Gorgeous Carat Vol.#01

By: Julie Rosato
Review Date: Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Release Date: Tuesday, February 07, 2006



Creative Talent
Writer/Artist:You Higuri
Translated by:N/A
Adapted by:

What They Say
Florian Rochefort is the heir to a once-wealthy aristocratic family that has fallen on hard times. One way to save the family's fortune would be to sell the Flame of Mughal, a 120 carat diamond that has been entrusted to the Rochefort family, only Florian's mother refuses to part with the treasure. But then a distant relative, Ray Balzac Courland, shows up at a Rochefort family party, and becomes intrigued by Florian and his beautiful "amethyst" eyes. Ray offers to pay off the Rochefort debt in exchange for ownership of Florian, and much to Florian's dismay, his mother agrees. Florian's new life as Ray's property immediately gets chaotic as he discovers that Ray is actually the famous phantom thief, Noir, who has been haunting Paris!

The Review
Gorgeous Carat presents a pretty light read for the virtue of darkness, but there sure are some pretty boys in here...

Packaging:
BLU has used the original cover image of Ray and Florian over an altered purple background. The artwork is beautiful but the color scheme is also quite striking, particularly with the various purple tones complimenting each other and the dark-light contrast of Ray and Florian. Unfortunately the English logo is bland and boring by comparison, but it does the job. Inside there is a color plate featuring Florian and Ray, an image also repeated in part on the back cover. As with other books from this publisher no translation credits are given. There's a slight packaging oddity present (and repeated on all of the copies of this book that I've seen) - the vertical edges of both the front and back covers are cut about a millimeter too short so the pages inside peek out from underneath.

Artwork:
The strongest part of this book is its art. You Higuri's style is just plain gorgeous and her pages always full. The art is pretty consistent all around and the characters interesting and beautiful. Linework is distinct, even at times a bit heavy, but always very neat. One thing I really love is how tones and shading are typically done with precision and even as backgrounds rarely look like shortcuts or filler. Faces do tend to look very similar but thankfully everyone's got different designs for clothing and hair. This is period piece with aristocratic Europe as the backdrop so there is quite a bit of detail with regard to costume and backgrounds. The art reproduction looks surprisingly good, though certainly helped by Higuri's clean techniques.


SFX/Text:
About two-thirds of the SFX are translated using small subtitles, which is a nice change for this publisher. The script reads smoothly with no major errors, though I must say Noel doesn't sound much like a 5-year-old. Text occasionally runs into the inside margin but it's not nearly as bad as I've seen in some other books and it isn't difficult to figure out what's being said.

Contents:(please note that the following may contain spoilers)
Meet Florian, a young man of aristocracy in turn-of-the-century Paris. His family is in financial ruin, and the only way out of their predicament appears to be selling the family heirloom -- a huge 120-carat royal diamond. His mother will not part with it, (not to mention it's believed to be cursed), so Florian instead takes up an offer from a distant relation, Ray Balzac Courland. What's the offer, you ask? Why, to be bought himself! It seems Ray -- who by the way is also the infamous phantom thief called Noir -- became quite smitten with the handsome Florian while scouting his estate for the diamond.

While Ray a.k.a. Noir is busy getting to know his new toy someone else is hatching a plot to steal the diamond. A tragic crime brings Florian and Ray back to the family estate where they find more than just the diamond lies hidden. Naturally Florian gets a lesson in betrayal out of the deal, but once the little string of mysteries around the tragic Rochefort family is solved, Florian is left to make his own way with Ray.

Their next adventure is a mafia mystery and also introduces Noir's nemesis, the dogged ex-police detective-turned PI, Solomon Sugar. When Florian brings home a stray kid named Noel, they get a whole lot more than they imagined and it isn't just Ray's mood that turns sour. While Florian busies himself with doting on Noel, Ray uncovers a rather unsavory connection to the boy -- the head of the Paris branch of the Black Hand, a crime syndicate rooted in New York! Detective Sugar is just dying to tie Ray (ahem, Noir) to their nefarious doings, but just what is really going on with this kid and his family? Ray doesn't really care but Florian sure wants to find out-- especially when Noel disappears. Unfortunately, Florian really isn't the type to think before he acts and (once again) finds himself in some pretty hot water.

Ray's a bit immature (he is only 18 after all) and has a certain affinity for the darkness but the book does a decent job of dropping little insights into his personality while still creating a bit of mystery around him. He may not seem like it at first, but he's going to end up a pretty sympathetic character, I think. Florian's a bit useless so far, though; while likely intended to be a foil for Noir, right now he's more like a means to an end.

Comments
This book was an enjoyable light read but critically speaking gives me some difficulty. The overall package is a bit weak; the characters don't stray far from the stereotypes and slight shifts of tone and focus affect its overall cohesiveness. However, the specific mission-come-mysteries aren't badly written when considered on their own. I genuinely think that You Higuri conceives intricate stories with interesting characters but find that she tends to have trouble with pace and commitment early on. It could be her planning, or perhaps editorial influence, or merely a symptom of the erratic publication changes that seem to plague her work, but either way I wouldn't write off this story for its slightly tepid introductory volume. The set up may be conventional but it works, and while there isn't a lot of depth yet, the story is still enjoyable as a suspense style adventure with some romantic tension/humor thrown in.

Despite being published by BLU, I believe this could appeal to readers outside the circle of Boys-Love fans because it's really quite tame. The romance aspect most heavily comes into play with Ray's proposition and behavior at the start, but despite his continued assertions that Florian "belongs" to him the overt interplay between them is quickly diluted in favor of the actual adventures the two find themselves a part of. In fact, the cliffhanger ending for this book is more likely to convince readers to buy the next volume than the promise of a romance. There'll no doubt be more attention paid to feelings and romantic tension as the story progresses and the characters develop, but for now, anyone who wants a little action to mix with their bishies will probably enjoy this book. And if not, there's always plenty of beautiful art to admire.