me"]
(b) your address/name if you want the book(s) OR you can say "send it to Jeff" since I think he was the only one trying to win OR you can say "Donate it to the library"

If you really want a particular book, email sooner rather than later because I will be choosing who gets what book based on who tells me first. First come, first serve. You might want to include alternates.

I will go to your blogs and let you know you all won. Thanks for those of you who bore with my Manga Mania. Believe it or not, it's still not out of my system. In fact, I seem obsessed with Dengeki Daisy, having read the entire series now three times in the past two weeks - and starting it again. Clearly, I'm wanting to get something specific out of it. I wonder what...

But I'll try to keep it out of the blog for a while.

Update: Jeff is taking Rasetsu, Night of the Beasts, Vampire Knight, and Kimi ni todoke. RM opted to send Otomen to Jeff, too. Flit's taking Bride of the Water God.

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In Memorium

Short of being underground the last few days, I don't see how anyone could not know of Japan's latest cataclysm. I don't watch the news. I was out all weekend. And I know about it.

Actually, though I would have spotted it when I checked NYT (as I do every weekday morning), my boss (who is also a geologist) brought it to my attention Friday morning. March 11 is my youngest daughter's birthday, a sister's birthday, yet for thousands if not millions of people, it will be a reminder of tragedy. As I looked at the first videos and pictures, I wept, knowing that, for untold numbers of regular people, their lives would be changed forever. I wept for the children that would never be found, the parents swept out to sea or buried in their homes, never to be seen again. I wept for the books that would never be written and songs that would never be recorded, for the ideas never brought forward by minds that are no more. I wept for the futures so many would never have . . . and for the futures altered by those losses. Mother Nature can be a ruthless bitch.



Admittedly, there are few places where she's been more brutal than Japan, a crusty edge of earth thrust up from the ocean and battered by everything Mother Nature has in her arsenal, from typhoon to tsunami to earthquake to volcano, not just now but since time immemorial.

Just to give a scope of this cataclysm, the primary earthquake that set this off, portions of Japan moved nearly four meters (13 feet) closer to the West. The earthquake released nearly twice as much surface energy as the horrific Sumatran earthquake that set off those horrible tsunamis in 2004. Not impressed yet? Try this. This earthquake has increased the speed of rotation of the earth and altered it's axis by 25 cm. That's right, our day is now 1.8 microseconds shorter because of this. From a physics standpoint, that just blows my mind.

I cannot yet grasp the scope of the effect on the people of Japan. I'm half a world away but I know people I know and have met through work, people I know who have gone and married into families there. There are people who have created things that mean something to me, devices I depend on, space hardware I admire, manga and anime I've been speaking so fervently about the past few weeks. People from Japan have changed my life, largely for the better, have touched and intrigued me.

If I'm affected, I imagine, there aren't many in Japan who aren't touched by this, changed by this, either from their own personal experiences or family and friends who have lost something or someone to this tragic event.

I grieve for you.

But, as harsh it sounds, I also have to say there are few people better suited to withstand this tragedy than the ever adaptive Japanese. Honed and battered by natural (and unnatural) adversity, up to and including to nuclear blasts, no people are more responsive, more resilient or more prepared. No society understands patience better or how to organize for the best. If they were less prepared, much of Tokyo would have toppled and fewer people would have escaped. Before the earthquake even happened, warnings were going out. Not soon enough for everyone, but there are undoubtedly lives that were saved.

I'm not making light of this horror. I've sent money to the Red Cross and I'll probably send more. This is more than any one nation should have to handle alone. Still. I have a profound respect for the Japanese culture, even if we don't always see eye to eye (Why, for instance, can't the princess take the Chrysanthemum throne?). I respect a society that learns, curbing their own imperialism and pugnaciousness, responding to Nagasaki and Hiroshima with Sony and Toyota. We can argue which ones were of the greatest impact in the long run.

I believe that Japan will come through this, even though it will be painful. I believe they will be stronger than before, as has always been their wont. I certainly hope they do.

All honor to those working even now among the devastated.

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Mangamania: Ick

Contest!

First, something I never ever do, I'm going to do. That's right, a contest! And it's a retroactive contest. See, during my manga mania, I picked up several books that I either already had or turned out didn't work out for me, including several first in a series: Otomen, Kimi ni todoke, Ratsetsu, Bride of the Water God, and Vampire Knight. I also have volume 20 (don't ask me why) of Fruits Basket over and above the whole set and volume 1 of Night of the Beasts, which I let my manga-obsessed toddler play with so I can't vouch for the condition. I figured I'd make a drawing of all those who took the effort to make a comment throughout the whole manga mania series (including those to come) and draw names out of the hat for each commenter. Then they get to pick which book they want (first come, first serve) and I'll send it to them. Five books, five winners (6-7 winners if anyone wants to take a chance on the state of Night of the Beasts or wants Vol 20 of FB). I'll include anyone who's already commented, though you can bow out if you'd like. Most are in good enough condition for regifting if you want to do that. If no one's interested, hey, I'll donate them to the local library.

