Kwaïdan

Story - Jung & Jee-Yun.
Art - Jung.
Translation - Helge Dascher.
Lettering - Clem Robins.
Publishers - Dark Horse.

Every once in a while something special comes along. Something completely separate from any tried and tested usual style and setting. Whenever the words anime or manga are used, regardless of how small, there is always a distinct image of what that means within someone’s mind, be it angst driven children piloting massive mecha suits making things blow up or hapless college student with just enough charisma to keep the womenfolk near him but not the brains or will to make it any more than occasionally running head-first into their breasts. Whatever the case we all have a vision of what to usually expect from anime and manga and I‘m far from saying any are poor setting, just that it becomes the standard.

Kwaïdan is one of those rare mangas that breaks away from shojuo class or even vaguely whimsical antics and tells a refreshingly unique old story of myth, love and legend from 12th century Feudal Japan. It bears some small resemblance to Shirahime-syo in how it tells a tragic tale surrounded in myth and meaning with a mysteriously beautiful woman at its core. The similarities however are only in the base.

Kwaïdan’s real beauty is in how it begins as simple story of the longing of one Lady Orin of the Okada Clan. While she turns away countless annoying unwanted suitors she counts the days till her lover Nanko returns and is well aware of her sisters jealousy. The beautiful, good-hearted Lady Orin asks for a peace with her sister as the man at the centre of both their affections is returning from war soon and they should let him choose. Her sister - Lady Akane agrees but only on condition of that…well it’s not really a condition, Akane just takes it upon herself to scar Lady Orin’s face with some corrosive liquid considering to be fair, Lady Akane doesn‘t really have a chance in hell. Hiding her warped skin behind a mask and abandoned by all, Lady Orin decides it best to sleep, to die alone before her lover should return and have to see her that way. He returned and was informed by Lady Akane that she had killed herself in thinking him dead on the battlefield. In response to this he fled to the lake she had slipped into and removed his eyes with an arrow, his last moments of life spent in the arms of the watery spirit of Lady Orin. Lady Akane as sole heir was left to wander alone and Clan Okada fell under constant attack that she was unable to withstand. Treachery leaves a lonely path, though she didn‘t die just then. The waters Lady Orin had slipped into were sacred and not only did her soul remain trapped there, but Lady Akane gained immortality and a power over the Kwaïdan or simply ghost spirits from it.

Now normally the last think I’d do is talk about the plot like that though the above happens in what’s basically the first 3 or 4 pages and only really sets the backdrop for the rest of the beautiful full colour tale. One of the things I really like about Kwaïdan is how detracted from anything else it is. From front to back it tells it’s own story in full and under Jung and Jee-Yun’s hand, this is the only place you’ll find it. Though I do enjoy manga based anime or mangas in a series, my overall favourite being Battle Angel Alita which after the author being not entirely pleased with the slightly rushed ending to the last of the original series, started another called “Last Order” which now sets the series at 12 going on 13 books.

Sometimes though it’s just nice to be able to pick up one book and have the story unfold from start to finish within that space as it becomes far easier to loose track of everything around you or put the book down considering the pace it takes. Kwaïdan’s pace is quite fast as the above may have shown. Lady Orin for instance goes straight from having been attacked by her sister to wearing her mask at the lakes edge. There’s no scenes of her wandering the castle wearing the mask and being shunned by everyone, that she was abandoned is kept to a minimal narrators note which is nice as more than that you don’t essentially need to know at that point in the story. Pass forward two centuries and we meet our main character, the also strangely masked Setsuko. Now is where the plot becomes more critical and Setsuko’s past more important so I’ll leave it at that. Though I will say Setsuko’s memories of her childhood will satisfy anyone who would have thought the swiftness with how Lady Orin’s disfigurement and subsequent death was taken too quickly.

From here on the book becomes much more multi-layered and thoughtful in its working yet still maintains it‘s mythical air and well balanced pace, far from drowning the reader in needless philosophy and useless complexity but at the same time far from starving of any intricate and thoughtful. What it does tell is a beautifully crafted story of love and redemption, touching on the all too human emotions of guilt, hope, dreams and illusions. Illusions such as Lady Orin’s physical beauty which the loss of damned her spirit to be imprisoned in the sacred Lake Amada. Aswell as the tragic lost love of the Lady Orin and Nanko, there is the blossoming love of Setsuko‘s that comes under question and pressure throughout. For someone who has been shunned and outcast all her life, will this new-found emotion of truly being alive keep her safe through her journey? Will she find the answers she needs to come to terms with what she hides behind her mask? Will the blind monk ever paint something other than Lady Orin who’s beautiful visage haunts him? Will the Kwaïdan Toshiro ever get some lovin’ of his own? Well, the answers to these and other such questions fill the pages of Kwaïdan and tend to make the reader - myself at least - say ‘Bah, one more page…that’s all, then Ill bookmark it…honest’ then ten pages later begrudgingly bookmark it for the time being. It never stays there long though.

Now not only would a review of Kwaïdan be incomplete should I not comment on the artwork, it would be missing out on another of the books finest points. It was the stylisation of the cover art that first caught my attention, kept it in my mind and caused me to look into more details about the manga. On the back of the book it’s referred to as “Jung’s lush, expressive artwork” which is a simple truth in itself though perhaps more a reason for the first paragraph of my review as contrary to the more often used detachment from reality, if even only slightly, Jung’s art work is only detached from reality where there is something that would otherwise not exist such as the Kwaïdan themselves, how they come to form and the various shapes they can take, one appearing as a man of flowing blood. The Kwaïdan don’t retain their fully dressed, as the day they died appearance and instead appear as water-like, ethereal, faceless figures that wear nothing, though it never leads to any explicit male scenes, I‘m sorry. The form as they are remembered gradually becomes them as if a wind that carried their armour blew through them, whipping the watery surface of their forms back and even for something that is not animated, it all appears very smooth and rightfully done in transition.

Another benefit of it being a single book is that it was able to be printed in colour from cover to back. This really helps as though colour may not always be essential, it greatly compliments the wonderfully stylised artwork reminiscent of the time period the tragic tale is set. The ability to colour every cell in the book isn’t put to waste either as certain areas are given a general overtone different to the other so as to display the different aura of that place. Say a scene was set in a dream of some kind for instance, instead of just saying it were a dream or some such, Jung and Jee-Yun used this transition to their advantage and everything from the grass to the people involved had an auburn tint to it, a subtle though appreciated little touch.

Never thought this would be something to mention but the paper it’s all on is another nice little touch that compliments the artwork as it’s more a rough card texture then the usual soft flick-able paper. In some respects this makes it harder to read as holding it and turning the page makes it feel that little bit more precious so I worry about holding it too far open and putting a crease line in the spine or something. Maybe I’m just getting sentimental about my manga but with the artwork, story and even thought-out style of the paper it was on, it just feels like something to handle with gentle respect.

Definitely worth a look if you’re interested in a spiritual mythology that takes both its artwork and story seriously whilst weaving a tale of betrayal, loss, love and redemption in ancient feudal Japan.

By Mikeido

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Kwaidan