Quick Review of the Joker Series, by Katchan
Author: Maki Yuu
Artist: Michihara Katsumi
Series Title: Joker Series
Publisher: Wings Comics
Dates: 1987-1997
ISBN: 4-403-61135-4 (volume 1, 'Teiou no niwa' [the Emperor's Garden])
      4-403-61166-4 (volume 2, 'Moon Fantasy' part 1)
      4-403-61181-8 (volume 3, 'Moon Fantasy' part 2)
      4-403-61215-6 (volume 4, 'Dream Playing Game')
      4-403-61253-9 (volume 5, 'Green Paradise')
      4-403-61313-6 (volume 6, 'Sherlockian Computer')
      4-403-61462-0 (volume 7, 'Kai no Utagoe' [Kai's Singing Voice])

Price: 480-505 yen each.


   I discovered 'Joker' when a dear darling wonderful friend of mine sent me two volumes, assuring me that I'd love them.  She was right.  From the (alternately) pastel, watercolour, charcoal, and air-brushed covers to the slightly gritty black-and-white art inside, 'Joker' is definitely a visual experience.  'Joker' isn't slick, it isn't predictable, and it isn't necessarily what one might expect given a one-sentence summary of the whole.  It's an acquired taste, I think;  Joker (the character) is at times adorable and annoying and deadly and fascinating.

    Joker is also alternately male and female and a lovely androgyne.   I had a discussion with a member of Aestheticism, off-list, about whether or not 'Joker' is a shounen ai/yaoi series.  Joker is, after all, a woman, part-time.   My personal conclusion was that it can be classified as shounen ai simply because Joker is also a man, part-time; and because at one point in the series, while sleeping and dreaming of Joker, Riin murmurs 'I love you...even though you're a man, I love you...' [Please note that at this point he had his sleeping senpai's hand in both of his; Barry- senpai very quietly dressed and crept out of the room, terrified]

     Despite the title of the series, Joker is not the primary character; that honour goes to police officer Rikudou Riin.  Through Riin's eyes we see the oft-grisly murders and assassinations he must investigate as part of his job; and we can see how torn he is about Joker -- for he knows, though he has no conclusive evidence, that Joker is the perpetrator of certain of those crimes.  And having fallen in love with the pretty little black-haired female Joker, Riin (who considers himself very straight) has a difficult time being loved by the tall and well-muscled male Joker.

    Joker itself has a delightfully twisted sense of humour; well aware of Riin's mild homophobia, it tends to plant a smooch on him most frequently when in its male form.  Sometimes it proposes certain things
to Riin simply to watch Riin sweat (such as going undercover at a restaurant, then bursting out of a form-fitting outfit in the middle of
a strip-tease, transforming in mid-strip to a gigantic male, frightening
and subduing the baddies).  Through it all, Joker's attraction to Riin
is made very plain.

     The series is well-balanced -- it's not primarily a comedy but a sort of spy-thriller story, with conspiracies and cover-ups and various unsolved mysteries.  The comedy is never misplaced in the midst of the more grim scenes, but has its own time and place.  Joker (and others like it) -- bred and programmed for assassination -- remains an enigma, despite all we are ultimately told about it.   There is no explicit sexuality in the series but the tension between Joker and Riin is at times charged with indescribable eroticism (and they do sleep together a couple times throughout the series).  The art is consistent and Michihara-sensei has a knack with expression (sometimes the style gets almost super-deformed when Riin or Joker is completely startled or nonplussed).

     What I really like about the series is the way each arc takes up one volume -- or two, in the case of 'Moon Fantasy'.  This makes it less frustrating to have only one or two volumes; each arc is a complete
story in one book.  The books are also inexpensive; with the exception
of volume 7, all are less than 500 yen each.  Definitely good value for
your dollar, if you can find them.  A caution for those non-Japanese- speakers -- there are a LOT of kanji in the Joker Series, and very few furigana (largely for names and periodic anglicisms).  It's not always easy to figure out from the pictures what's going on.  But if you're able to read it (or willing to stick it out and learn), I recommend this series as one to add to your collection.