bitterfig

I saw Dark Knight  a couple days ago and was more or less blown away. 

 

I grew up with Batman—watching the 60’s television show, reading the comics.  Characters like Batman, Batgirl, Robin, Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, the Joker, Catwoman, Two-Face, Penguin, the Riddler, and Poison Ivy have been a part of my consciousness for over 30 years.  It’s kind of amazing to me that I can still be so captivated by such a familiar story, that there are still new layers to be reveled.

( cut for spoilers and length )

A couple of weeks ago I was read the manga Earthian.  It’s an earlier work Kouga Yun the mangaka (writer/artist) responsible for Loveless, a series I’ve had an ambiguous fascination/revulsion relationship with since I started reading it last year because of the eroticized, highly romantic manner in which it deals with the relationship between a 20 year old man and a 12 year old boy. 

 

Earthian was disturbing in different and similar ways.  Like Loveless, Earthian focuses on male characters but what bothered me was the manner in which the primary female supporting-- Aya, Elvira and Miyuki-- were portrayed. 

( cut for length and spoilers )