Yu Watase?

[Kisa]

OK, Mangafanatic and myself were discussing on the Alice 19th thread about Yu Watase and her mangas . . .
Began to notice a trend, more recently evident in Alice 19th, of her to include uneeded nudity and the likes in her mangas.
I just wanted to get peoples opinions on this and reactions if you didn't know.
I know I love Fushigi Yuugi and Alice 19th and I am considering not buying anymore of Ms. Watase's manga . . . it is so dissapointing to becuase the stories are great and the art is beautiful but . . .. *sigh* we have to draw a line somewhere right?
Just let me know what you think and why or why not we should suport her here on CAA and such . . .

[Shao Feng-Li]

Well, how is the nudity handled? is it detailed, or more like Sailor Moon? Or more importantly, is it done in a sexual matter?

Hmm, you could always like an ink pen to the manga...

[Mangafanatic]

No, we had a detailed full body frame of Mayura completely nude. There might have been more than one, but I skipped over this ten page area where both Alice and Mayura are COMPLETE naked. There was nothing silhouette-y about it. I'm with you on this one KT, I don't think I'll continue reading Alice the 19th-- nor will I pick up any of her other titles. It's just so sad. . . .

[Mave]

That's one of my pet peeves with Watase Yuu.

While her characters have become more mature in her newer series, I can't help getting annoyed with all the unnecessary nudity and her philosophy on sex.

I don't read Ayashi no Ceres anymore and am discouraged from taking up Alice 19th after reading the more recent manga volumes.

The only manga I've ever really liked completely from her was Imadoki. Short, sweet and clean. There was a friend of hers that got pregnant out of wedlock ( ) but I could handle that...rather than the nudity and sex scenes.

So yeah KisaTohru and mangafanatic I know what you mean. If you are bothered by it, forsake it. I did. It's not worth the beautiful art IMO.

[RoyalWing]

Wow, you know, thank you so much for posting this, because I was just thinking of getting Alice the 19th. ^-^ I'm reading Imadoki!, so i thought that Alice the 19th would be alright (especially since the girl slightly looks like Card Captor Sakura), but I guess not!

[Spirit_Wolf8356]

Frankly, the only thing I like of Watase's anymore is Alice 19th. The Mayura scene was pointless though. Completely uncalled for. *shakes fist at the badness of it* Good series too! That's the precise reason Fushigi Yugi started getting on my nerves so bad. That and all the way too sickeningly sweet scenes between Miaka and Tamahome. They get on my nerves so bad!

[Kireihana]

Yeah, Ceres had unecessary nudity as well. I mean, there was no reason for all of Aya's important self-conversations to take place in the shower. At first it was undetailed, but by volume 3, I gave up on the series. It wasn't such a loss for me though; for while the story was interesting, there is plenty of equally beautiful, clean manga out there...

[Shao Feng-Li]

I'm not oppesed to Sailor Moon nudity, because it's really not nudity and because it's not sexuall. All together, I'm opposed to detailed nudity, sexual or not. Personally, I totally aprove of giving up Yu Watase, and would do the same.

[Kisa]

Yea! It is sooo dissapointing because Yuus stuff like FY and alice have really good storylines! I am so so so upset! She has alot of potential as a manga artis/writer and has done well, but for us who have higher standards its really sad. Why does our society today think that sex and nudity is so common!? I really wish people would be more modest and wait for marriage! Arrrggg . . . *ends rant* Anywho, Yea, no more Yu for me . . . now I gotta get rid of my FY and Alice volumes -_- . . . otherwise seeing them all the time will make me want to finish the series.

[Mangafanatic]

Yeah, I'm glad I never bought any Alice. If I had-- I would have been so tempted to finish it.

[Kisa]

-_-'
well I did, and now wish I didn't, lol. . . .
o well, I'm sure I can sell em on Ebay or something . . .
THIS IS SOOOOO CRUEL!!!!!!!!!!! People need to raise their standards!
*balls up fist and shakes at Yu watase*

[Kireihana]

Yeah, I'm glad I never bought any Alice. If I had-- I would have been so tempted to finish it.

Yeah, same with me; I was borrowing Ceres from a friend.

[Mimiru14]

..Well..If you want something of Yu Watase that has no nudity,you should check out Memoir Girl..it was short but good,dispite some curse words though...That just my suggestion

[blue elf]

I like most of Watase's works to at least some extent. I loved Imadoki and Alice 19th, although I agree that the whole naked bathroom fight between Mayura and Alice was very pointless...Oo;. I've only read the first couple volumes of Fushigi Yuugi, but the anime was the first series I ever bought(and obsessed over..lol) way back when. Genbu Kaiden seems like it could be interesting and I've read a few volumes of Ceres, which is pretty interesting except the a few scenes now and then. If Absolute Boyfriend is as smutty as I've seen people comment that it is, I'll probably skip that one though.
-BlueElf

[Ashley]

Imadoki is the only title by Watase that I'd trust, personally. From what I've heard (this thread just a list of many) her works are quickly deteriorating.

