What's your opinion about this manga?
This week our spotlight shines on "Cut", a one volume story by Kawai Touko. "Cut" is tagged as a yaoi drama - and it is certainly a disturbing tale with a lot of emotional impact about two high school boys who both carry a huge pile of destructive psycho-baggage. Despite all that "Cut" still has enough optimism to not let the reader sink into depression. It is definitely a worthy read, one of the outstanding yaoi that actually have a real story to tell. - Go check it out if you haven't read it yet and let us hear your opinion!! Story: By accident one night Chiaki and his stepfather with whom he has a masochistic affair are witnessed by Chiaki's schoolmate Eiji. Chiaki feels guilty about having caused an accident that killed his real father. As a result he finds comfort in cutting himself and sleeping with his sadistic stepfather, trying to cover the feeling of one pain with another. Chiaki sees a like mind in Eiji who is hiding a secret past so dark it even surpasses Chiaki's and has problems that make Chiakis comfort in pain appear minor. Eiji who is haunted by his own terrible past cannot become close to people. Fate throws these two high school seniors together giving them a chance to work out and overcome their problems ... and grow up in the process. Review: The characters of this story are both disturbed boys haunted by something that happened in their past. They are like minds in some ways, but they both have enough of their own to not make them appear too similar or clichéd. They deal with their problems in very different ways, Chiaki by willful rebellion, Eiji by keeping distance. The plot develops fast enough that the interest in reading further never really ceases. It's still slow enough to give background to the characters and not leave the reader behind without understanding reactions or feelings - the tempo is perfect that way. I can't fully explain the art of Kawai Touko. One moment it seems like it's only just around average, not without talent but almost a bit sloppy as if drawn under time pressure and then in the next picture it is totally amazing and missing absolutely nothing. She has especially done some very nice close-ups of Eijis face. Her faces look usually very sensitive. Altogether I think her art style works very well with this kind of dark story with lots of emotions in it. And whatever you think of Kawai Touko's art style, she really at least has one of her own. A short note to the sex - Chiaki is a sexually very active boy. Eiji is not at first, but get's drawn in by Chiaki. Despite that I have definitely seen more kinky or explicit sex scenes. The sex in this story is not the main topic, so it makes sense that the artist shows the characters engaging in some bedroom activities, as would be expected of boys in their late teens and also because of Chiaki's character and problems. But the main theme of this manga is not the sex, it isn't the romantic love either - even if that romantic element is definitely there as well. Surely the main thing is the problems both have at the beginning and how they grow by being together and how they strife to come to terms with their past. What makes "Cut" so unique is not Kawai Touko's art but the story she tells and the depth of the characters she creates. These boys don't come from any mould, despite or maybe even because of their tragic background, their flawed characters and imperfectness they seem lifelike and realistic. It is amazing how the author manages to convey feelings. So for example only once in the story does Chiaki tell Eiji that he "likes" him in such words and Eiji in response never even says so much but just touches him. There is no flowery sweet nothings of love. But there is no doubt how much these two boys mean to each other. None of them would manage to overcome his own share of shitload without the other. I was put off at first that this is tagged as drama as I usually prefer much lighter stories. It is certainly not tagged wrongly, but I hope without spoiling too much of the plot line I can say, that it is not one of these hopeless stories that end in desperation with everyone dead, so don't be afraid of the drama in it. I strongly recommend CUT to every yaoi lover. This is yaoi that has a real story, not just a meaningless stringing of sex scenes in a silly plot about people that seem from another world. CUT is actually more than just yaoi: it is the story about facing one's problems or one's past and accepting who we are. It's a key character story about growing up - and the one aspect of this story that has the most impact is that we are stronger together than alone. I'm really interested to hear your opinions on CUT now ... Let me know what you liked about it or what you did not like about it! |
Geisha_XOct 29, 2009 12:09 PM
| Man, I've read this manga like 6 times. It's one of my favourite yaoi mangas ever. It was so depressing; probably even more depressing than Let Dai. I kind of disliked the end though. |
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Sporkness said: I kind of disliked the end though. Oh, really? And I even thought the end especially good. It had a some closure but still left a bit of room for your own fantasies. |
| I liked the manga okay but not enough to have it as my favorites. What I liked about is was that they both managed to get through their pasts and move onto the future. I'm particularly happy about Chiaki, though, and the way he handled the rumors that flew around him in the end. I have to agree (after some thinking) with Geisha_X that the ending was pretty good. Thank you for featuring this; it was a nice read. |
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| I think the characters had a big potential but the story was too short ! .... So, this manga was fine, but in the end, I was a bit frustrated^^. |
| I finished Cut a while back and it was great. The art was average in my opinion since I've seen worse. Much worse. And the ending was satisifying for me. Anyway, Cut is the most recent 'drama' tagged yaoi I've read so it was refreshing due to the fact the yaoi titles I randomly choose have potential but ultimately ends up disappointing T^T |
| I just have to add something ^^, I don't like drama that much, but this one is worth reading...Yeah, there is a lot of drama but brilliantly executed and that is what makes this manga great. |
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