EMMA
by Kaoru Mori
The deal: Emma is a completed 7-volume series released by DC’s CMX manga imprint. The covers are printed with a sort of watercolor effect on textured matte paper, which is unusual and aesthetically appropriate.
The summary: Emma takes place in Victorian England. It is about a maid who falls in love with a man of rank, and their struggle to overcome the class gap in society that separates them. They are joined by a group of rather colorful characters as the reader follows them through their trials and tribulations.
The review: Emma is the maid manga for people who hate maid manga. Instead of gratuitous cheesecake and unlikely situations, Emma presents a well-researched Victorian England, down to the architecture, costumes and dress, and representation of society. At times it seems to draw more on Victorian-era novels than it does on manga, which is refreshing.
Emma begins with the maid’s unlikely meeting with William, a man of some nobility. For William, it is love at first sight, but this is Victorian-era England, and as such there’s no gushing or declaration of love. They’re replaced instead with well-planned encounters and offers of gifts. The story follows this thread until it hits the barrier of their different classes, at which point it becomes a struggle for them to see each other through. Emma moves away, William becomes engaged to a girl from a “respectable” family, and the direction of their lives seems to continue to spiral out of their control.
Emma would have been a cute story in and of itself, but what really makes it so much fun is the colorful cast of characters within. Hakim, the eccentric Indian playboy prince who arrives on William’s doorstep with a herd of elephants and a harem, the German couple who take Emma in when she is looking for work, William’s mother, and the gaggle of maids and servants that Emma works with are but a few members of the dynamic cast found within the book.
Each volume is also closed out with a mini-comic from the author herself, where she talks about herself and her work on Emma, which is a fun bonus.
The ending leaves a lot of questions unanswered, though, and I hope that the eighth pseudo-volume of short stories helps clear these questions up.
The recommendation: This is a romance manga recommendation from the guy who really hates romance manga. I really enjoyed Emma for two reasons: the fantastic cast within and the realistic representation of Emma and William’s romance within the setting. Everything is very subtly done, with blushes and expressions often speaking much louder than words.
From CMX, Manga, 7 volumes, $9.99
GRAPHIC ARTISTS GUILD HANDBOOK: PRICING AND ETHICAL GUIDELINES
Twelfth Edition
The deal: The Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing and Ethical Guidelines is a handbook for graphic artists (this includes but is not limited to illustrators and designers of all kinds). A new edition is released by the Graphic Artists Guild each year. As a sidenote, the book is oddly sized.
The summary: The Handbook is a hefty volume chock full of information for today’s professional illustrators and graphic designers. It answers a lot of questions about how to handle situations with clients, what you can ask for and what you can’t, as well as very handy price charts that outline the current going rates for particular types of work. It also contains sections about contracts, which allows graphic artists to arm themselves with the knowledge they need to be treated fairly in a professional scenario. It also contains recommended reading and resources.
The review: This book is a must-have for graphic artists, especially freelancers. Many basic questions like, “How much should I charge?” and “Do I get to retain rights to work I create?” are answered in this book. It is a reference book that ought to be on every freelancer’s shelf. The types of work are broken down into sections, and it is extensive: Corporate Graphic Design, Branding Design, Package Design, Typeface Design, Photo Illustration, Broadcast Design - the list goes on. It also explains some very important concepts, including the dreaded Work-for-Hire clause that has trapped many, many illustrators and designers.
Design and Illustration are not always seen as “real” work by other industries (although that has changed immensely in recent years), and as such professionals are sometimes under-compensated and … well, I’m going to go ahead and use the words ‘tricked’ and ‘fleeced’ by people who know how to use the words of a contract against them. This Handbook allows you to educate yourself against being trapped into unreasonable contracts and situations.
The recommendation: If you’re a graphic artist, especially a freelancer, pick this reference book up. It can be invaluable.
From Graphic Artists Guild, $35.00
This entry was posted on Monday, March 31st, 2008 at 12:23 am and is filed under Rant, Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Emma is so good. i really enjoyed the anime. (my favorite characters are Hakim’s harem girls, they had some great moments)
Man! I haven’t seen the anime, actually … I’m told it moves rather slowly.
Hakim’s girls get some good moments in the books as well. XD They’re some of my favorite supporting characters.
I wonder how much the anime deviates from the manga? I have yet to check out the manga but I really enjoyed both seasons of the anime. by the way, the second season of the anime wraps up Emma’s story quite nicely.
That’s good to know, I may have to take a look when I have the time! Thanks for the heads up.
At my college, most of my professors have spoken very highly of that very handbook. However, because the University has some kind of policy against guilds and unions, they are barred from requiring it for any courses or even recommending we buy it.
Man, that’s so weird - that sort of caveat never occurred to me.
It is a good handbook to have. Artist-types are the type to go in with big hearts and small knowledge, and it can really end up screwing them and souring them to professional work. The trick is to really build up your sense of business, and your sense of being taken seriously.
I love the GAG book! But for some reason its hard to find in Portland, OR, a big design town :(
That is a little bizarre! If you want it, order it off of Amazon, or ask your local Borders or Barnes & Noble to order it - they’ll bring it in.
