Sora ga Suki!
Sora ga Suki! | |
空がすき! | |
---|---|
Genre | Comedy[1] |
Created by | Keiko Takemiya |
Manga | |
Published by | Shūkan Shōjo Comic |
Demographic | Shōjo |
Original run | March 1971 – October 1972 |
Volumes | 2 |
Sequels | |
|
Sora ga Suki! (Japanese: 空がすき!, lit. 'I Love the Sky!' or 'I Like the Sky!') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Keiko Takemiya. It was originally serialized in the manga magazine Shūkan Shōjo Comic in two parts: from March to May 1971, and from August to October 1972. It was later published as a collected edition by Shogakukan, and was the first manga series by Takemiya to be published in this format.
The series follows a teenaged
Plot
Part 1
Fourteen-year-old
, where he quickly charms the denizens with his skill at music, singing, and dancing. He integrates himself with a famous local pianist and is hired to teach piano to Genet Hortense (ジュネ・オルタンス, June Orutansu), the upper-class son of the local police chief. Genet becomes aware of Tag's deception, and says he will remain silent if Tag agrees to be his friend. As Tag and Genet gradually grow closer, Tag begins to target Genet's wealthy mother for his next scheme. Torn between his life as a con artist and his friendship with Genet, he decides to leave Montmartre.Part 2
Sometime after Tag's departure, Genet has been transferred to a boarding school in Paris where he suffers under the social dominance of student Solmon Correll (ソルモン・コレル, Sorumon Koreru), the son of the mayor of Paris. He reunites with Tag, now selling poems written by a beggar named Bollocks (ボロックズ, Borokkuzu) that Tag misrepresents to buyers as written by "Claire Peynet" (クレール・ペイネ, Kurēru Peine), a famed poet. He sells a poem to a wealthy American businessman, who reveals he is aware that the poem is a forgery; the businessman wishes to verify the authenticity of a statue of The Bath of Venus owned by Solmon's father that is on display at the Louvre, and hires Tag to steal it. Tag accepts the job and steals the statue, which is determined to be a forgery made by Solmon. Bollocks reveals that he is in fact Claire Peynet, and that he holds the genuine statue, which he returns to the Louvre. In an epilogue, Tag and Genet are shown living happily together.
Production
Development
In September 1970,
Takemiya selected Paris as the setting for the series; at the time, she had developed an interest in Paris and was collecting film soundtracks of movies set in the city.[5] As Takemiya had never travelled there,[3] she purchased a variety of books and other materials related to the city for use as reference to incorporate its culture and customs into the series, particularly in regards to drawing clothing and buildings that were location-accurate.[6]
The central characters of Sora ga Suki! were created before Takemiya conceived of the story, with Takemiya rationalizing that once the characters were established, they alone would be enough to appeal to readers.[7] She chose the surname "Parisian" for Tag not only as a reference to Paris, but also because it was a last name that was clearly fake, and thus indicated his status as a con artist.[5] She designed Genet, whose name is a reference to French writer Jean Genet,[8] to contrast Tag: upper-class compared to Tag's low-born status, a police chief's son versus a con artist.[5] The supporting characters, such as Genet's father, follow typical archetypes common in shōnen manga (boys' manga).[8]
Release
When Takemiya submitted Sora ga Suki! to Shūkan Shōjo Comic editor
It was determined that Sora ga Suki! would begin serialization in the March 1971 issue of Shūkan Shōjo Comic and run for ten chapters, with an agreement made between Takemiya and Yamamoto that the series would be extended if it was received well by readers.[12] However, the response was ultimately deemed insufficient thus ending the series with its tenth chapter in the May issue that same year.[12] Following the conclusion of the series, Shūkan Shōjo Comic received an influx of letters from readers expressing disappointment that Sora ga Suki! had ended.[10] Reflecting on these fan letters, Takemiya stated in her 2019 memoir The Boy's Name Is Gilbert:
While I was grateful for the response from fans, I also felt like, 'it's too late! If you had said something earlier, they might have extended the series!' I was a little irritated.[b]
In response to these letters, Sora ga Suki! resumed serialization with a second part of the series starting in the August 1972 issue.[13] However, Takemiya was no longer as enthusiastic about the series as she had previously been.[14] The second part similarly ended after ten chapters, with the final installment published in the October 1972 issue of Shūkan Shōjo Comic.[13]
Collected volumes
In October 1974, Sora ga Suki! was published as two tankōbon (collected edition) volumes by Shūkan Shōjo Comic publisher Shogakukan, under their Flower Comics imprint. It was the first manga by Takemiya to be published in this format.[15] The first volume contains Rakuyō no Ki (落葉の記, 'The Chronicle of Fallen Leaves'), a 16-page preview of what would become her 1976 manga series Kaze to Ki no Uta (lit. 'The Poem of Wind and Trees'). The preview was included at the end of the volume without notice or explanation. Takemiya said she wanted to "expose" a part of Kaze to Ki no Uta, and she was curious to see how readers would react to it.[15]
Multiple collected volume editions of Sora ga Suki! have been published:
- Sora ga Suki!, published by Shogakukan (Flower Comics), collected as:
- Volume 1, released October 1, 1974 (ISBN 4-09-130021-9)[16]
- Volume 2, released December 1, 1974 (ISBN 4-09-130022-7)[17]
- Volume 1, released October 1, 1974 (
- Sora ga Suki!, published by Shogakukan (Keiko Takemiya Works), collected as:
- Volume 1, released October 15, 1978 (ISBN 4-09-178205-1)[18]
- Volume 2, released December 15, 1978 (ISBN 4-09-178206-X)[19]
- Volume 1, released October 15, 1978 (
- Sora ga Suki!, published by Shogakukan (Shogakukan Bunko), collected as:
- Volume 1, released February 1984 (ISBN 4-09-190736-9)[20]
- Volume 2, released May 1984 (ISBN 4-09-190737-7)[21]
- Volume 1, released February 1984 (
- Sora ga Suki!, published by ISBN 4-04-852128-4)[22]
- Sora ga Suki!, published by ISBN 4-88135-178-8)[23]
Sequels
Marude Haru no Yō Ni (まるで春のように, 'Just Like Spring'), a sequel to Sora ga Suki!, was published in a special issue of Shūkan Shōjo Comic in 1972.
