| -Reviewed by M.Z.
Two short stories from the author's early works as a doujinshi artist.
The title story, Mister Mermaid, is a reinterpretation of the Hans Christian
Anderson fairy tale with a shounen-ai twist. The prince is a juvenile delinquent
who thought he had lost the most precious thing in his life. The princess
is his girlfriend. Once a sweet and innocent girl from a good family, she
changed herself and sold her body to stay with her love. The prince, thinking
that he had destroyed the one thing he tried to protect, committed suicide.
The little mermaid, in this case, is a merman who saw the shadows in the
face of the man he saved in the sea. Coming on shore to make sure that
he was okay, he found himself caught between the couple, sharing their
frustrations, joy, and heartbreak. Mister Mermaid is a beautifully constructed
modern fairy tale, refreshing twist on the old, casting a new light on
the old characters, giving humanity and ambiguity to the triangle.
An Incurable Disease is yet another modern fairy tale. Short and succinct,
telling of improbable things with a matter of fact voice, it is closer
in spirit to the fables of la Fountaine than the fantastic story of Anderson.
The hero has an incurable disease. He can not die. Many years ago his dearest
friend and lover made him a promise. Each generation, a member of his family
of come to take care of him. The promise has been kept for 16 generations,
but it has gone sour. The promise is no longer kept in love, but has become
a duty and a burden. How the promise was kept by the newest member of the
family, is answered in a clever and most satisfactory manner. |