Moto Hagio is, at this point in the understanding of manga history, understood to be an important driver of the development of manga as a medium. She is well-known for her role in the development of Shoujo and BL and is equally respected as a science-fiction author. Denpa Books’ edition of her science fiction classic They Were 11! is a fantastic example of the latter. 

A group of young men from across the galaxy are brought together on a spaceship to conduct their final entrance exam to Cosmo Academy. The only rule – survive 53 days in space. Almost immediately, things begin to go wrong. And there are 11 people on the ship, not 10.

What a fantastic opener for a suspense story!

The 11 young men run into a series of setbacks, and more mysteries begin to form. One of the 11 seems to know too much about the ship, there is an outbreak of disease, and bombs are set around the ship! Will they make their 53 days?  This story is followed by a sequel starring the main players of the crew, in a tale of political intrigue that will change the course of life on a number of planets. 

Each of these tales is action-filled, full of twists and turns that make it almost impossible to guess what the outcome will be. This collection is beautifully put together by Denpa, with color pages, and solid translation by Ajani Oloye (who happens to have been the translator on several of the last few books I’ve read. His work is impeccable.) But the real reason I wanted to talk about this series, is the use of gender in the collection as a whole. 

One of the characters, Frol, is small-framed, prone to emotional outbursts. Initially, some of the crew assume Frol is a girl, even though Frol insists that he is male. It is not until Knu identifies Frol as a species that is gender indeterminate, like their own, that we learn that Frol’s family wants him to become a woman, but he is determined to become a man. His choice is dependent upon whether he succeeds in passing this text. 

As the story continues Tada, who seems to have a connection to the ship, and Frol go from being forced to work together to a team. Love appears to be on the horizon and, eventually, Frol states that, for Tada, he would become a woman. 

That said, when we pick up in the sequel, Frol is 100% about performative masculinity. He talks about “getting” girlfriends and obsesses about his body and his strength.  Tada and Frol continue to become more and more intimate. This time, Frol no longer speaks about becoming a woman, but still declares his affection for Tada, who returns the feeling, accepting Frol as he is. 

There were some really interesting ideas in here, wrapped in an assumed heterosexuality for all the species. From my perspective of a half-century after these stories were published, that might seem disappointing, but for the time, this was surely revelatory. This series, which was published in Bessatsu Shoujo Comic, won a Shogakukan Manga Award in 1976, in  a combined shounen and shoujo category. 

Science fiction has always had a place in queer media, because of the unknowns of the future. Space is big enough to hold questions of gender and sexuality, and Moto Hagio was among those who understood that potential right along with James Tiptree Jr., Octavia Butler and Katherine V. Forrest.

Definitely worth adding to your or your local library’s classic manga collection!

Ratings

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 8
Gender and Sexuality – Gender more than sexuality, let’s say a 4

Overall – 8

Suzonomiya Lilisa has a mission and a goal. A girl from an middle-class household (a commoner to the rich girls around her) whose mother has married into high society, Lilisa is studying at the exclusive Oushin Academy, alongside the daughters of the rich and powerful. Lilisa is good at faking it and the girls around her admire her poise and knowledge. Every day is torture.

In Rock Is A Lady’s Modesty, Volume 1, Lilisa longs for simple pleasures of her former life, but when she discovers that the other star of the school, Kurogane Otoha, holed up in an unused school building and absolutely shredding on drums, Lilisa’s days are turned into a maelstrom in which she lives a double life. Playing her heart’s desire on guitar doesn’t make it any easier to rise to the position of Noble Maiden, her actual goal at this school, for she knows that when she attains this position she and her mother will be accepted into the ranks of high society. Surely.

The archaic rules of “Class S” here lie heavy in this premise. At Oushin, girls are cultivated like the flowers for which the school is named. They are treated as delicate, ephemeral and with the sole job of looking beautiful and cultured. These are young women being trained to be married off and sent to their cloister to await their husbands’ attentions. Within Oushin, these girls focus their passions on the paragons of their classes, treating them like idols.

This story, like it’s adaptation into anime, positions playing the guitar as something “common.”. Lilisa’s mother is so concerned that her daughter aspire to more refined instruments, like violin, that playing guitar is returned to its cultural roots in ways that a modern Japanese audience might not even consider. We of the late 20th and early 21st centuries think of guitar as something cool. But the guitar is also an instrument of rebellion and resistance. Rock & Roll has always been seen as subversive, a counter-culture noise. So Lilisa, and Otoha, playing loud, unfettered rock, sweating heavily, and cursing and screaming during their sessions, is hardly a subtle message. Still, this is a fun subversion of rules. Rock & Roll becomes the catalyst for women trapped by their lives to find their true selves.

I am honestly glad that Yen picked this series up. While the manga went on hiatus in Japan in July, we have 8 volumes to look forward to here. We get a nice handling of both the refined Class S world and the gutter-sniping of the rock sessions from both translator Ajani A. Oloye and letterer Phil Christie. Well done to the team at Yen.

And of course, the joke of these refined young ladies using gutter language works. It’s funny. It’ll stay funny. Yuri is by implication, primarily, as Otoha speaks of their jam sessions in increasingly intimate terms. She’s not really wrong, either. The sessions are the sex. The music is the relationship. 

Ratings: 

Art – It is very much its own thing, 8
Story – A nice spoof of the “school star” trope, 8
Characters – Somehow relatable? 8
Service – You like sweat? You’re good
Yuri – Absolutely yes and not at all

Overall – 8

I’m looking forward to watching this series develop and getting past the anime!

Itou is a socially awkward teenager, she has never really understood how to fit in. In Common-Sense Monster, Volume 1, when she sees her popular, well-liked classmate Takahashi is really an unspeakable monster that has just eaten a sex pest teacher, Itou immediately confronts Takahashi…and asks her how she passes as normal. 

I don’t actually know if the premise is meant to be funny or not, but it is played with absolute seriousness. Itou is earnestly trying to figure out the one simple hack to be normal, while Takahashi is mostly just jerking Itou around for fun…while also giving her world-shakingly good advice. Despite the fact that Itou is in terrible danger – as Takahashi frequently reminds her – she really likes the other “girl” and believes there must be more to her than just eating humans. 

Takahashi definitely fucks with Itou, reminding her constantly that she, Takahashi is an unspeakable monster who has no likes or dislikes and doesn’t give a shit about humans, but when asked if there is a hack to getting along, says something so simple and profound, advising Itou to lust like whatever is popular. Insert exploding brain emoji here. Takahashi goes on to explain the most teens are desperate to separate themselves from their peers but also terrified of being different, which I swear to you is not just relevant to teens.

Again, I don’t know if this is intentional or I am over-analyzing this manga, but there are a number of horrors on display here. The terror of just not fitting is a level of existential DEFCON 1 that I presume is familiar to many of us. The real-world evil of a sexual predator teacher is, also something that I expect we understand too well. Coming in at the bottom of the list for Itou is an eldritch horro who has stated that it will consume her.  Like, in comparison with high school life, which is the worst of the three, really?

When the awful teacher appears once again and seems to target Itou, calling her a monster, we’re probably pretty sure we know who we’d rather have on our side.

There is little Yuri here, but there is room for it, if it develops. I just hope it’s not just Itou throwing her feelings at Takahashi. 

Ratings: 

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – Bath scene, so 4
Yuri  – 1

Overall – 8 

For fans of creepy monsters walk among us manga, this is some fun. Volume 1 is available now from Yen Press.