Copyright ©2001 Ryouichi Watanabe *** Translation of "Does It Appeal to a Girl's Heart? Akuma na Eros" manga review *** http://taisa-labs.com Version 1. June 6, 2003. Translated by: Taisa --------------------------------------------------------------- Translator's Comments: Mr. Watanbe's critical review of "Akuma na Eros," though brutal in its assessment of the first two volumes of the manga, offers a valuable perspective on their appeal — a perspective which is unlikely to occur within a Western audience. As a Japanese male, Mr. Watanabe reveals both (1) the Japanese misconception of Satan's role in Western Christianity, and (2) the male frustration over the feminine mystique. (1) Only about two percent of the Japanese population is Christian, leading one to question how relevant a work like "Akuma na Eros" is to the remaining 98 percent. Mr. Watanabe, like the majority of Japanese, does not believe in the existence of a single God and a single Devil, who are the sole architects of Good and Evil. Rather, he believes in the Shintoist concept of a myriad of beings which fall into both the god and demon categories without having intentions as clear or simple as "good" and "evil." Supernatural beings in Japan are ascribed human characteristics — flaws and finer qualities alike — which they tend not to rise above or fall below. Unaware of Satan's primary role in Judeo-Christian lore, and viewing him from a traditional Japanese perspective, it does not make sense that one little demon chasing after one little girl's virginity could have any implication for the welfare of all mankind. Mr. Watanabe makes suggestions as to why Michael would be so concerned with this single demon's appearance, but they are all indicative of his traditional Japanese mindset. (2) Japan remains one of the most patriarchal socities on the planet, and while Mr. Watanabe's comments regarding feminism and female virginity might strike a Western audience as offensive, his beliefs are not uncommonly held in Japan. Women continue, to varying degrees, to be viewed as subservient to men. However, despite these cultural implications for thought patterns, I must fault Mr. Watanabe on his assessment of Miu's appeal. It seems important now to ask if his opinion is shared by all males (regardless of ethnicity), shared largely by only Japanese males, or if it is simply a display of his own personal beliefs. It is apparent from his views on "Yankees" (a slang term used either for Westerners or for Japanese who emulate Western culture, most usually by means of bleaching their hair) that Mr. Watanabe is a man with prejudices, which brings into question the objectivity of his perspective on Miu. The extremity of his bias against "Yankees" likely suggests an extremity to his bias against females and against Miu. I would love to receive feedback regarding Mr. Watanabe's review, both from those who oppose his views and those who share them. As an American female, the perspective of a Japanese male was of great interest to me, and I suspect it will be to others as well, since the audience for this English translation is largely composed of females living in Western(ized) cultures. If you have an opinion or a question, please subscribe to the "Yahoo! Group: Akuma na Eros" mailing list at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/akumanaeros/ Then, send an E-mail to: akumanaeros@yahoogroups.com I look forward to knowing the thoughts of others. Because Mr. Watanabe and I are not alone in wanting to know... To whose heart, precisely, does "Akuma na Eros" appeal...? --------------------------------------------------------------- RYOUICHI WATANABE (UNEMPLOYED) presents HANPA REVIEW SINCE 2001 19th Article - Oct. 10, 2001 DOES IT APPEAL TO A GIRL'S HEART? AKUMA NA EROS The theme of this review was going to be "rereading," but for me, personally, Mayu Shinjou's "Akuma na Eros" is a work with no rereadability! Because of an excessively grand story development, just reading it once was physically exhausting. If I read it any more in a single day, I'll become weak to the point of death. I believe this work is really probably intended for a middle school girl audience, but I wonder if the strong ones among them actually make the futile attempts at rereading it. Honestly, the penetration scenes are excessive, so it's difficult to gauge how grand this work is. A girl with a baby face and small breasts, named Miu Sakurai, is in love with the gorgeous all-purpose man who excels in academics and sports, Shion Amamiya. When she tries casting a magic charm to make him return her love, SATAN MAKES HIS ENTRANCE. Miu is pushed into a contract whereby if her wish for Amamiya's