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Title: Othello
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| CONSUMER ADVICE |
Parents, I'm not sure why this book has been slapped with an OT rating, but from what I've read so far, this series is pretty tame. The high rating may have been put there because the series may take a dark turn somewhere along the line, but from what I've read so far, kids over the age of 10 should be able to read this fine. Comedy fans will love the quirky ways Nana pulls off her revenge on helpless victims. Fans of drama will appreciate some of the darker undertones that have been hinted at, and the possibility that the series will take a darker turn somewhere down the road. |
In 2004, Del Rey was named the best manga company by many fans around the country. It's not hard to see why, either. Del Rey's translations are the best translations around, the extras in their books usually have a little bit more thought put into them than what most other companies put in their manga books, and most of the series Del Rey have decided to release are excellent. "Othello," for the most part, continues this tradition by giving us an excellent story, characters worth caring about, and an art style all in its own. The story revolves around a teenage girl named Yaya (yippie yi yay). Yaya's life is a pretty miserable one. Her friends don't treat her very kind (they constantly call her "Yaya the crybaby"), she is constantly tortured by a boy named Moriyama, her mom died when she was very young, and ever since then her dad hasn't exactly been the best dad in the world, constantly yelling at her and telling her how much her mom would have been disappointed with the way Yaya's turned out. Yaya hides the fact that every Sunday when no one is looking, she cosplays with other people.
She hides this hobby from everyone because she's too embarrassed to admit that she feels happier when she pretends to be someone else. However, one day, when a party gets out of control, Yaya goes completely ape-crazy on everyone, and insists that everyone call her Nana from now on. When Yaya wakes up the next morning, she has no idea what had happened the previous night. Amnesia maybe? Nope. It appears that Yaya has a split personality, in the form of the outspoken and wild Nana. Now whenever Yaya starts to gets too emotionally pushed, Nana takes over and teaches everyone a lesson. To some of you, this series may sound like a comedy, and to some of you it may sound like a drama. "Othello" is actually a bit of both. While the story of "Othello" is relatively simple, the idea is definitely an original one. In fact, the idea of someone who has a split personality is one that I have never really seen explored seriously in a comic book before. Wait, I take that back. Stan Lee did tackle the subject with a little series he created called "The Incredible Hulk." Maybe you've heard of it? However, Satomi Ikezawa takes a different approach in telling her story than Stan Lee. While Bruce Banner was definitely a troubled man, and his alter ego caused him (and other people) a lot of misery, "Othello" is more grounded in reality than “Hulk” ever was.
In "Othello," whenever Yaya changes into her alter-ego Nana, there is no transformation, there is no skin color change... in fact, there is no change at all. The only thing that changes is her personality. Amazingly enough, this is all that is required for Yaya to look like a completely different person, despite the fact that her physical appearance never once changes. Nana walks differently than Yaya, her body movements are more commanding than Yaya's, and the way she points her finger and mocks her victims is something that Yaya would NEVER do! When Nana takes over Yaya's body, the way she acts is different enough that you can actually believe that other people who are looking for Yaya wouldn't recognize her.
What really makes this series work, though, is that underneath this (somewhat quirky) premise is a very emotional and human story. At first it seems like nothing more than a cute story about a girl who ends up taking revenge on her enemies with her alter-ego, but as the story progresses the transformation becomes much more meaningful than that. Yaya is a sweet, kind, and caring girl. She's the kind of person the world needs more of today. Yet, despite the fact that she is one of the nicest girls you'll ever meet, her dad hates her (he most likely blames her for his wife’s death), the friends she has treat her horribly, and the only time she feels like she can be herself is when she covers herself up in makeup and a funny wig and pretends to be someone else. We see her take abuse, after abuse, after abuse, until her alter-ego finally breaks free.
In a strange kind of way, Nana may be Yaya's best friend. Nana sticks up for Yaya, Nana avenges Yaya, Nana acts as if Yaya is someone worth caring for... and you realize something after awhile. You realize that deep down inside, Yaya hates her life. Yaya hates her friends, she hates her dad, she hates that stupid boy Moriyama (although it's hinted that that feeling may change in the not-too-distant future), she hates herself sometimes, and deep down inside, Nana does the things Yaya has always wanted to do. You realize that Nana is the person Yaya wants to be, but she is too kind to be that kind of person, so that personality complex finally leads to there being two personalities accompanying one body. While the first volume doesn't cover all of this (opting to play more for laughs than anything), over time you get to realize that the split personality has a much more tragic reason behind it than simply wanting to get a little payback. So far, the supporting characters have done little more than give Yaya a reason to go crazy as Nana, but several scenes with Moriyama portray him as a creep most of the time, and yet he's actually the only person who notices that Yaya isn't a very happy person, and he makes a couple of attempts to cheer her up. I have a feeling he'll turn into someone we really get to like. And what about Yaya's dad? The way he treats his daughter is unusually hostile. Maybe there's a history that hasn't been explored yet? As you can see, several scenes suggest that some of these characters will most likely provide more depth in future books than they do now.
Like most of Del Rey's books, the translation is top-notch and way above everyone else’s translations, yet when it comes to extras, this book disappoints. There are no color pages, and... okay, I lied, there's just no color pages. Maybe I'm being too hard on Del Rey, but I really do love my color pages, and the color pages are the main reason I'm justifying paying the extra dollar more for these books. Otherwise, though, the book contains the standard explanation of honorifics, a brief introduction of the author, a section explaining several in-jokes that don't translate well in America, and a fully translated preview to the second book. These features aren't as big as they may sound, but they are nice to have, and the section explaining all the in-jokes is something I wish more manga companies would include in their books. Otherwise, though, the exclusion of the color pages is a big one. I know I'm just being picky, but I love those color pages, and excluding them is almost a sin in my book! Luckily for Del Rey, I won't ding them on the grade for this exclusion, but I do hope they are more punctual in including the color pages from now on.
When all is said and done, "Othello" is an excellent shoujo. It avoids all the shoujo clichés with ease, and it proves that there are still interesting ideas out there that can translate well in a shoujo series. "Othello" was released on the same day as "The Wallflower". Pick up "Othello" and leave "The Wallflower" to collect dust.
- -Review By Kevin T. Rodriguez- -