[MANGA REVIEW] Kokou no Hito (The Climber) by Shinichi Sakamoto, Yoshiro Nabeda, Hiroshi Takano

Kokou no Hito, Volume 1-17 by Shinichi Sakamoto
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Read from June 20 to 28, 2014, read count: 1

Dark, dramatic and powerfully captivating. Absolutely not a typical sports manga.

Kokou no Hito is a unique manga experience with dark and complex storytelling combined with breathtaking artwork that captivates the mind and soul. Since this manga was a Seinen category, both the plot and the theme focused on heavy subjects which are intense as well as disturbing in nature. The story explores role of emotion, morality, rationality in human reason when pushed to to the edge of survival. The mountains is no place for the weak, the same goes for those below the mountains. Above or below, only the fittest will survive and prosper.

This riveting manga series was inspired by Kato Buntaro, he is one of Japan's famous solo mountaineer of the early 20th century. Buntaro began his winter solo moutaineering career in February 1928 in the Hyōnosen mountains and from then on he couldn't stop climbing until he drew his last breath on Mount Yari.

In Kokou no Hito we follow an extremely introverted protagonist, Mori Buntarou as he progress from high school climbing to professional high-altitude mountaineering and later as a challenger of the untrodden K2 East Face. K2 was known as the holy grail of mountaineering and also as 'The Savage Mountain' due to countless lives lost to it. Even though it was only the second highest mountain in the world, it was far more hazardous than Everest. Until now the eastern face of K2 was untrodden land because it has the hardest and deadliest routes.

As opposed to many other readers who finds it hard to relate to the protagonist, I am completely enamored by him for I truly admire his character and personality despite his shortcomings. I do believe he can't function well with people around him due to severe anthropophobia. This makes him a true loner and an outcast to society. And it is also one of the reason why is he drawn to the mountains all the time. I find him fascinating and quite a romantic person. Romantic not in the sense of being in relationships but the sentimentality of his being. His heartstrings quivers at the slightest provocation and sometimes this trait of his maddens me. I am torn between wanting to embrace and protect him from harm and wishing to knock some sense into him, hard.

Despite not being a sports fan myself, I was highly intrigued by the mountaineering technical details presented in this series. The mangaka did so well with it that a layman like me finds it easy to follow and appreciate the mountaineering aspect of the story. The realistic portrayal of mental and physical challenges faced by the mountaineers was insightful and eye-opening. Apart from that what makes this manga unputdownable was the thrilling conflicts sparked by feuds and controversies in Mori's life especially in the world of mountain climbing. When it comes to extreme sport like mountaineering, your life literally lies in the hands of your teammates and theirs in yours. Therefore mountaineering as a team could potentially turn into harsh trial of humanity where ethics and morality are stretched as thin as the air in high-altitude.

I would highly recommend this manga to matured readers especially to those with broad-minds and appreciative of visual metaphors. I am glad to learn that Kokou no Hito won an award at the 14th Japan Media Arts Festival in year 2010. This exceptional manga absolutely excels in terms of its fine artwork, amazing character arc, compelling storyline and its great sense of place. There's also good balance between the sport and slice of life aspect, both elements blended really well together. I wish I could watch a film adaptation of this manga in the near future. I already felt like I am missing out because I couldn't read the original novel of this story by Jiro Nitta sensei as it was in Japanese and there's no translation for it at the moment. But I do count my blessings for the existence of this manga in English scanlation. I vow to own the entire series in paperback should one day Kokou no Hito was ever licensed in English. It is totally worth collecting.

BOOK DETAILS:
Title: Kokou no Hito (The Climber)
Associated Names: 孤高の人 / 孤高之人 / 고고한 사람 / Ascension / Koko no Hito / The Climber
Mangaka: Shinichi Sakamoto
Author: Shinichi Sakamoto (art and story from volume 4 onwards), Yoshiro Nabeda, Hiroshi Takano
Publication Date: 2007
Type: Serialized Manga (17 Volumes) based on the novel by Jiro Nitta
Genre: Seinen, Sports, Drama, Slice of Life, Contemporary
Tags/Keywords: dead friend(s), death, accidents, suicide, deliberate loner, guilt, hiking, loneliness, loner protagonist, rock climbing, mountaineering, soul searching, social outcast, time skip, tragedy, mature

Description:
On his first day of transferring to a new high school, a loner named Mori Buntarou, is cajoled by a classmate into climbing the school building. Despite knowing that one misstep could send him spiraling to his death, he moves forward, and upon finally reaching the top, Mori experiences a sense of fulfillment. That feeling, which seems to be telling him, "You're alive!" gives birth to an adrenaline for rock-climbing.

