Age Rating: Everyone
Genre: Dance/Drama
Price: $9.99
It seems that CMX has unfortunately mislabeled Swan. The back of the manga states that it is a drama. This is incorrect. Some would call it a melodrama. This too would also be incorrect. Swan is in fact a Wave-Motion-Gun-drama for that is the only name powerful enough to encapsulate the sheer drama power packed into each and every page of Swan. If you were ever curious about 70s shojo manga this is a great place to start. It is all the power and emotion of your best shojo in a style that you really only get from this time period. Swan is a mixture of beautiful men, strong hard working women, and breathtakingly beautiful ballet.
Masumi Hijiri is an aspiring young a ballerina. After seeing an awe inspiring rendition of Swan Lake she rushes back stage to express her reverence for dancers who put on the performance. Before she can be thrown out of the building her passions over takes her and she awkwardly but hauntingly breaks into dance which catches the attention of the world renowned danseur, Alexei Sergeiev. He is so impressed that when the Japanese Ballet association has a nationwide competition to determine which ballet studentds will be chosen for an ultra elite ballet class she is chosen to participate even though she is practically an unknown. She soon find herself in a state of shock as she goes from casually learning at her local ballet school to competing with world-class ballerinas. Does she have the determination to make it in world on professional ballet?
Masumi Hijiri is an awkward but earnest young girl who has a passion for ballet. She has not had that much in the way of a professional ballet education so her ballet is flawed and limited. But what she has on her side is passion and infinite potential to grow. She is the everywoman with a hidden potential within her. Sayoko Kyogoku is Masumi’s first major rival. She is an extremely talented technical dancer and already recognized as one of the best of the best in Japan. Most people see Masumi as unimportant but Sayoko realizes that Masumi’s had the greatest chance to be her rival. So instead of trying to sabotage or belittle Masumi Sayoko trains harder to keep ahead. This leads me to wonder were the old trope of ballerinas putting tacks in the slippers of their rivals in anime comes from because it so far has not shown up here. Kusakabe Hisho and Yanagisawa Aoi are two male dancers who befriend Masumi. They are both friendly rivals in ballet and for Masumi’s affections.
The ballet is the nonhuman star of the manga. Extra special care is given to all the scenes with ballet in them whether it is an actual performance or just training. Through an excellent use of backgrounds and dynamic poses you are given a sense of the power and passion put into each dance. Before every performance we are given the basic story and some history about the piece to better understand it. Swan also uses all sorts of ballet terminology and techniques. If you have a background in ballet in gives you another layer of enjoyment but that background is not necessary. It is much like when I watch mahjong anime, which is a based on a complex game that I only have a tiny grasp of the rules of. The details are unimportant. What matters to the audience is the emotions and investment that goes into each performance.
I will mention there are two major things that are going to turn people away. In many ways the turnoffs to Swan are the same turn offs people have with Tezuka works. They character designs are unmistakably 70s. I love 70s character designs but I know this turns some people off. Which is a shame because the handsome men are quite handsome, the beautiful women are strikingly beautiful, and the emotion and passion is always raw and moving. The art is always very detailed and expressive. It would be a shame to miss out on such wonderful artwork because it was not shiny and new. Also there are moments of crazy comedic reaction shots. During the comic relief moments people will often have quite sill expressions unlike normal. While the comedy bits flows distinctly seamlessly into the drama unlike some of Tezuka’s more experimental works I know that the contrast turns some people off.
Let me state that I do not feel that modern shojo is in anyway inferior to classic 70s shojo. There is the same bell curve of classic and throwaway manga in shojo that there has always been. I just feel that there is this certain essence and feel of manga that only exists in 70s shojo. This type of Wave-Motion-Gun-drama is really only in the 70s. Every scene carries monumental importance. Ever feeling is bight and bold be it positive or negative. Whenever Masumi is dancing it’s not just her pride and future on the line. It’s the future and hopes of herself, her family, her friends, her competitors, Japan and the international ballet community as a whole. This easily could be ludicrous but it’s done in such an artistic manner that in draws you in and emotionally invests you on each and ever page. To enjoy this manga you don’t need to be a fan of ballet. You just need to be a fan of human emotion.
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