And that leaves us just manga I despise. Now wait, you might be thinking, what's the difference between not liking a manga and despising it? Some manga leave me cold and uninterested, even if I could recognize how someone else could appreciate it. These manga leave me nauseous and disgusted. I don't want to know someone who could appreciate them. (My daughter recommended one of these to me - I can't tell you how much that disturbed me).

What's the line between indifferent and hatred? Sexual coercion/rape. Now don't get me wrong. These manga aren't the only ones that include blatant sexual references (though none of these here as overt as say, Butterflies, Flowers). I am not a prude and sex doesn't bother me, even in media intended for younger audiences (like older teens). Heck, I like sex. But, as soon as we introduce unwilling partners or sexual aggression in the name of "romance," I'm out of there (as I've mentioned before). Package it for young impressionable teenage girls, and I need an airsick bag.

I should also note that I couldn't care less about a number of perversions. I know a number of people who like to play sex games, including BDSM, but, even there, the word is always-- always--willing partners and it's a rule that the submissive is the one in control. (I have a relative that ran a forum on this topic for a while - you're better off not asking). This is something else entirely.

There are few things I find more destructive to women as a whole than the tendency (often by female authors) to promote the idea that women are happiest when used against their wills, that an aggressive, even abusive, boyfriend is just showing how much he loves you. In my opinion, this is a crime women commit against themselves and, though not illegal, I will not hesitate to rail against it.

Among the things I found disturbing particularly for manga intended for teenage girls:

• Physically and sexually aggressive scenes between romantic leads where every scene includes (but doesn't end with), "Please! Stop!"
• Kissing a girl painfully and "uncontrollably" because he was pissed (at someone else)
• Using rape of someone else's girlfriend as a revenge against that someone else
• Having "romantic" rivals of a girl (who covet the boyfriend) set a girl up to be beaten and/or raped
• Offering sexual favors to a man to get him to rape another girl for revenge (perhaps more disturbing given the one offering is also male)
• Girls being kissed against their will explaining to their boyfriends that it was "their fault" for not being diligent enough - and having said boyfriends agree.
• Extorting a girl into effective slavery and threatening to ruin her family is she doesn't obey. This slavery involves sexual aggression. (Note that these were the "romantic" leads)

I have to stop now. I'm getting a headache. And this is far from a comprehensive list. I need to add that these at least two of these titles are very successful. If you read out a fan's description of the story for Honey x Honey Drops in Wikipedia, perhaps you'll understand why I find these sorts of things so dangerous, as the fan who describes the story rationalizes away Renge's oppression. Ick.

I also have to say, I don't think it's a coincidence that the girls in these manga come across as abysmally stupid and weak. Or that my fondness for a manga is often inversely proportional to the character of the female protagonist. I'll include a brief premise but I don't think I'll need much to explain why these didn't work for me.

Kyou Koi wo Hajimemasu by Kanan Minami

Anime? Yes Volumes of manga: 10 Status: Ongoing

My rating: Ick

Premise: Old-fashioned girl is targeted by popular playboy for aggressive sexual teasing with the intent to drop her like a hot potato when she falls for him. Instead, she becomes fascinated with him and convinces him to come back to her, so she can be nearly raped by rivals and revenge-seekers, not to mention our "protagonist" repeatedly. She is pressured by friends to throw away her virginity or risk losing her boyfriend. Do I have to explain why I hate this?

Honey x Honey Drops by Kanan Minami

Anime? Yes Volumes of manga: 8 Status: Complete

My rating: Ick

Premise: High school is forcibly made the servant of a rich student who sexually and physically harasses and uses her (but is presumably her romantic lead). In return, her tuition is paid. If she quits, she's expelled. Ah, young love. Again, if I don't see why I would have to explain why I hate this.

Ai wo Utau Yori Oreni Oborero by Mayu Shinjo

Anime? No Volumes of manga: ? Status: Complete

My rating: Ick

Premise: A feminine-looking boy, "princess" of his all boy school, joins a girl band where he aggressively pursues the tall masculine-looking lead guitarist (the "prince" of her all-girl school). Both are additionally pursued by members of their own school sexually. The prince not only uses the admiration of the boys in his school to manipulate them to do whatever he wants, he is also somewhat brutally pursuing the innocent and ineffectual female lead who is apparently weak as a daisy. (I'm fine with role reversals, but girly-looking sexual predator is not less creepy than a masculine-looking one. Seriously.).

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MangaMania: Those I Didn't Like

Contest!

