Planet Ladder #6 by Yuri Narushima

[populuxe]

It's been a long wait, but volume 6 (of 7) of this intriguing fantasy tale has finally been published.

The first thing you'll notice are all the different fonts. A good three-quarters of the book's dialogue is internal dialogue. Non-directed thought balloons with no face to attach the dialogue to. So each character gets his or her own font to distinguish who's talking. Regular conversation between characters "on-screen" gets the usual comics font.

There are no page numbers, table of contents or obvious chapter breaks, so I have no idea how many pages it is, but my quess is somewhere between 180 and 200 pages. Despite the length, only one thing really happens, but it's huge and terrifying. The rest of the time is spent with the various characters thoughts. The feeling is one of overwhelming sadness.

There is a two page intro with characters and the various worlds described, as well as a brief synopsis of what's come before. There is an afterward by Narushima. Although the afterwards was apparently written for her Japanese readers, she mentions that the book is being published in America, and the cover is her nod towards making the book a little more export-friendly. She also mentions that Crimson comics is "taking some time off" from publishing comics. She's had offers to continue the story in another book, but with it so close to completion, she's going to stick with her current editorial staff.

That cover she mentions is very red. It's a portrait of Kaguya in a very beautiful traditional red floral-print kimono. Something like ghostly arms wrap around her. Her black hair is hanging down, rather than in her usual pig-tails, and her blue-eyes are looking directly at you. It's a very beautiful cover. The cover is in the soft-matte finish like many recent Tokyopop releases. There were a couple of grammatical errors in the introductory synopsis, but not in the story that I could see. There was one instance where the original Japanese lettering went through one of Kaguya's pig-tails. You can see that the rest of the kana was removed so that English text could be printed, but for some reason, just the part of the kana that went through her air was still there.

There were a couple times early on where I was tempted to drop the book. Naurshima's attempt to write a story where you're simply dropped right into the middle of it was difficult to get into at first. The multiple dimensions, their relationships, and the many unsympathetic characters made it a tough slog. But I remained intrigued enough to continue and I'm glad I did. With all the setup that was done in the this volume, the next one should prove interesting.

[ceatra]

You beat me to it. ^^

Yes, considering that I like Planet Ladder enough to be one of the few titles outside of Clamp that I actually buy, I was gladly anticipating the release of the 6th volume. Like previously mentioned, there were some grammar mistakes and visible katakana/hiragana, but overall the book was interesting in that it concentrated more on the characters' thoughts and what they were going through internally as the end approaches. The change in fonts was a bit confusing at first, but then it was more easy to read as you got used to it.

The cover is very beautiful, I think the best looking one so far. Considering how the book ended, I'm looking forward to the final volume, whenever it will be released.

~seichan go boom

[populuxe]

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seichan go boom said:
You beat me to it. ^^

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It's the advantage of getting up at 5 in the morning.

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seichan go boom said:
The cover is very beautiful, I think the best looking one so far.

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It makes me wonder what is so "export-friendly" about it. I suppose it's because it's a beautiful girl in a kimono which is the stereotypical image many people associate with Japan.

I do wonder if we're the only two people reading this, though.

[ceatra]

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martialstax said:
I do wonder if we're the only two people reading this, though.

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I wonder, too. No else has made any comment. I know that a lot of people say they don't care for the series, and that the story moves too slow, the art is ok, etc. but I really like it, and we can't be the only ones who have read it.

Right???

[Sapphire]

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martialstax said:
I do wonder if we're the only two people reading this, though.

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No we just don't have it yet.

Had two work weeks from hell. Hoping to hit stores this weekend for some manga catch-up.

Mariela

[shadowfire]

No, i've been reading it. I need the book first, then we will discuss it. All i know are the spoilers because one site got the Japanese transltions written so i been looking at them to keep alive until it comes out.

[Helschadenfreude]

[ QUOTE ]
seichan go boom said:
[ QUOTE ]
martialstax said:
I do wonder if we're the only two people reading this, though.

[/ QUOTE ]

I wonder, too. No else has made any comment. I know that a lot of people say they don't care for the series, and that the story moves too slow, the art is ok, etc. but I really like it, and we can't be the only ones who have read it.

Right???

[/ QUOTE ]

*snuggles her book* I'm going to read it soon....

Ahah! I have read it!

It's interesting...I guess...after so long, it felt it was deterring at little...the main focus really wasn't Kaguya, but Seeu. It brings up so many interesting points, that it feels like this could be strecthed out longer with more explainations. 7 is the last volume, and you can definitely can see the buildup to that climax.

I also feel some improvement...or maybe it was the time away. it seems more steady, though one still can't figure out where it's going, it's less confusing and there's at least a direction. The frames/artwork cleaned up a little/ though maybe it was after all that manga that had cluttered frames and artwork(Dragon Knights for example...)

Still I love it... [img]/images/graemlins/catgirl0.gif[/img] It's a thinking series alright...

[witega]

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martialstax said:
I do wonder if we're the only two people reading this, though.

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My way of dealing with long release dates is simply not to read until the whole thing is out. So once I finished volume 3 and learned there was no predicting when I would see vols 6 and 7, it went on the wait-list. I have the volume, but won't read it until much closer to 7's release.

[TougaNoMiko]

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martialstax said:


I do wonder if we're the only two people reading this, though.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm reading it..nearly had a heart attack in IRC when I saw someone got it already as I CANNOT FIND IT.


It will be mine though. Oh yes. It will be mine.

Dagonit, I cannot find this one anywhere [img]/images/graemlins/cry00000.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/cry00000.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/cry00000.gif[/img]

I need to know what happens!!!