But as for writing off the mangaka as a whole, I don't think that's necessary. For example, Tanemura's latest work Shinshi Doumei Cross has me thoroughly disappointed in her, but I'm not going to swear off her work just because of a bad title or two. In Watase's case, I say we just make people aware how raunchy her work is getting, but mention the good title(s?) too.

[Shao Feng-Li]

I thinks it's a better idea to be a fan of the particular manga, rather than the artist.

[Sparrow Writer]

Yu Watase does have several nudity scenes, and in the case of Ayashi no Ceres, sex scenes. (Aya, the main character of Ceres, also gets pregant out of wedlock) The only series that has none of that is Imadoki (there might be a little...it's been awhile since I read the series). Her art is beautiful and she does have good stories, but yeah...it can offend quite a few people.

Really, at this point, I'm only reading Ayashi no Ceres because of Alec....who's awesome...because the entire mood of the story and Aya's personality is getting on my nerves.

[ChristianKitsune]

I really really loved Alice 19th.. I am sorry if I offend anyone by saying that...

I didn't like the shower scene... I thought it was pretty pointless... they could have done that scene differently in my opinion....

However, it wasn't like any of the guy characters were oogling anything... it wasn't done in horrible taste...

Japan's society is WAY different that America's that kind of stuff isn't considered taboo... but Violence is... (notice how in most Anime' the majority of the violence is ANTIWAR? and the bad guys LOVE war? )

while here That kind of stuff is Taboo and Violence is considered less taboo... (though we are rapidly getting to the point of THAT stuff is ok..)

Don't get me wrong here.. I wish Alice 19th didn't have those kind of things in it..but it isn't in EVERY Volume.. just in four a little less detailed in 6 and 7.

I wrote the review over A19th...and while I can't excuse the content.. I didn't stop reading it just because of a few scenes... if it had been handled in a different MORE perverted manner (with guys involved) I would have stopped...but since it wasn't AS perverted as it could have been.. I didn't stop reading it...

Those are just my opinions.. I am sorry if I offended anyone...

[Nate]

I thinks it's a better idea to be a fan of the particular manga, rather than the artist.

I agree.

The only Watase work I've really seen is Fushigi Yugi, which stands as my favorite anime of all time. So...I can't speak for her other work, just that one. I do think I'll stay away from her newest one (is it Absolute Boyfriend or something?), but I don't think you should swear off all her work just because of one series.

[ChristianKitsune]

I am not sure if i will read any of her other works... I liked Alice 19th enough..but if any of her other works are WORSE than Alice19th.. eee.. i don't know...

I have this PURE Japanese manga by here..and let's just say there are some.."Eek" scenes... I haven't looked at it in forever..and only keep it because it was a gift...

[Mave]

Hey don't worry, that's fine. ^^ Everyone to their own personal conviction. I think the job is done when we've conveyed information about the contents of a manga title. The choice is ultimately yours and only you would know what the Holy Spirit is convicting you with.

Like what others have said, I wouldn't swear off all the titles by an artist merely just because of one title that disagreed with me.

Alright, I admit it: What really bothered me about Alice 19th wasn't the nudity (but of course, that's not to say that I welcome the images either XD;; ). It was the whole sister rivalry over one guy and personalities that just didn't impress me. Mayura seemed conveniently 'evil' and selfish for sake of the storyplot and everyone is expected to root for Alice and whatshisname guy.

[spoiler= Strong opinions about Frey] I also can't bring myself to like that overly flirtatious Frey(sp?) no matter how cute he is. I mean, you do not go around licking a girl's ear in public and expect it to be OK. If I was Alice, I would have kicked Frey where it hurts. [/spoiler]

I'm afraid that I'm judging the whole series by the first 3-4 volumes. When everyone started to manifest evil thoughts/feelings in their heart for reasons I couldn't relate to, I decided that Alice 19th isn't my cup of tea.

I would say that I personally enjoyed Fushigi Yuugi for its humor, Ayashi no Ceres (to a certain extent) for Watase's uncanny ability to drive in the whole angst/tragedy/drama theme and Imadoki for the inspiring characters/positive message in it.

I would rate Fushigi Yuugi and Imadoki better than Alice 19th, but that's just my opinion. ^^

[Kisa]

Ah, since I see this has been revived, I'd like to add on one of Watase's newer titles.
(btw I agree with Mave, Fushigi and Imadoki are the better of her series, I love them ^^)
Also don't get me wrong, I don't write off all of Watase's work, I just read it with a grain of salt until I know if its ok, as with any new manga. She just has a track record for bringing in stuff, y'know?

