Rocket Bomber

Emma, vol. 4
Writer & Artist: Kaoru Mori
Published by: CMX

192 (184) pages.
Original Language: Japanese
Orientation: Right to Left
Vintage: 2004. US edition June 2007.
Translation & Adaptation: Sheldon Drzka
Lettering: Janice Chiang
Design: Larry Berry
Editor: Jim Chadwick

Publisher’s Rating: Teen Plus, for “Nudity and Suggestive Situations”
isbn 9781401211356

##

Premise: We follow our maid, Emma, and her gentleman into a wider world: It’s still a BBC/Masterpiece Theater-style historical drama, but wanders much further than a one-time London romance story… while newly revealed relationships between old characters and new rachet up the drama

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Review:

In her afterword, Mori calls this the All-Crying volume.

And indeed it is. There is a lot of drama and emotion packed into this one, and while plot-gobstoppers only drop every other chapter or so, they begin to pile up fast. In fact, were getting to the point where it will be hard to continue the review without spoilers. —I’ll try, but if you were intrigued enough by what I’ve written so far to read the books for yourself, consider yourself warned. Then you’ll want to maybe just skim past the words in this one and look at the pretty pictures.

Speaking of the art: man, my copy has like 15 sticky notes sticking out of it right now. So many panels I’d like to share… let’s see if I can pare that down to just 4.

Things between Eleanor and William are proceeding like you might expect when an attractive young lady has a crush on a seemingly available young man — better than you might expect, actually, if you read a lot of shojo manga. Circumstances and the odd bit of meddling from other characters conspire to throw the two together, in fact. One evening, at the opera (of course the Joneses have a private box) a dropped locket or other trinket leads to a search on the floor

You know, I don’t think we ever find out what Eleanor dropped, but William has certainly found something (and we can only guess what she whispered in his ear). I don’t think we know, first hand, exactly what William’s reply to Eleanor was either.

But certainly one version of that conversation gets out…

Do I need to introduce Eleanor’s sister? I think you get that from the scan above. (and please note the Jones Siblings in panels 3, & 6)

##

There is a great exchange between Emma and Mrs. Meredith on pages 112 & 113, in which Emma is shown (on top of all her other hidden talents) to have knowledge of a little Shakespeare as well. Just what has her education been like? However, I can’t post a scan as the conversation takes place in Mrs. Meredith’s dressing room, and did you notice the slight addition to the publisher’s rating for this volume? I don’t mind myself — and pg.112 is absolutely gorgeous: the pattern in the carpet, the paisley and fringes of the drapes, the London skyline (featuring Big Ben) in the background seen out the window, oh, and Mrs. Meredith absolutely starkers greeting the morning non-chanlantly. Her pose in that one, full page panel says a lot about her character, which is then reinforced in the next few pages: It’s not that she has no shame, it’s just that in the privacy of her rooms it doesn’t occur to her to be emabarassed.

Of course it’s gratitous nudity, but it does have some purpose. And Mori can really draw — in the book we have a depiction of a woman who is both middle-aged and a little curvy, while also being beautiful. (I take that back: she’s a mom but both her children are young— she’s likely just in her mid- to late twenties.) And I’d scan it, but we’ll keep the blog worksafe this week.

But enough cheesecake.

Emma and her employers are in London, as noted, and while the chances in real life of running into someone in a city of a million plus would seem to be—well, actually is—one in a million, this is fiction so of course you already know William and Emma are going to see one another again.

It’s where they meet, and how, and the events in William’s life that occurred in the interim that make all the difference. The pivotal chapter in this book is the last: Chapter 29 “Emma and William”.

Here’s how Emma looks, when you get her out of uniform. (kinda miss the glasses, though)

Aurelia, dear, would you be so kind as to make the introductions?

##

Rob McMonigal was also posting volume-by-volume reviews; read his take on Vol. 4 here

Click here for the archive of all Emma Manga Moveable Feast links

Remember this?

Not being the right kind of geek, I didn’t know which plane that was, but I knew it wasn’t 19th century — no matter how late in that century we’d care to look.

So I put the question to my research staff [uclue.com] and got the answer back last night:

Uclue Guru Byrd (and by the way, if “Uclue Guru” isn’t the official job title, you guys need to fix that.) who is, in fact, an aviation enthusiast and pilot, went above and beyond and besides in tracking down the answer to my simple question. I’m about to quote liberally from his answer, because I paid for it.

