I've touched upon the vampire craze that was kicked off by the likes of Twilight while talking about Diabolik Lovers. Since people like to capitalize on a fad to make some easy cash, we received the mediocre Vampire Knight. Then because many teenage girls tend to have poor taste,that tripe took off in America. After that because again people do enjoy money,someone translated Wanted and let it loose upon the masses.
Wanted is a shojo manga that was
written by Matsuri Hino in 2002,collected into a single volume in
2005 and then finally released overseas in 2008. She is better known
for Vampire Knight which was used by Viz to ride on Twilight's
coattails. Then Wanted rode on Vampire Knight's coattails to make a
weird chain of poor writing. Though Wanted does bring up a few issues
that I have with Vampire Knight,I'm going to leave it alone. Mostly
due to the fact that I haven't read the whole series and it could
have improved.
Wanted has some very weird issues with
women in that it seems to hate our protagonist Armeria. We open up
with her being smart and capable enough to infiltrate a band of
pirates but once she does that competence goes out the window. She
becomes a perennial screw up that has to be bailed out by Captain
Skulls. She's also incredibly stupid in that she never seems to
figure out that the man who looks like her lost lover is actually her
lost lover. You think for someone who could trick pirates that she'd
be pretty clever but no every plan she has is incredibility short
sighted. I guess she need to level up her moe so that Skulls will
decided to keep her around.
Skulls on the other hand has to
constantly save her stupid behind and then act like he doesn't want
to. So of course he gets to be competent and tough all the time
befitting his back story of growing up amongst pirates and becoming
their captain. While Armeria despite being an orphan who had to fend
for her self from a young age is treated as weak and useless. It
makes me question why they didn't just have her get captured and
just go from there. I know that love can make you do stupid things
but this is taking that concept too far.
Skull himself is a bit of a Marty Stu
that can seem to pull off anything he wants with little to no effort.
He's set up as this perfect guy who's only flaw is being a pirate but
even then he's a noble pirate. He never seems to do anything nasty
outside of being the kind of cold person I guess I should fall for
because deep down he's really sweet. However his jibes towards
Armeria come off as very demeaning and lack any affection they were
meant to have. So in the end were left with a pretty jerk ,the sort
litters the pages of many a poor Shojo and Josei manga.
A quick side note on style,despite how
much I made fun of R.I.P I don't mind a Gothic sensibility and
admittedly Vampire Knight did benefit from a more macabre art style.
However this story is more nautically styled which makes this
wonderfully drawn tattoo of the Grim Reaper on Skulls' chest seem out
of place It's lovingly crafted on the authors note page,next to an
ignored request to not over analyze this book. Why she felt the need
to put it in this story of all places is a mystery. Yes it is his
identifying mark but this is a pirate setting giving him a bedazzled
eye patch or a scythe earring would make more sense.
The story is nothing really special,it's a shojo romance adventure but with pirates . The first chapter
gets the character introductions out of the way,then we get a chapter
where they confess their feelings because Skulls was being a jerk and
didn't do it last chapter. Then it wraps up with generic pirating
tomfoolery that is exciting as erosion. Mind you not every story has
to be some groundbreaking tale that makes me question my very being
but it helps if it's at least exciting. Hell,it's so uninteresting
that it starts opening up plot holes in an attempt to give me more to
harp on.
The band of Pirates themselves are the
Robin hood style thieves and the first two chapters supports this.
They steal from nobles,sets up a haven for the downtrodden and
genuinely improve life for the less fortunate. Then once chapter
three rolls around they go on a highly dangerous quest that will
help the commoners if it's successful but it's more treated like a
journey of pure self interest. Not once are the people they are so
willing to help brought up. It's such a weird turn in events that
doesn't mesh with what little we know of these characters. I again
question why use this characterization if it is going to be thrown
out the window on a whim.
There is a one shot at the end of the
book that the Hino says inspired this tale of poor quality. Funnily
enough,it's a much better written piece than the story it inspired.
Mind you it's nothing special still,but at least the main girl isn't
as insulting. She genuinely wants to defy her station in life and
become a doctor in a setting that frowns upon those ambitions. Not
for the affection of a man but because she loves knowledge. However
she starts pursuing this man who clearly has no interest in her until
she forces her company on him constantly. Then his hipster senses
start tingling and realizes this girl isn't mainstream and starts
loving her. How this translated into girl who shouldn't be useless
and Marty Stu pirate captain is beyond me.
This is a boring story filled with
characters ranging from generic to downright insulting. I can't tell
if Hino can't write good female characters or she can and chooses not
to keep her damsel complex going. You see the same issue in Vampire
Knight with a female who shouldn't be useless having to be constantly
saved by angsty men who can tell her they love her. It's an idiotic
and demeaning view to put out even if it's for the sake of fulfilling
a fantasy
Till Next Time: Stay Positive
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