Topeng Kaca dan Daydreaming

It turns out my promise wasn’t suci-suci amat ya buat blog ini…

Maafkan saya pemirsa…

I started a business, it made me terribly busy… More importantly, I have the ULTIMATE JANJI SUCI that needs focus and attention, thus the neglect of the promise on the previous post… Banyaknya alasanku… Tapi nda sempat ka memang gang…

OK WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY!!!!


TOPENG KACA (Garasu No Kamen) – Mahakarya SIZUE MIUCHI

**SPOILER ALERT**

Semua yang suka komik dari tahun 90an, terutama cewek, pasti tahu tentang komik teater ini. The story line is captivating, complicated without being overly exaggerated. Not to mention  the beautiful drawing, with big sparkly crytal eyes.  Very 80s shojo manga.

It is based on a big story line, the ultimate question that has not been answered for decades: SIAPAKAH YANG AKAN MENJADI BIDADARI MERAH?? 

That is the one question that I praaaaaay - oh dear Holy Entity pleeeeeease – give me the answer before I leave this world.

Apakah Maya Kitajima akan menjadi Bidadari Merah? Sekaligus mendapatkan Masumi Hayami?? Apakah dia akan mendapatkan her happy ending kasian??
Atau kah Ayumi Himekawa si selebriti sempurna?? Few years back tanpa ragu saya berpihak sama Maya ya. Ayumi di atas kertas memang sempurna dan karakternya berkembang secara alami...Cuma we know deep down that traditionally, the imperfect clumsy normal main heroine would somehow end up winning. Tapiiiiii!!!! Tiba-tiba Ayumi diibuat buta coba sama si pengarang coba.

Miuchi sensei disappear for a decade without finishing her own masterpiece. Then she decided to continue the series, which is great btw. And then she was like “OK let’s make Ayumi blind so everyone starts reading again.”

WHY OH WHY SENSEIIII KASINAAAAAA….

Sekarang I honestly can’t pick a favorite… Antara kasihan sama Ayumi si gadis buta cantik dengan Maya yang MDL (malang dari lahir).  Apakah Maya akan melepas Bidadari Merah dan meraih cinta dengan Masumi? Mana tiba2 tunangannya Masusmi jadi gila ka apa opole… Dramanya…

Truthfully I can’t say I like the time setting change as well…. Miuchi sensei decided to continue the series with time adaptation to recent time, thus the technology changes in the manga. However, I like it the 80s kind of way, from where the manga started its story… No cellphones, no internet… Just theater and sometimes big screen activities.

And it becomes somewhat irrelevant with today’s reality. A rivalry between two young actresses to get the role of a legendary play should become a public fiesta, should it not? So naturally, if it does take the modern setting, it would have some sort of public voting or netizen polling of some sort.

I personally find the new series lacking… The story feels like being dragged, the drawing isn’t as strong as it was… That’s just my opinion, though.

Regardless, I still read them because again: I NEED TO KNOW WHO THE BIDADARI MERAH IS.

I truly wish, before I die, I should get the answer of that question.

OK NEXT TOPIC.

DAYDREAMING / Yumono Mahiru – YOSHIMURA AKEMI

Now this one.

It is full with powerfull words. So many of it I actually memorize some of them. Yoshimura Akemi is a genius when it comes to novel like manga... Almost graphic novel. The scene drawings are always impecable. She also tends to write characters who argues really well. Akemi sensei is really good in producing emotional dialogues. Most of the quotes I like from her works come from the arguing scenes. Akemi sensei would build up tension and climax the scene in though provoking dialogues. Examples to follow.

Daydreaming or Yumono Mahiru is a story of a girl who lives with an elderly woman who has quite a particular family. The elderly lives by herself after her husband passed away so she open a room for rent, thus enter the weak hearted girl. Later they were joined by the granny’s grandchild. The grandchild was a guy who “works’ as a spiritual medium for religious ceremonies.

It is very Yoshimura Akemi sensei. The circumstances setting are unique. She likes to have elderly characters on her work, as well as plenty of arguing-your-heart-out scene.

The girl likes to live with the granny because she can learn how to be strong hearted.

Some quotes that I truly like:

“Dia lawan. Pahami itu dengan jelas. Jangan memperlihatkan kelemahanmu. Lindungilah teritorimu dengan sekuat tenaga!”

This following quote is my favorite scene. These lines are the very reason why at this age I still read mangas. 

 So the story was, the granny’s eldest son had an illegitimate child. The said illegitimate child came to granny’s house demanding for her attention.

“Kamu meremehkan selember kertas (referring to kartu keluarga). Tapi karena tidak ada ketulusan untuk mendapatkan selembar kertas itu, kamu tidak diakui.”

“Selember kertas? Huh! Orang yang meremehkan peraturan jangan bicara soal hak.”

“Kalau kamu bilang darah lebih penting daripada kartu keluarga, perasaan juga lebih  penting daripada darah. Mana mungkin aku tiba-tiba sayang pada orang yang baru muncul dihadapanku kemarin dan hari ini? Nggak tahu malu juga ada batasnya, tahu!”

“Aku punya sembilan orang cucu yang terdaftar, sedarah, dan sah. Semuanya kubeda-bedakan. Aku hanya menyayangi cucu yang kusukai.”

Powerful stuff, yo. 

Another scene.

“Mana ada orang yang menghormati orangtua serakah yang menghabiskan sisa hidupnya demi diri sendiri dan hidup berumur panjang dengan sia-sia?! Bagaimanapun juga pasti mati! Jadi selama semangat dan kekuatan fisik masih ada, buatlah kontribusi untuk masyarakat, maju terus ke depan, demi dunia, demi manusia, baru mati! Kalau punya semangat bertarung seperti itu, baru ada gunanya kau hidup!!”

“Aku merasa seperti ada dirimu tumbuh dalam hatiku, seperti pucuk bunga yang sedang berkembang.”

Which reminds me of this one. It wasn’t from Daydreaming, but it was Yoshimura sensei’s:

“Semua anak perempuan itu bunga yang akan mekar. Kalau kamu, pasti tidak akan salah memekarkannya.”

It has such deep meaning… Every girl is a flower. Every girl will bloom. But blooming is a process, which the girl has the responsibility to decide on how she would bloom and would become…. What kind of flower you’d be is up to you.

I pray that you readers bloom your flowers beautifully.

Please pray that my ULTIMATE JANJI SUCI procession will run well, readers.

Best wishes,

Elsap.