Oh ya thx :)
I’m surprised that Powell’s doesn’t have it.
Is this based any on the Jane Austen book of the same name?
It’s not!
That was the first thing that popped into my head, too, if Emma was based on Austen’s book. Now that I know it’s not it sounds really great, and the artwork is beautiful!
Jane Austen isn’t for everyone. She’s one of my favorite authors, though. But that’s because I’m a big, romantic sap. *sigh*
I think the writing style is probably a little dense for many people? She’s a good author.
im still having problems finding the anime series, seasons 1 and 2 >:O and now i found otu that they have manga??? zomg!
Right Stuf is releasing a subbed-only DVD set of the first season on Jun. 24…though the second season however isn’t set to be released for another FOUR YEARS!?!?
Ouch!
Psssssssst. Fansubs. They were awesome. XD
its funny how some free fansubs do a better job than paid licensing and distro businesses. i just wanted to point that out. it kinda sparked my interest a bit since emma has great quality animes that were fansubbed, along with the mangas. and you see crappy subbing companies making money. i LUV romance anime/mangas. thoguth i am a guy, i not afraid to admit it. its way better than animes that dont go anywhere.
Emma is a really sweet manga, that manages to balance being a romantic story, with the trifles of everyday-life and the meddling and lack of acceptance in others. I haven’t read it all through yet, but I liked your review, it was good and didn’t spoil anything =)
It’s a bit of Jane Austen feel to it, but without all the insane strokes of luck everyone seems to have =)
Hakim is one of my favorites up ’til now too. It’s so hard not to get all drawn in by his love for life, even though his life is quite out of the ordinary =)
Haha, I hate spoilers, so I avoid them as much as I can.
Hakim is great. XD
I first saw a preview of the Emma manga in Newtype a few years back, and I was very happy when I found out at AX06 (a few years after I saw it in NTUSA) that it was finally being translated! I agree; it’s a lovely story, and being something of a Victoriana fan I was pleased with the details. I only have vols. 2 and 3 so I’m on the hunt for more. And I’d love to see the anime!
And yes, thank you Ananth for not spoiling it =D
Like I said, I dislike spoilers, so I wouldn’t want to spoil anything for anyone else. :D
With all due respect, has there been anything you WOULDN’T recommend to anyone?
No offense, really. I just wanted to see you write a bad review. :D
You can go to any bookstore and browse through the manga section and get those bad reviews yourself. I like it that I can find these fairly unknown, but great series from Anath’s own reviews. I’ve already got a lot of new favorites! :D
I’m very happy to hear that! Glad some of these reviews are helping!
That’s a fair question! And in answer, I’d have to say something along the lines of what Ebony said … I like recommending books to people that they may have overlooked or never heard of.
I’m capable of writing scathing reviews, but the thing about negative reviews is that they can generally be distilled down to “this sucks, don’t read it” - that’s usually enough to convince people. The opposite isn’t true - if you want people to try something new, and it involves giving up money for it, then you really have to make your point. The hard part is convincing people to give something a chance.
Since you mentioned it, though, I’ll make a point of writing a negative review some time. It’s on the list now. ;)
Holy Crap, Ananth. That Graphic Artists Guide Book is such a must have for me. I think I talked to you about it once, but sometimes I get the feeling that the company I work for stiffs me a little bit…and being their first GD ever, I’ve had to sort and wiggle my way around everything that comes with this job because in all reality, they didn’t (and still) don’t really know what to do with me. This book seems like it will help not only myself, but my boss in knowing how to go about incorporating my position in the company. You ROCK for posting this up!!!
Hey Shannon! :D Hah, glad I could help - that handbook is really useful! There’s another book around that goes so far as to list salaries according to what major city you’re near, but I forget what it’s called.
I hope you start getting paid what you’re worth! Designers usually get paid peanuts unless they are paid what they ask for, so definitely ask. ;) Design is just now starting to come into it’s own and many major companies are finally opening design departments, but a lot of the older ones just don’t know how to approach it. You can thank companies like Target and Apple for the positive exposure, though.
Nice review. This is the first I’ve heard of Emma. I’m going to have to check it out. Thanks for the review. ^__^
Hope you like it! :D
Wonderful, another romantic, without overdoing it, story. I, too, will have to check out the anime, slow-paced or not. Hopefully it isn’t a disappointment; I really enjoy the way each of the characters has a unique personality (aside from those silly Grace “fangirls”!).
Perhaps, though, it is too much to hope for a guy acting like Mr. William outside of the Victorian era. ;)
Hahaha, well, I wouldn’t say it’s impossible. :D
What coincidental timing! I bought the first DVD of Emma literally DAYS ago! I am terribly excited and can’t wait for the next DVD, but I wonder - would you recommend the manga over the anime?
I actually haven’t seen the anime, so I can’t make a comparison recommendation! What I can say is that the manga stands on it’s own and is quite enjoyable. Also, you won’t have wait for the next installment - there’s 7 volumes out right now. ;)