*From volume 4 on, Sakamoto Shinichi has done both story and art.



* Reviewed on July 2nd, 2014

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[REVIEW] Trigger by Susan Vaught

Trigger by Susan Vaught

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Recommended for: Everyone from 14 years old and above.

Read from May 17 to 18, 2014 — I own a copy, read count: 1

Suicide victims often times are misunderstood by others. Many tends to be judgemental of them, calling them selfish, attention seeker or even mad. Suicides account for twice as many deaths as AIDS and over half of suicide deaths are by firearm.

Jersey Hatch is the voice of all those vulnerable, troubled teens out there. Vaught has crafted him based on her experience of working with young people as a practising neuropsychologist.

Jersey suffered permanent physical and neurological impairment after a botched suicide attempt. His sentences are often punctuated with random odd words in between and half of his body no longer work like it used to be. A big chunk of his memories leading to the day he shot himself in the head was obliterated after the tragic attempt to end himself. The Jersey After has no recollection as to why he pulled the trigger that day. Together we navigate along with him through his unsynchronized mind as he tried to piece everything together again while he faced hardships due to his disabilities and from his family, friends and teachers. Would the truth give him the peace he needed to finally settle down or would it cause him to want to pull the trigger for the second time?

Trigger gave us insights to a suicidal teen's mind enabling us to better understand this widespread devastating act of self harming. Aside from that it also explored the aftermath of suicide on family members, friends and those around the victim. The book represents a wake up call to us to start paying more attention to those we cared about, start to listen more, judge less, for you might save a life.

I would say that Vaught handled the theme of this book really well. It wasn't judgemental or clinical, she let the readers decide for themselves based on what they see -- this would create deeper impression on the messages within. As extra food for thought, she even managed to raise several other social issues such as parenting, school bullying and also the responsibility and risk of firearm ownership. Although Trigger addresses a heavy subject, it wasn't a difficult book read as I have first thought it would be. Vaught has included the right amount of humor to smooth out the rough edges. I admit to burst out laughing many times because of the humorous situations Jersey unintentionally created due to his runaway mouth.

Frankly there are some plot holes that chips away bit of the realism but it wasn't that big of a deal and since the book did achieved its aim on creating awareness on suicide, it didn't bother me that much.

I would highly recommend this book to older teenagers and to adults as well. In fact, everyone should read this book. Knowledge could save lives - even your own life. Prevention should always be the first step.

FACTS

Know that...

Consider this statement below before you act on your impulse or start judging others...

IMPORTANT to continue reading about the above statement here: Metanoia

BOOK DETAILS:

Title: Trigger

Author: Susan Vaught

Publication Date: April 10th, 2011

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Genre: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary

Type: Novel, approximately 75,000 words

Main Characters: Jersey Hatch, Mr&Mrs Hatch, Leza Rush, Todd Rush, Mama Rush

Tags/Keywords:

Title of Spoiler:

brains, brain damage, patients, rehabilitation, gunshot wounds, suicide, wounds and injuries, teenager, depression, school bullying, firearm, parenting, stigmatize

Description:

Jersey Hatch seemed to have it all together-he played sports, was popular, had a great girlfriend, best friend, and supportive parents. But when he emerges from a recuperative care center, all that is gone, his legs and hands don't work right, his mouth says every word that pops into his brain, and he has to write down his thoughts so that he remembers even the most basic directions and details. Through it all, one question haunts him: why did he try to kill himself

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* Reviewed on May 19th, 2014

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[REVIEW] Out of the Woods (Tarin's World # 1) by Syd McGinley

Out of the Woods by Syd McGinley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Recommended for: Open minded fans of M/M & and Dystopia/Apocalypse fiction

Read from March 26 to 31, 2014 — I own a copy, read count: 1

A Captivating Story of the Taming of a Free-spirited Wild Boy in a Post-Apocalypse Totalitarian Society

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading Out of the Woods. It is a pleasure to watch the unique and original storyline unfolds as I tried my best to solve the mysteries surrounding the woodland boys and the men from the Before Times buildings. I pondered on why the men would hunt the boys each Fall? Why would new younger boys kept appearing in the woods skipping and singing. Are these new boys replacements for all those older ones which the men took with them? Where on earth did they come from when there's not a woman in sight? And lastly, why the men honour the Mothers greatly whereas the wood boys idolizes the Lady? These are only part of the mysteries found within the book and I am going to leave a theory of mine towards the end of this review on a major mystery everyone is dying to know. I am going to take my own shot at uncovering the layers of veils for that much speculated mystery.

These mysteries made Out of the Woods a highly compelling story. Apart from this there are other positive areas such as the well crafted characters that are engaging and relatable, amazing world-building with intriguing societal setup and exciting plots that super-glued me to the book.

