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misssusan's review against another edition
3.0
mmm. i dunno, the bones of this story are alright and i should have loved kiyoha -- when am i not about fierce girls screaming against the unfairness of the world? but the character designs are so non-distinct that i spent more time trying to confirm who was who than really falling in love with the story. the composition didn't help much either, moyoco anno is fond of dark definite lines which, while not a bad art style in itself, needs a lot more white space to balance it out than art with a lighter touch. combined with her tendency to populate scenes with many characters -- again, not a bad thing in itself! -- it just contributes to the lack of clarity that made it difficult to really fall for the story
3 stars
3 stars
cassiefleurs's review against another edition
2.0
Very good artwork but the story is dull and all over the place. The speech bubble arrangement and time frame were very messy
juliannehr's review against another edition
5.0
This was the first thing I read in my manga masterworks class, and I really appreciate Anno’s work! It’s a very subversive shōjo work; it combines classic elements like style pictures with more subdued 90’s conventions, like minimal panel gutters. The Edo period is a setting, but Sakuran isn’t a period piece, it’s definitely a modern story. It’s exciting and frustrating and heartbreaking, all while being a short read!
vkm13's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this book more but it was just too hard to tell what was going on most of the time. All the courtesans pretty much looked the same, so you could only tell them apart based on behaviour, and even then it was only the protagonist who really stood out (I still sometimes had to go back to remind myself what she was wearing, in order to make sure the character I was reading about a few pages later was still her).
I've found with a lot of one-shot manga that they often jump from scene to scene with very little transition, and this is definitely the case here.
I might get more upon re-read but I don't think I'll be doing that anytime soon.
I've found with a lot of one-shot manga that they often jump from scene to scene with very little transition, and this is definitely the case here.
I might get more upon re-read but I don't think I'll be doing that anytime soon.
panthor's review against another edition
2.0
I liked the concept of this manga but not the story, even though I was not a big fan of the artwork. The story was not as interesting as some Bunraku plays I've seen, but had some things in common. I couldn't bring myself to care about the main character, and in the end I wasn't too interested in what happened to her. A disappointment.
gnitro's review against another edition
2.0
Great artwork, but the stories and characters could not bring me to care. I struggled through this one.
andrael's review against another edition
The art is cool and stylish and gorgeous to look at, but... I had a really hard time telling the characters apart. This, combined with a sometimes non-linear storytelling style, made for a difficult reading experience. At least, I think it was non-linear? It started out with the protagonist as an adult and then flashed back to her as a kid to show how she got there, but every now and then there seemed to be scenes with her as an adult again?? Or maybe it was actually a different character??? I don't know!!!! I told you, it was very confusing. What little I could make out of the story seemed like kind of a downer.
In summary: If you want to be confused and depressed while admiring everyone's clothing patterns and hairstyles, read Ooku: The Inner Chambers. But there haven't been any new volumes of Ooku in a while, so read this instead. Just adjust your expectations.
In summary: If you want to be confused and depressed while admiring everyone's clothing patterns and hairstyles, read Ooku: The Inner Chambers. But there haven't been any new volumes of Ooku in a while, so read this instead. Just adjust your expectations.
neonstarlight's review against another edition
2.0
Sakuran is a one-shot manga about a woman growing up in a teahouse (read: brothel) in Edo, Japan. It starts in "present" time, then from chapter 2 onward, recounts the life story of Kiyoha, the protagonist. She was orphaned, presumably (the book doesn't get into it), at a young age and dumped at the brothel, where she was made to be a maid for one of the highest-ranking courtesans. Kiyoha hates it there and hates anyone telling her what to do, so she rebels, ending up getting in trouble constantly, punished with violence, and ostracized by her fellow housemates. As the story progresses, she is taught how to become a top courtesan herself, through smiling and using her wit to bring men to the house, even though she despises them. She falls in love with one man from the town, but it ends in heartbreak.
I read it from cover to cover in less than an hour because quite honestly, it wasn't intriguing or pretty enough to take my time with. It definitely has echoes of "Memoirs of a Geisha," although it's been so long since I read that, I can't quite remember the story to make any direct correlations. It's very depressing and yet not that difficult to read because, well, seeing a bubble-eyed manga girl getting deflowered by an old man is just kind of silly to look at and really detracts from the horror of the story. Were this presented in a different format or even a different style of character drawing, it might have more of an impact. Really, I just wanted to keep reading to see if the story was original, if anything interesting happened, or if she finally managed to escape in the end...unfortunately, it was a big no on all accounts.
I read it from cover to cover in less than an hour because quite honestly, it wasn't intriguing or pretty enough to take my time with. It definitely has echoes of "Memoirs of a Geisha," although it's been so long since I read that, I can't quite remember the story to make any direct correlations. It's very depressing and yet not that difficult to read because, well, seeing a bubble-eyed manga girl getting deflowered by an old man is just kind of silly to look at and really detracts from the horror of the story. Were this presented in a different format or even a different style of character drawing, it might have more of an impact. Really, I just wanted to keep reading to see if the story was original, if anything interesting happened, or if she finally managed to escape in the end...unfortunately, it was a big no on all accounts.