First of all, the story takes place in the 1890s. The earliest biplanes
were built during that decade, so the timeframe is slightly plausible.
However, the design of the first biplanes were nothing like the one in the
drawing. See this account with images of the Wright Brothers first biplane,
built in 1899:
http://www.fi.edu/flight/first/before.html

Here are a couple more links showing early biplanes from approximately the
same era:

“Biplane Glider of Octave Chanute, c1896 (1910)”
http://www.heritage-print.com/pictures_1229916/biplane-glider-of-octave-chanute-c1896-1910.html

“1900’s Wright Glider”
http://www.playle.com/listing.php?i=NKYPHOTOS120&PHPSESSID=a

1910 Bristol Box Kite
http://www.military-aircraft.org.uk/other-military-aircraft/bristol-boxkite.htm

You’ll notice these very early biplanes look much different than the one in
the “Emma” drawing, which would be actually quite futuristic for the time
in which the story is set. Apparently this fact was noticed by others
also.

In one review of the comic, the reviewer says, “the toy biplane on pg. 31 is
an anachronism,” which of course means something that cannot have existed
at the time stated.
http://www.rocketbomber.com/2010/03/07/emma-mmf-daily-diary-vol-1

[oh, yeah, I got a chuckle out of that bit.]

Apparently the author, or at least her staff agreed, as in a future edition
of Emma, according to another commenter, “Kaoru Mori got it half-wrong …
but the staff of the anime corrected her error. The anime still had a
flying model aircraft, but they replaced her relatively futuristic biplane
with a model of the Aerial Steam Carriage, an 1840s design that didn’t
fly but might have been known about by at least a few people (there was an
aviation display at the Crystal Palace, even if controlled, powered flight
had yet to occur):
http://etonia.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/review-emma-vols-1-2/

According to this Wikipedia article, author Kaoru Mori attempted in Emma
“to recreate 1895 London with meticulous detail.” However, since there were
no biplanes flying around London in 1895, it’s obvious that she could not
have drawn an actual biplane from that time and place.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_(manga)

After a little discussion, and the conclusion that it wasn’t an actual production model (or prototype) and certainly wasn’t extant in 1895, I asked Byrd to pick a date: He came back with:

Hi Mblind,

I’m glad you were pleased with the research and information. I believe the
closest matches to the Emma drawing might be the Avro 504 (1916), the
Bristol Fighter (1916), and the Gotha Bomber (early 1917). Therefore my
best guess as to the vintage of the biplane in the Emma drawing would be
mid-WWI or 1916.

No insult or accusation is aimed at Mori in the case. It’s a great art detail, and also says quite a bit about both William and the Joneses, in just a single page. We’ll squint a bit and pretend it’s not 21 years too early.

##

I’ve used Uclue before (for one of the rethinking the box columns, among other things) and let me again restate my recommendation: it’s a great service, and they have excellent staff, and the turnaround time [in my experience] is usually just 24 hours.

Click here for the archive of all Emma Manga Moveable Feast links

Katherine Dacey, aka The Manga Critic submits the first review of Shirley, Kaoru Mori’s other maid manga:

“At first glance, Shirley looks like a practice run for Emma, a collection of pleasant, straightforward maid stories featuring prototype versions of William, Eleanor, and Emma. A closer examination, however, reveals that Shirley is, in fact, a series of detailed character sketches exploring the relationships between three maids and their respective employers.

…

CMX obviously licensed Shirley with an eye towards pleasing Emma fans, yet Shirley also works on its own terms; if anything, folks reluctant to commit to a ten-volume series, or who roll their eyes at the prospect of a manga-fied Forsythe Saga, may find this lovely, understated collection more to their liking than the melodramatic saga of William and Emma’s forbidden romance. Highly recommended.”

My own copy of Shirley has yet to arrive (but should be here before the weekend)… I know at least a couple of other reviewers were considering this one-shot as well. I think as a special-feature-within-a-feature we’ll have “Shirley Saturday” as part of the Emma MMF.

Click here for the archive of all Emma Manga Moveable Feast links

David Welsh at The Manga Curmudgeon reposts a review originally published as one of his Flipped columns at The Comics Reporter (April 3, 2008).

“Devotees of public television should feel right at home with the Upstairs, Downstairs romance that unfolds.

…

One of the marvels of Mori’s work is that she manages to convey this without lapsing into anything resembling a social studies lesson. Her finest moments are silent and subdued, as when Emma allows herself a bashful smile as examines a gift from her suitor. At the same time, she can deliver the kind of gossipy banter that feels authentic. The complex class conflicts emerge in the below-stairs chatter among servants and pointed observations of the wealthy.”

Click here for the archive of all Emma Manga Moveable Feast links

Khursten Santos of Otaku Champloo shares with us some odds & ends with Emma, her reflections on the series:

“It honestly surprised me because as much as the entire manga is lined with images of Victorian England, at that time, I was really more caught by the story of Emma and William. Of course, back then, I was fresh from following the monthlies and like a sparkly-eyed teenager, I was rooting for the romance to work. My mind was full of William and Emma’s love affair that I answered, ‘There’s really more to Emma than its history.’”

