I’m doing something a little different this week. I’ve been having some health issues, and getting to the bottom of things has been taking up a lot of my time and energy, including my mental energy. I have found that it is too difficult for me to concentrate on an intellectual read while I’m worrying about my body and the strange and painful things that are currently going on inside it. So I decided that I needed something fun and different to cheer myself up. Besides being a huge fan of traditional texts, both fictional and non fictional, I also love graphic novels, comic books, and manga. I bought six out of the eight English translated volumes of The Betrayal Knows My Name by Hotaru Odagiri a long time ago. I knew that it was finally time for me to read it.
I have only gotten through Volume 1, and I am already excited to get to Volume 2. I am also preparing to buy the two volumes that I don’t have yet. I haven’t read manga in so long that I forgot how much I love it. The style of art in this series is among my favorite types, realistic but with silly cartoonish bits thrown in. The themes are among my favorites too, fantasy, other worldly, a little bit of romance and intensity. And there are so many interesting characters, I have a hard time picking a favorite and an equally hard time finding anyone to dislike. I am looking forward to learning more about the past life of the main character, Yuki, a high school aged boy, who happened to have been a female in his past life. I also am intrigued as to how Zess/Luka came to join Yuki’s new found family, the Giou clan. Finally, I have taken a special interest in the relationship between Hotsuma and Shuusei. I really want to know what happened between them that caused Hotsuma to inflict scars upon Shuusei and how they still have such a close bond after whatever occured.
I anticipate blowing through the next volume, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I manage to write a bonus review in time for Friday.
Nonfiction and Nonsense 