Hello people, I only got into YKK last year when i found out about it reading animefringe.com, then I found this site, and finally I ordered all the Chinese editions of the manga I could find from Taiwan. I must say I love this manga now. It's so refreshing and different from the usual formulaic stuff.
I love the way Ashinano underplays the backstory of the YKK world, maybe he wants us to focus on the emotions and mood rather than speculating on plot details. That's why I often wonder about the Misago (the babe, not the boat). Why is she in the story? What does she add to the story exactly? The first time she appear she seemed so jarring in what had been a fairly realistic world.
But I am up to Volume 8 of the manga now, and the Misago is making a lot of sense. I still don't know what the hell she is, but I think she is a great symbol of the magic of childhood. You know, when you are young, there are so many wonderful things that you get to experience, which you will never experience again. Then one day, when you are older, you often find yourself longing for those things that will never return. Misago is just like that. For those who caught glimpses of her in their youth, she will always be part of their fond, nostalgic memory of those carefree days.
What do you guys think?
- xiaoli
Sunday, March 6, 2005
yup i agree wit that. I also think she adds a nice feel to the enviroment. Kinda like a myth tat all the local people know about. it adds a feel to the town that citys dont have.
- altf4
Tuesday, March 8, 2005
Howdy,
As a plot device I think she serves three important functions:
1) to indicate that the world has changed into something you can't assume is "normal"
2) To show the wonders of childhood (mentioned above)
3) To show the transition from child to adult by marking the lost pleasures of childhood with nostalgia.
Best,
Dave
- dDave
Tuesday, March 8, 2005
buueee...
Logical analysis of YKK... Brrrr... ;)
- Drake
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Ah, the misago. She is a 'mystery of childhood' figure for sure, and she also plays up the spirit of place that is so evident in the manga - she reminds me of those Greek mythological characters, nymphs or naaids who personify some particular spot, a spring, valley or lake. Shes also a kind of echo of Alpha, in that she never ages and all that that entails for relations and affections with humans.
More than that (IMO) she is the chief & local reminder that the world is going through some slow, inexplicable transformation - disappearing towns, the never-failing lights and strange new combinations of the organic and inorganic, the kind of things that Ayase is always finding out about.
I think what I like most about her is that despite all these spooky-wooky foreboding issues around her, she’s a comic character too, and a weirdly loveable one. She reminds me very much of a cat I once took care of (owned is such a rude word, and inaccurate too).
- terry sunderland
Sunday, March 13, 2005
I don't think of YKK as being or having a story in a conventional, didactic sense. YKK presents a unique world and some of the characters in it. Nothing is completely laid out for us so we fill in the gaps with our speculation and allusion.
- Robert Chow
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
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