Click here for the archive of all Emma Manga Moveable Feast links

Emma, vol. 3
Writer & Artist: Kaoru Mori
Published by: CMX

192 (180) pages.
Original Language: Japanese
Orientation: Right to Left
Vintage: 2003. US edition Mar. 2007.
Translation & Adaptation: Sheldon Drzka
Lettering: Janice Chiang
Design: Larry Berry
Editor: Jim Chadwick

Publisher’s Rating: Teen Plus, for “Suggestive Situations”
isbn 9781401211349

##

Premise: We follow our maid, Emma, and her gentleman into a wider world: It’s still a BBC/Masterpiece Theater-style historical drama, but wanders much further afield than a one-time London romance story…

##

Review:

So first, let me say if all you’re doing is reading my posts and admiring the scans, you have no idea how nice it is to have CMX’s books actually to hand: these are not glossy covers but rather a matte finish, slightly textured stock that when combined with the muted palette (and of course, the historical details) makes each book not only look but feel different from all the other manga on your shelf. Kudos, CMX.

And now, into volume three.

Hm. So.

Granted, volume two was such a grinder — not an emotional rollercoaster in the way so many would interpret the term, but there was quite a bit of drama there, and reveals of character, and some (William, I’m looking at you) acting just a shade outside of character…

OK. So, William loves Emma, and was willing to put it all on the line, and actually did for all of half a page before his father shut him down. —but that was last volume.

In vol. three, we see William trying desperately to forget Emma; not only throwing himself into the family business but also, in a full reversal, accepting any and all social invitations London society sees fit to throw his way. He puts on a brave front. Fortunately, Hakim is there to call him on it:

Emma, for her part, meant to all but retire to her childhood home (…since she had nowhere else to go) but fate and circumstance instead lands her with a new employer. Now, various translators will tell you this new family is named Molders, or Mölders — and if I’d been in charge we’d have gone with Mulder — but CMX renders it “Meredith”, which isn’t exactly all that German, now is it? [*sigh*] But Meredith it is: The Meredith household, where both family and at least half the staff originate from Germany, is a shade more cosmopolitan than Mrs. Stownar’s three-story brownstone. Emma might be easily lost, but it seems Kelly Stownar taught Emma a shade more than just cooking and cleaning:

A maid who can read French (no matter how haltingly) is certain to garner some attention, and Emma’s new employer is quick to assign her to other tasks less typical of the ‘help’ — the last chapter of the book shows Emma accompaning Mrs. Meredith as personal maid while visiting the neighbors for tea. (Seems a common enough duty, but the neighbor in question, Mrs. Trollop, is… odd.)

At any rate, Emma adapts to the work quickly enough, but what is new to her is working as part of a staff. Being Kelly Stownar’s sole maid and surrogate daughter is one thing, but working as part of a household is something entirely different.

The key chapter in this volume is Chapter 19, “Night of the Full Moon”. Soon after Emma’s employment, the staff is given a night off (on the occasion of the Meredith’s youngest Elsa’s birthday) — and more to the point they are given a half-day off the following day.

Paaar-Tay! Get your Victorian Groove on!

It’s a servants’ ball, so Emma finally has a chance to socialize with others of her class — but being Emma, she… doesn’t. She’s a wallflower. She volunteers to help clean up, while the other help enjoys the rare holiday. She meets the equally stand-offish and taciturn Hans — the tall, dark, handsome & hunky Hans for those of you waiting for the next complication to the romantic storyline — and while nothing happens (this is still Emma: A Victorian Romance) the two spend quality time together, um, washing dishes. Emma also has a cup of tea… I mean Rum. It looked like tea and was served in a teacup but only because they ran out of glasses…

One cuppa of that is all it takes. That, and the chance sighting of the full moon through a window is enough to remind Emma of one magical night (also under a full moon) at the Crystal Palace…

Click here for the archive of all Emma Manga Moveable Feast links

Rob McMonigal of Panel Patter has three links to get the ball rolling this evening:

Emma vol. 1

“Those with weak hearts should pause for a moment before I reveal that this is a shojo manga that doesn’t feature girls in a Japanese high school! The setting is in fact late Victorian-era London, with a meticulously researched setting by Anglophile Mori. Emma, the title character is a commoner straight out of a Henry James novel, working as a maid for an elderly widow. When the widow’s former student returns for a visit, romantic sparks fly—but can the class barrier be broken?”

Excellent intro to the series, Rob. And the choice quotes continue: Emma vol. 2

“I also appreciate that, while growing the cast, Mori does not forget anyone. William’s friend is back, with some strong language for Emma, serving as the outsider who cannot understand English conventions. A throwaway character like a friend of Mrs Stownar, Al, ends up with the potential to affect so much of the story, and even gets to be the means of a flashback. Even William’s family, odious as they are for being stuffy upper class jerks, as fleshed out enough for the reader to appreciate their presence. “

And from his take on Emma vol. 3

“As much as I enjoyed the start of the series, I’m really looking forward to the complex dynamics Mori set up for both the servants (who seem to have their own dysfunctions within a smoothly operating household) and the wealthy family they work for. Plus, the fact that she did not completely abandon her original creations says there’s a lot to look forward to over the course of the series.”

