all caught up with Tanemura

[ltgmars]

So I finally finished reading Shinshi Doumei Cross, officially Arinacchi's longest and most convoluted work to date. What I'm always impressed with in all of her works is that she is somehow able to make really complicated systems and ideas fit within their respective stories. (For example, the whole tenshi storyline in KKJ weaves a complicated story about how the tenshi and Kami-sama are connected, and how they in turn relate to Maron and the rest, but somehow it all seems to fit together.)

Part of me is a little cynical when it comes to her "plot twists", actually. Somehow they're so outlandish and so surprising that I fail to be shocked by them. She's fairly predictable in that what may seem straightforward actually isn't. Much of the time, it tugs at the heartstrings, but sometimes it feels like she's just postponing the inevitable. But hey, it pushes the story along, so I guess it's okay.

As far as SDC goes, I'd say that it didn't touch me as much as KKJ or FMoS did, but it was still fun to read. Stupidly, I can't talk too much about my favorite character because it's one of the fifty major spoilers in the series, but if you've read the series, you'd know who my favorite character is based on this comment. :3

As far as her other recent works go, part of me wishes that Mistress Fortune was a larger affair than it turned out to be, but I guess it was nice to have light-and-fluffy superficial shoujo after SDC. I'm looking forward to another dark, long series, though. And this time, I want to cry.

Comments

[goshenite.livejournal.com]

I need to read the rest of SDC. :<
I just don't have money to go buying. xD


But why am I thinking your favorite character is Maora? xD

[ayleria.livejournal.com]

But saying Maora wouldn't be a spoiler. >D

[dragonlover58.livejournal.com]

I've seen all of Full Moon, but I've never read any of Tanemura's work. Which one do you think I should read first?

[goshenite.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah! XD

...Wait, then... Ohhh! XD :D *giggle*

[imfaltering.livejournal.com]

Ah, I'm guessing you mean that character. Good choice, ha ha.
Mistress Fortune was a cute read, but I'm also waiting for something bigger and better. Tanemura is fantastic. :]

[ltgmars.livejournal.com]

I think I'd start with her shorter series and then build up in length -- accordingly, the longer it is, the more interesting and complicated it gets. So start with her debut oneshots (in Kanshaku-dama no Yuuutsu), move to ION, then go to Mistress Fortune (her latest; it's also pretty superfluous), and then Time Stranger Kyoko. From there, it's a tossup between the three longer series, and reading them in whatever order won't really make any difference. Full Moon wo Sagashite is in my estimation her best work (and it seems to be the most popular), and I think it'd be worth it to read the manga version (just in case the anime is anything like the KKJ anime, which is a cheap kiddified bastardization of something complex and beautiful). Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne is my personal favorite (and what I think is considered her "classic work", since it has a kanzenban version now). You know my opinion on Shinshi Doumei Cross, and though it may have suffered from too many "twists" and "turns" over too many books, it was still really fun to read. It just didn't have the emotional impact that FMoS and KKJ did for me. So I guess if I had to pick for those last three, the order would be SDC, FMoS, and KKJ.

If you need any of them, I'm sure I can find them online for you. Or if you want to read them in Japanese, I have the books. XD

[ltgmars.livejournal.com]

*high-fives for the Tanemura club* Whenever I read or fangirl over Tanemura's stuff, I think of you. :3