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Title: From Eroica With Love
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| CONSUMER ADVICE |
Parents may want to preview this when deciding whether or not they want their kids reading this. While I can't think of too many kids who would have any real interest in reading a series like "From Eroica With Love," the first thing that needs to be addressed is that this series is about a gay man, and this fact is not beat around the bush. There is also suggestive humor, language, and some mild violence to keep into consideration when deciding whether or not kids can read this. Fans of drama will not care for this series, as there is no series moments to be found in this series. Fans of comedy will find much more to like about this series, as the humor is quite frequent in this series. |
I swear, sometimes it’s the darndest things that you end up loving these days. Out of all the titles CMX has released so far, none have been stranger then "From Eroica With Love," a 70's manga series staring gay men that is geared for straight women. I know, crazy, but there IS a target audience for this stuff! For some reason I don't see this as a shounen ai title (like some people do), but rather a "Lupin III" series that women can enjoy. I know some people will scoff at the idea that "From Eroica With Love" is in any way like Monkey Punches perverted creation, but it's true. "From Eroica with Love" revolves around the Earl Dorian Red Gloria, a flamboyishly gay thief who loves to collect things that he finds beautiful (his favorite catch phrase is "I always get what I want").
Earl is actually a pretty good imitation of the original Arsène Lupin, in the sense that he is elegant, charming, quite the ladies man (with the exception that he's gay), he almost always targets people who he feels doesn't deserve to own the art that they do, and he always sends the owners of the art pieces a note telling them that he is planning to take their stuff and to get it ready for him. The Earl is also chased on a daily basis by Interpol agent Tarao Bannai, who looks almost exactly like Lupin III's Inspector Zenigata, with the exception that he's clueless and he's fat (oh wait). Like Zenigata, Tarao Bannai has sworn to put his life on until he catches the Eroica Gang, but since he is stupid he usually suspects the wrong people of being associated with the Eroica gang most of the time. The trio he bothers the most are a trio of friends named Sugar Plum, Leopard, and Caesar. It's this trio who actually opens up the whole story, and sets the Earl up as being something of a mysterious character (before we actually begin traveling with the guy). Sugar Plum (what a name) appears to be the leader of the group, usually offering the best advice to everyone and has the ability to see into the future and sense when something is wrong. Leopold has superhero abilities, and his strength sets records in all the sports he plays. Caesar is a supergenius who also happens to be gay.
As an added bonus, the three of them can telepathically talk to each other. It's all an interesting set up, and their back story leaves for a bunch of potential, but after the first chapter only Caesar plays any real role in the series and the rest of the trio are quickly forgotten. Somewhere during the first heist the Earl decides that he loves Caesar, and Caesar discovers he loves the Earl. But what can you do when the two spend months and months apart from each other? Well, sneak in a kiss here and there whenever the Earl comes back to town I guess. I'm not as disgusted by these scene's as I normally would be. I don't find them romantic in any real way, and the romances in this series is never taken too serious. Besides, this series is not about romance. It may be about a gay man, and this gay man may fall in love with another gay man, but most of the series is about Earl doing whatever he can to steal a piece of art he wants. Somewhere in this mess another art collector by the name of Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach enters the scene, who looks at art and only sees value in it. Not in the form of beauty mind you, but in the form of how much something is worth in dollars. Well if you are buying art to make a buck then this is a big no-no for the Earl, and Earl ends up targeting Klaus quite a bit because of it. Klaus, who hates the Earl and wants nothing more then to see his gay body and personality buried at sea, does everything he can to make sure the Earl never gets what he wants.
This leads to lots of very epic, brutal, and hilarious battle sequences between the two characters, as a battle of wits proves to be far more entertaining and interesting then a battle of fists. Don't worry action fans, the occasional gun is shot, so you can be reassured that there are no sissy fights in this series. The artwork in this series is distinctively 70's. Open up the book and look at the first page and BOOM, you’re taken back to the 70's instantly, and you can tell the artwork in this series has definitely aged. Keep in mind this doesn't mean the artwork has aged BADLY (the artwork is quite beautiful actually), but that it has the look of an era that is no longer upon us now! The art also changes in tone depending on what the scene is. One minutes it can be absolutely beautiful, the next it can be so wacky you'll swear Tex Avery was responsible for the art direction this series took. Either way I love the artwork, and it's definitely one of the series strongest selling points. If there's one thing that has me baffled about "From Eroica With Love" though, it is that CMX has decided to label this series as a "Drama." This is strange because "From Eroica With Love" is NOT a drama! Not even close. "From Eroica With Love" is a silly, goofy, and flamboyishly gay comedy.
There are almost no serious moments to be found in this series. When one of the characters has to stick his hand up a male statues skirt to find a piece of microfilm and another character has a copy of the book "How To Deal With Unwanted Gay Advances" in his lab (after having the Earl flirting with him), you just know the author is writing this for fun more than anything. There even a scene were the Earl saves a beautiful lady from dying, and when she tried to show him her gratitude, he just dumps her on the ground since he doesn't have any use for a woman. The woman then complains that the manga abuses women, not realizing that the author of this book is (you guessed it) a woman. As you all know I have a serious problem with the quality of pretty much all of CMX's books. The paper is flimsy, binding shot, and the books usually feel cheap. While "From Eroica With Love" doesn't completely buck this trend, the quality is far more preferable then most of their other books, and this book is at least readable without you feeling like the book was made in some Taiwan shop. It's not perfect, but it suggests that maybe, just maybe, CMX is figuring out how to actually make good manga books. Despite all the charms and humor "From Eroica With Love" has, it is still a little hard to recommend. The gay undertones are extremely obvious, some people may not dig the 70's nostalgia, and sometimes the book is just too weird and silly for it's own good. I like the series, but I can't see myself reading this unless I really feel like it.
Still, it did provide plenty of laughs, and despite how gay the Earl is he does come off as an extremely likable character, and Caesar brings new meaning to the term "girly man." If you're looking for something a little different, a little weird, and very charming, then you might do well to check out "From Eroica With Love."
- -Review By Kevin T. Rodriguez- -