These were previously posted May-August 2009, but are quite timely since the Daily Diary is [almost] up to Volume 3.
Click here for the archive of all Emma Manga Moveable Feast links

Johanna Draper Carlson of Comics/Manga Worth Reading submitted the first of of least two (and what is shaping up to be three) Emma links for the MMF — her review of the ‘main run’ of Emma, vols. 1-7:

“The book is a wonderful portrayal of what it might have been like to live in another place and time… and isn’t that the magic of comics of any kind? Showing us someone else’s experience in detail, even if fictional?

…

The first two books were less about what happened and more about the exploration of another society and the kind of people who found themselves within it. Later books continue to build the full cast, and secrets cause relationships to change quickly.

…

Anyone who’s read Emma can’t help be affected by the struggles of the two leads to accomplish something so simple: being in love.”

Click here for the archive of all Emma Manga Moveable Feast links

Emma, vol. 2
Writer & Artist: Kaoru Mori
Published by: CMX

200 (190) pages.
Original Language: Japanese
Orientation: Right to Left
Vintage: 2003. US edition Dec. 2006.
Translation & Adaptation: Sheldon Drzka
Lettering: Janice Chiang
Design: Larry Berry
Editor: Jim Chadwick

Publisher’s Rating: Teen Plus, for “Suggestive Situations”
isbn 978-1401211332

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Premise: A comic that reads almost like a BBC/Masterpiece Theater historical drama — a young Victorian gentleman (wealthy, but not aristocratic) falls for an almost-perfect maid, who also falls for him in her own shy, halting way, but since the two are British and this is Victorian England, nothing really juicy happens.

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Review:

After watching the anime [which stretches the first volume (and the first chapter of this volume) to fill almost the whole of it’s first season] I’d forgotten how quickly the series turns dark.

Chapter 8, the opener here, is marvellous. Not only is there the actual first date between William and Emma — with a least a kiss shared (it’s hawt; Emma takes off her glasses) and you can infer as much as you want but only a kiss is depicted — but oh, what a date: The Crystal Palace! The flora, fauna, artefacts and spoils that only a global empire can collect, and all the architectural and historical detail an obsessive manga-ka can muster… I want to scan and post all of it.

Instead, I’ll just tease you with a single panel.

More introductions in this volume as well; it turns out William has a number of siblings not previously revealed, and they all manage to come home at about the same time the plot takes a turn away from easy romance.

[I also just really like that panel, don’t mind me]

Without spoiling too much, Emma faces a major change in her circumstances, and this means also that her relationship with William, already ephemeral and possible in it’s own way only so long as the two (and the select few around them) were able to delude themselves, must also come to an end.

A lot of drama builds around that. Emma comes to terms much more quickly, perhaps, though she also has to deal with grief and the prospect of being truly alone. It’s hard to pick just one chapter from this volume as most important, since each chapter piles it on, upping the stakes and expanding on the commentary on the differences between Victorian classes. Instead of picking the easy one (chapter 13) I’m going to pick two and juxtapose them:

In chapter 11, “Eleanor at the Banquet”, William concedes in part to his father’s wishes and escorts young Eleanor, his prospective fiancée, to a society dinner party. Eleanor is obviously smitten, and Mori takes pains (and about 17 pages) to show that the two actually do share some chemistry; if it weren’t for a chance meeting with a certain maid, this would be an entirely different romance story, quite suitable for a number of Harlequin romance pulps. Still, Eleanor is a débutante to high society, and her ‘troubles’ and ‘travails’ are merely cute.

In chapter 13, “Farewell Emma (Part II)”, William receives the tragic story of Emma’s childhood, second-hand, related to him by Al — a neighborhood handyman and an old friend of Kelly Stowner, Emma’s employer — and the glitz and excess of the banquet is starkly contrasted by the prospects an unwanted orphan faced in Dickensian London. This is a less-than-subtle jab at the world William comes from, and the banquet he so recently attended. The chapter also serves as an interlude in a long series of missed meetings: for the last half of the book, William and Emma attempt to meet each other, but never make the connection. Emma’s self-doubt slowly crystalized into a resolve to leave London, and abandon William; in parallel William’s search for Emma escalates into an almost frantic, breathless pursuit.

The cliff-hanger this volume is William just missing Emma as her train leaves King’s Cross Station. (with an excuse for more architecture, and a really nice two-page spread.)

[go ahead, compare Mori’s art to historical photographs and illos. Dare you.]

Click here for the archive of all Emma Manga Moveable Feast links