Is there a Team Kyo?
Before we begin, perhaps we should get something out in the open. I am what the marketing people at Viz Media might call an “outlier,” demographically speaking. I am neither female nor am I a teenager, the older teenage girl being the apparent sweet spot for the age range of the shōjo manga Black Bird. So it is perhaps unfair that it falls to me to review Volume 4 of Kanoko Sakurakoji’s Shogakukan Award-winning series. But since it has, allow me to state that I consider myself an even-handed fellow capable of giving even the most hormone-infused, ‘tween’ pandering rag a fair shake. With that out of the way, let me begin by saying that Black Bird is more Harlequin than Harley Quinn, if you know what I mean. The book is sex-obsessed. If the characters aren’t engaged in some slap-and-tickle, they’re talking about it. The whole thrust (pun definitely intended) of the story in Volume 4 is who gets to bed teenage senka maiden Misao Hirada (two demon clan leaders ultimately cross katanas over the issue). For certain, reading Black Bird is definitely like going for a skinny-dip in Twilight’s swimming pool.
Volume 4 begins promisingly enough. We find main characters Misao and Kyo in flagrante delicto, but the young senka maiden is unwilling to let things get too carried away. Though her passion for Kyo is palpable, Misao’s misgivings about getting swept up in the affairs of the demon world are keeping her libido in check. Misao, simple girl that she is, wants Kyo but not necessarily the baggage that comes with him. How much baggage quickly becomes clear when Misao and Kyo cross paths with Tadanobu, leader of the rival Kuzunoha clan and Kyo’s childhood BFF. As it turns out, as a rival clan leader, Tadanobu is duty-bound to pursue the senka maiden for himself and the fortunes of his own clan, and forcing him to forsake his love of another human girl named Renko. It is in Renko, whose devotion to Tadanobu has caused her to embrace the sometimes cruel realities of life and love among demons, that Misao glimpses her own potential future. The fourth volume is largely dedicated to this confrontation with Tadanobu and the crossroads at which Misao finds her own idealism coming into conflict with the brutal code of conduct governing the demon world.
The plot of Black Bird in general and Volume 4 specifically is not a bad one, but the devil — or demon in this case — is in the details. There’s no getting around the fact that the square wheel on Sakurakoji-san’s cart is the fact that her heroine is in high school at the same time she’s being courted by Kyo (a teacher at her school!) and hunted by the rest of the demon clans. At least Onegai Teacher! had a rationale, albeit a preposterous one, for an adult teacher marrying and having sex with a high school student. Black Bird makes no such excuses; Kyo is a rapaciously unrepentant predator and Misao, the belle of the ball, is unsurprisingly ill-equipped to handle the adult nature of their relationship. Factoring in obvious sexual metaphors like demons desiring to absorb her senka maiden power by consuming her flesh further compounds the unseemly nature of it all. The concept of familial duty forcing a life-or-death conflict between childhood friends is respectable, if clichéd, but realizing they’re fighting over the privilege of getting it on with a high school girl really lets the air out of the tires. It all adds up to Black Bird being a sordid fetish tale disguised as a wish-fulfilling romantic fantasy.
I’m generally not a fan of the artistic conventions of shōjo manga. I concede, however, that it often works thematically and in theory should work in the case of Black Bird. Unfortunately, the non-threatening nature of shōjo seems antithetical to the gothic nature of the story. Notably absent are dark shadows and oppressive blacks to establish mood and remind readers that Misao moves about in a world populated by demons and visions of ghosts and spirits. Sakurakoji-san’s attempts at employing high contrast are to be applauded but one should expect more dramatic visuals from a book that is part ghost story. And her problems don’t end there. The illustrations are static, lacking in energy, and the characters are rendered stiffly and sorely wanting in expressivity, as if they’ve all had Botox injections. Tentative lines and poor detail give the illustrations a careless, unfinished feel. And, manga convention or no, chibi has no place here, as the cutesy-pie stuff contravenes the theme entirely. If the book has one strength, it is in the use of screen-and-tone, which is employed to generally good effect and imbues the pages with pleasing textures and a strong sense of density.
Black Bird heroine Misao Harada bears a strong resemblance to the peasant girl of fairy tales, the one plucked from simple obscurity by a smitten prince and whisked off to the palace for a life of love and plenty. In both cases, the girls are possessed of a pure heart and unspoiled soul. If you’re like me, you’ve often wondered at the fate of the peasant girl after the curtain comes down on “…and they lived happily ever after.” Life at court, by any measure, was not all fun and games. Just ask Anne Boleyn. Watching the young and idealistic (i.e. naïve dimwit) Misao run headlong into the unpleasant realities of internecine conflict between demon clans, one can’t help but imagine Cinderella’s own disillusionment upon return from her honeymoon. As fairy tales go, however, it’s more of the Brothers Grimm variety, with Kyo laying in wait to bake the foolish senka maiden into a pie and serve her up for demon dinner. This is true, unapologetic shōjo with a narrow demographic appeal that will likely break along gender and age lines, which makes my opinion like the low score from the Russian judge.
ComicsOnline ranks Black Bird, Volume 4 2 senka roku out of 5.
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