First, something I never ever do, I'm going to do. That's right, a contest! And it's a retroactive contest. See, during my manga mania, I picked up several books that I either already had or turned out didn't work out for me, including several first in a series: Otomen, Kimi ni todoke, Ratsetsu, Bride of the Water God, and Vampire Knight. I also have volume 20 (don't ask me why) of Fruits Basket over and above the whole set and volume 1 of Night of the Beasts, which I let my manga-obsessed toddler play with so I can't vouch for the condition. I figured I'd make a drawing of all those who took the effort to make a comment throughout the whole manga mania series (including those to come) and draw names out of the hat for each commenter. Then they get to pick which book they want (first come, first serve) and I'll send it to them. Five books, five winners (6-7 winners if anyone wants to take a chance on the state of Night of the Beasts or wants Vol 20 of FB). I'll include anyone who's already commented, though you can bow out if you'd like. Most are in good enough condition for regifting if you want to do that. If no one's interested, hey, I'll donate them to the local library.

Well, I've moved down the list from things I loved and have reread repeatedly, to those that appealed to me (even if I didn't understand why) to those that turned out to be less than I'd hoped. Now, we're on to those items I just didn't like. Not, burn them in the fireplace dislike, just have no interest in reading really past the first book. Note that my interest (or lack of it) has nothing to do with a books popularity. Kimi ni todoke (From Me to You), for instance, has won prestigious manga awards and is very successful. I just don't like it.

Kimi ni Todoke (From Me To You) by Karuho Shiina

Anime? Yes Volumes of manga: 13 (7 Eng) Status: Ongoing

My rating: Didn't like it.
Age: Teenager is fine. Kinda squeaky.

Premise: Painfully shy girl looks like someone scary from a movie and is treated like a pariah. When a popular boy makes friends with her, more people start to warm up to her and find out she's really a nice person.

Why I Didn't Like It: She's too nice. No matter what horrible thing is done to her, she looks for the kindness in it (and yet is suspicious at the other times inexplicably). She shows no obvious sign of smarts, but it scholarly successful and an excellent teacher. (I found there's a distinct trend between how smart the female protagonist is and how much I liked the manga). Still, I could see this appealing to someone who knew what it was like to be painfully shy--I'm not and never have been. However, the pacing on this story is so horribly slow it was frustrating. And there's no conflict in this manga besides our heroine overcoming her shyness and the ridiculously stilted romance. That's thirteen volumes and counting, folks. The manga spent like four chapters with our romantic leads "confessing" their feelings with neither of them recognizing what the other was saying and both feeling rejected. Four chapters. I just don't have enough free time to put up with that. The artwork is also just not my style.

Night of the Beasts by Chika Shiomi

Anime? No Volumes of manga: 6
Status: Ongoing?

My rating: Didn't like it. Age: Older teen for violence.

Premise: High school badass girl can take out guys hustling girls, but isn't prepared for the demon possessed that are now wandering the streets, including the strange guy, also possessed, who can only be calmed in a rampage with her touch.

Why I Didn't Like It: It sounds like the kind of premise I'd like, seriously. 'Cept I didn't. The artwork is okay, too. So, why didn't I like it? I can't actually put my finger on it except I couldn't have cared less about either character and had no interest, whatsoever, in reading more. In fact, I tried to read it again today and stopped halfway, unwilling to invest another twenty minutes. Which just goes to show that, like a novel, a good idea isn't enough. I couldn't dredge up interest in either character (neither of which seemed to act in ways that made sense to me) and no humor that appealed to me, I was left bored.


Otomen by Aya Kanno

Anime? Yes Volumes of manga: 12 (9 Eng) Status: Ongoing

My rating: Didn't like it. Age: Teenager - it's squeaky clean.

Premise: Manly highschooler, who excels in martial arts, also loves to cook and sew and do many girly things. He keeps this part of him hidden until he falls for a girl.

Why I Didn't Like It: I wanted to like this. There was comic potential. I like twisting traditional roles. There's a side character who almost appeals. The premise appeals. The artwork's not bad. Our leading man even is quite attractive. Unfortunately, he had all the charm of the terminator in the first Terminator movie. No charm, no depth, no humor. He's as cleancut as Superman without the twinkle in his eye, more like Superman in a frilly apron prone to moralizing. If the girl in question had been loaded with personality, I might have pushed past it, but, sadly, she was like a standard "school friend" side character, not a romantic lead. I tried to like it. I failed.

Rasetsu by Chika Shiomi

Anime? No Volumes of manga: 8
Status: Complete

My rating: Didn't like it. Age: Older teen, probably for violence and sexual innuendo.

Premise: Youthful hypoglocemic performs exorcisms using her spiritual skills while knowing she is doomed to become demon-fodder if she doesn't fall in love (and get loved in return) by eighteen. But no one wants her, I can't even remember why. Someone else is dragged into the ghost-busting business almost involuntarily who, I presume, is the proposed love interest.

Why I Didn't Like It: I literally could cut and paste the reason for Night of the Beasts (by the same author) in here. In fact, I will: It sounds like the kind of premise I'd like. The artwork is nice, too. So, why didn't I like it? I can't actually put my finger on it except I couldn't have cared less about either character and had no interest, whatsoever, in reading more. Which just goes to show that, like a novel, a good idea isn't enough. I couldn't dredge up interest in either character (neither of which seemed to act in ways that made sense to me) and no humor that appealed to me, I was left bored.

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