love is granted, she must OFFER UP HER VIRGINITY TO SATAN as recompense. Thus the story begins. That’s quite.... huuuh? And so, one would think her head would be spinning, but after that the tale takes a terrible turn as if by a natural matter of course. Miu, a normal (?) girl, falls not only for the gorgeous Shion Amamiya but, for some reason, for the erotic Satan as well. She becomes torn between the affections of Mr. Popularity and Satan.... Shion Amamiya falls in love with Miu because of Satan, but I cannot understand why Satan would fall in love with her. In the moment that he realizes Miu is a virgin, Satan changes the contract from the plunder of her soul to virginal destruction by means of penile insertion. Later, he goes so far as to say something like, "She is a virgin. A beautiful body unknown to men. How about it? Isn't the thought AROUSING?" so it must simply be that he likes virgins. I digress, but, some while ago, feminists (or spoiled little girls, if you ask Kaze Shibusawa) severely criticized the appearance of female characters who believe in retaining their virginity in literary works by males. However, when I saw girls being happy to read this kind of story, I thought that no matter how hard the feminists try there will always be females who believe in holding onto their virginity (though, in any case, there will probably be no decrease in the evil practice of males believing in virginity). End digression. So, Satan fondles Miu's breasts after he makes them larger and heightens their sensitivity, and then he soon returns them to their normal size, and Miu gets beat up by Amamiya's fan girls, and Satan walks in on her in the bathroom, and he kisses her, and during the course of all this Satan at last gets Amamiya to confess love for Miu. When Miu, Satan, and Amamiya are all together, Amamiya pulls out a sword from who-knows-where and runs Satan through with it. It turns out that Amamiya is the Archangel Michael. Whaaat!? "Then come— Michael— This time I invite you to fight!" "I SHALL RETURN YOU TO DARKNESS AND PROTECT SERENITY ON THIS EARTH!" "Stop it, you two—!" Uh, what does that mean? What is this "serenity on Earth"? Does he mean that such a pivotal thing hangs in the balance of this fight? Seriously, I don't understand the reasoning. How did it come to this? He's saying he'll protect serenity on Earth, but all Satan has done lately is be a pervert to Miu. Satan must have done something wicked before this. Like devour the virginity of other girls or something. I'm amazed that someone could be calm enough before a demon and an angel to think to say, "Stop it, you two." Well, how about it, genuine fans? Did your hearts start pounding right here? Eventually, Miu chooses Satan. Michael retreats post haste. Then, Satan finally approaches Miu to violently despoil her virginity! Just when penetration is imminent, Miu is overcome by the sensation of Satan's caresses and passes out. Awesome job, Satan! You're a sex hero! In the end, events progress such that Miu is taken along into Hell. To be continued in the next volume. How is it? This overwhelming virgin fantasy. I know there are some who collect these kinds of demon and angel love stories. I was thinking that the author, Mayu Shinjou, was part of a natural system, but according to talk from informed circles, it seems somehow that she's committed a criminal sin. Well, there's no crime involved so it's strange to talk about criminal sin. It seems somehow that this is a work composed from research into what kinds of stories girls like. Huuuh? That's kind of not.... Uh, I mean, that suggests that girls seriously like this kind of story.... By that logic, this explains the popularity of bulging guys and Yankees. After all, women are attracted to bad things. Dennis Rodman's autobiography, "Bad Is As One Likes It" [Translator's note: Actual English title is "Bad As I Wanna Be"], seems to be coming true. Sigh.... Yankees should die. They should die like the Yankees in Nozomu Nakajima's debut work! is what I think, which naturally makes me unpopular. [Translator's note: I think the work being referred to is "K no Ryuugi: Fullcontact Game," a Mephisto prize winner distributed by Kodansha. I haven't read it, but it seems to be an extremely violent tale of high school martial arts in which "fierce fighting accelerates beyond human limits." I wonder what happened to the poor Yankees...] Well, whatever you will, read it while trembling with anticipation for story development! --------------------------------------------------------------- Original text is property of HanpaMANIA and can be located at: http://www.pure.cc/~hanpa-m/HANPAMANIA/watanabe/watanabe19.html