Recently liscensed and put iun Shojo BEat is Absolute Boyfriend. I did a review on this so you can go read that for more details, but it is a definite stay away from. The whiole story is centered on sex and its very dissapointing.....

[inkhana]

When Yuu Watase can stay away from the needless sex scenes (yes, yes, I KNOW Aya and Tooya are sleeping together, and they're so close, etc...no need to beat it in!) she writes a really good story, imo. Nudity doesn't bother me (the shower scenes don't bother me either, despite their introspective bent) but what really really bothered me about Ayashi no Ceres was the glamorization of out-of-wedlock sex and the fact that marriage didn't even seem to be in the plan! I read the whole thing in scan form...although I liked elements of the story, it overall left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Imadoki was far more enjoyable for what it was, to me.

[blue elf]

Really, at this point, I'm only reading Ayashi no Ceres because of Alec....who's awesome...because the entire mood of the story and Aya's personality is getting on my nerves.

I love Alec...and Ms. Q! They crack me up. ^^; I'm not really far into the series so I was wondering how bad does the sexual content get? I mean is it really graphic or anything like that?

[Kisa]

I only like AYC for Yuuhi, hes too cool ^^
And yes, Watase has some mad skills not only with her drawing, but her stories as well

[inkhana]

[quote="blue elf"]I love Alec...and Ms. Q! They crack me up. ^^]


Haha, I liked them too...XD Yuuhi was cool as well...in a lot of ways I liked him more than Tooya >.>

As far as the sexual content goes, there are several sex scenes, and not always between the same characters (usually Aya and Tooya). Aya is nearly raped several times by varying characters, including the spirit that's possessed her twin brother. :/ (you can't fairly say it was poor Aki ;__; ) So yeah...you actually see them (Aya and Tooya) in bed and all, often with two or three pages dedicated to Aya's musing on the subject while they're doing it. >.< If you're sensitive to that kind of thing, steer clear of this one.

[blue elf]

[color=DarkGreen]
Haha, I liked them too...XD Yuuhi was cool as well...in a lot of ways I liked him more than Tooya >.>

As far as the sexual content goes, there are several sex scenes, and not always between the same characters (usually Aya and Tooya). Aya is nearly raped several times by varying characters, including the spirit that's possessed her twin brother. :/ (you can't fairly say it was poor Aki ]

I can understand why someone would like Yuuhi more than Tooya. Tooya's personality is a bit....umm, flat. Of course that could be owing to his lack of memories or whatever....eh, he's still hot though. ^^;

I'll probably glance through some of the volumes next time I go to the bookstore to see if I think it's too graphic for me. It's too bad that it has so much sex in it, cause I think the overall plot is quite good and a lot of the characters are likeable. I admit I may be a bit partial to Watase, one reason maybe being that Fushigi Yuugi was one of the first anime shows I was obsessed with when I first got into anime. All of her manga that I've read have been interesting, but Absolute boyfriend sounds a little bleh from the way everyone's been describing it.

[Kireihana]

Japan's society is WAY different that America's that kind of stuff isn't considered taboo...

That's unfortunately true. My Japanese friend said that it's usually no big deal if teenagers (or anyone I would suppose) have sex out of wedlock. However I don't think that means we should be using Japan's standards to justify what we do and don't read. >_< Actually it's probably not even safe to use America's standards all the time... which is why we are Christians

[Katharine Faith]

The only thing that really, truly irritates me about Yuu Watase's work is that every one of her series has the same flippin' plot:

Irritating Girl X is toodling through life, when she discovers (to her shock) that she is Speshul Sparkly Goodness for some reason or another. The rest of the story quickly devolves into a syrupy love-triangle (or love-octagon, in FY's case), which essentially entails the entire male cast (all of whom are T3H HAWT!!!1!1!!1) chasing after Irritating Girl X, who is simply at a loss (T3H ANGST!!1!!1) as to what to do.

Bleh. It gets old after a while.

(Although I must admit, the boys are very pretty. Those twits Miaka and Aya should've just played 'em all, instead of wangsting over their respective One Twu Wuvs! )

[Sparrow Writer]

[quote="blue elf"]I love Alec...and Ms. Q! They crack me up. ^^]

Yeah...haha, my love for Alec has been labeled "obsession" by my friends. But he is funny, a fellow anime fan, video gamer, etc...you can't help but love him! (Ok, ~I~ can't help but love him.) My friend got a dvd of the anime that was slightly farther than the anime. This is how the conversation went-

Him- Hey! I got a Ceres dvd. Do you wa-

Me- Does it have Alec in it?

Him- ....Yeah.

Me- Than I want it.

I feel really bad for his character too. He's really not a bad guy. He just happens to work for the wrong side. I wanted to hug him when he was crying during the dvd...then I remembered he was an animated character and I can't do that. ^_^"