Themes and analysis
Musical theater
Sora ga Suki! is influenced in plot and form by
Shōnen-ai
The primary characters of Sora ga Suki! are all male, which was atypical for shōjo manga of the era.
Reception and influence
Sora ga Suki! was Takemiya's breakthrough work as a manga artist.[30] It was her first critical success as a creator and helped establish a fan base for her manga, some of whom began to visit her at the Ōizumi Salon, the nickname for the rented house she shared with manga artist Moto Hagio that became an important gathering point for shōjo manga artists in the early 1970s.[31]
Manga artist Mineo Maya (Patalliro!) has praised Sora ga Suki! for pushing forward depictions of fashion in manga, specifically noting the black and white spectator shoes worn by Tag, and evaluates the series as unique for its era in this regard.[32] Manga artist Chiho Saito (Revolutionary Girl Utena) became aware of Takemiya after reading Sora ga Suki! while in junior high school; at the time she had developed an interest in films and musicals after watching West Side Story, and was impressed that a musical could be depicted in manga. She credits Sora ga Suki! with helping inspire her to become a manga artist.[33] Aiko Itō also became a fan of Takemiya's after reading Sora ga Suki! and began visiting the Ōizumi Salon in fall 1972, becoming Takemiya's assistant shortly thereafter. She studied under Takemiya and made her debut as a manga artist in 1973.[34]
Notes
- ^ Collected editions of Sora ga Suki! have also been published by Kadokawa Shoten and Shōeisha.
- ^ Quoted in Japanese:「ファンのこの反応をありがたいと感じつつも、『遅いよ!もっと早く言ってくれれば連載が延びたかもしれないのに!』と少しいらついていたのだけれども」[10]
References
- ^ Takemiya 2016, p. 70.
- ^ Nakagawa 2020, p. 204.
- ^ a b Nakagawa 2020, p. 205.
- ^ Nakagawa 2020, pp. 205–206.
- ^ a b c Takemiya 2001, p. 130.
- ^ a b c Takemiya 2019, p. 119.
- ^ Takemiya 2016, pp. 70, 129.
- ^ a b Takemiya 2001, p. 132.
- ^ Takemiya 2019, pp. 109–110.
- ^ a b c Takemiya 2019, p. 120.
- ^ a b Takemiya 2019, p. 110.
- ^ a b c Nakagawa 2020, p. 207.
- ^ a b Nakagawa 2020, p. 254.
- ^ Takemiya 2019, p. 151.
- ^ a b Nakagawa, Yūsuke (2019b). "新書判コミックスで変わる、マンガの読み方" [How Reading Manga Changed With Book-Format Comics]. Gentosha Plus (in Japanese). Gentosha. Archived from the original on December 11, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
- ^ "空がすき! 1". Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
- ^ "空がすき! 2". Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
- ^ "空がすき! 1". Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 31, 2022. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
- ^ "空がすき! 2". Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
- ^ "空がすき 1". Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
- ^ "空がすき 2". Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
- ^ "空がすき!". Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
- ^ "空がすき!". Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
- ^ a b c "空が好き!/竹宮恵子" [Sora ga Suki! / Keiko Takemiya]. Otakuma Keizai Shimbun (in Japanese). May 22, 2014. Archived from the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
- ^ Takemiya 2016, p. 197.
- ^ Takemiya 2019, p. 109.
- ^ Tsurumi 1991, p. 382.
- ^ Nakagawa 2020, p. 206.
- ^ Takemiya 2019, p. 176.
- ^ Yamawaki 2016, p. 31.
- ^ Nakagawa 2020, p. 217.
- ^ Maya & Yamada 2021, pp. 65–66.
- ^ Saito 2016, p. 98.
- ^ Nakagawa 2020, p. 108.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-4-7778-2720-6.
- Nakagawa, Yuuske (2020). 萩尾望都と竹宮惠子 [Moto Hagio and Keiko Takemiya] (in Japanese). Gentosha Shobō. ISBN 978-4-344-98586-5.
- ISBN 4-480-74707-9.
- ISBN 978-4480888037.
- Takemiya, Keiko (2016). 竹宮惠子 カレイドスコープ [Keiko Takemiya: Kaleidoscope] (in Japanese). ISBN 978-4-10-602269-2.
- Saito, Chiho (September 16, 2016). "私にとっての竹宮惠子 (Keiko Takemiya, for me)". 竹宮惠子 カレイドスコープ [Keiko Takemiya: Kaleidoscope]. By Takemiya, Keiko (in Japanese). Shinchosha. pp. 98–99.
- Takemiya, Keiko (2019). 少年の名はジルベール [The Boy's Name Is Gilbert] (in Japanese). ISBN 978-4-09-406713-2.
- Yamawaki, Asao (2016). "竹宮惠子作品の魅力的な「美少年」たち" [The Charming Bishōnen of Keiko Takemiya's Works]. In Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Editorial Department (ed.). 美少年の世界 [The World of Bishōnen Magazines] (in Japanese). TJ Mook. pp. 30–33.
External links
- Sora ga Suki! at Mangapedia (in Japanese)