Each of the characters have their own distinctive personality. And they are all memorable in their own way. This is especially true with Tarin our much adored protagonist. Tarin is a contented wild child of the woodland. His free-spirited ways with his valiant heart and plucky nature won me over. There is an endearing sweet innocent that surrounds him. He is also the character that made this story a whole lot of fun! His guileless approach to his new surroundings in the men's settlement resulted in many hilarious situations. Tarins says the darndest things! He tickles my funny bone countless times with his silly antics. He might appear to be clueless most of the times, yet there are times where he is wise beyond his years. I love him to bits.

The atmospheres at the men's settlement is always buzzing and alive with activities. Their daily lives are fascinating to me. Watching the men trying to reconstruct a civilized society based on what was left behind after what I think was an apocalypse destruction was thought-provoking.

Although there is only one antagonist in this story, I would say he wasn't the biggest threat to our protagonist or to his friends. It was men's greed for power and over ambitiousness of maintaining absolute control over others that made many suffered unfairly. This was nothing but outright tyranny and enslavement in the guise of protection and safety. Hence I reckon this issue as the predominant threat to Tarin and the boys.

The men adopted to a totalitarian societal setup that bears strong resemblance to a militarian organization. They are segregated by ranking and entitled to certain benefits according to their ranks. While the boys will always be boys; they do not have any authority or any actual autonomy. (I am unsure if this is a spoiler, but I decided to hide it to be on the safe side. So explore at your own risk)

Title of Spoiler:

The most, they are viewed as men's possession. A status symbol and a privilege all of the men are vying for; the boys are the ultimate price that bespoke a men's achievements.

This hierarchical system promotes powerplay that encourages oppression of the weakest. While I am fascinated by this societal structure, I am also repulsed by the harsh treatments of the boys because of it. As the judicial system was only made up by several of the top guns, the men are inevitably favored.

MY THEORIES ON THIS UNIQUE MALE DOMINATED WORLD:

Title of Spoiler:

I believe I have a different perspective as to how this extraordinary world came about in comparison with other readers views. Scientific experimentation and gender imbalanced was amongst those theories pointed out by some readers.
As for me, I would like to think of this as a results of an intentional gender segregation designed by the females in order to control over the male population as an effort to contain the male's destructive nature that might have caused the apocalypse. I am guessing the apocalypse gave the females a chance to built a matriarch society with the aim of protecting mankind from further self destruction and extinction. It is some form of a preservation movement.
What supported this idea was because the Mothers only leave males in the woods even when said male has females siblings. For example, Tarin's sister Nalini gets to stay with the Mothers while he and his brother and male cousin was sent off to the woods. There was no mention of men amongst these woman who seems to have higher knowledge and technological advancement. Therefore I suspect they are deliberately keeping the men in the dark, only allowing low technology assistance and under their constant monitoring and commands because of the preservation movement I've just mentioned above. Another point from this angle is that they are also controlling the male population with intent since there was no females made available to these men. Yet this matriarch society manages to produce offspring by themselves and even gets to decide who goes where in the men's society. The Mothers has supreme pick of genes from the obedient pool of man who worships them like goddesses. The men's fanatical idolization of the Mothers felt somewhat like a cult religion.

MY CONCLUSIONS:

Out of the Woods is certainly a character and plot driven story. There are many intriguing aspects in the lives of these men and boys to keep the wheels in my brain spinning endlessly churning out one speculation after another. I always appreciate books that made me think, helps keep my brain from rusting away. Heh.

Sex was sparse and low key. I was quite surprised it wasn't heavy on the sex as the men and the boys are all pretty hedonistic in nature. Don't fret though, because gifts (that's what they called jism/cum) are flying everywhere 'all the time' despite the lack of penetration.

I had SO much fun trying to try to figure out all those new words used to describe Before Times stuff, for example the 'silver duck', 'divid' and 'go-sloshes'. It's quite funny once you get what they actually meant.

I didn't spend time to talk about Tarin's relationship with his man because I wish to focus on the uniqueness of the setting and also to share my impression of the story as a whole. If you must know, the romance aspect wasn't the core of this story. It is more like a sub-plot. Tarin and Garrick did have a rocky beginning and they both have to work out their priorities before their relationship could take the next step. Yes, Garrick is a good man at heart and his patient and caring ways made him suitable for Tarin.

The focus of the story is really on Tarin's struggles on fitting in with the men's civilized community and his effort to find himself again in a strange world he was thrown into. It wasn't an easy feat and he was fighting them every steps. Everything felt wrong to him, his beliefs was scorned, his will and freedom was forcefully taken away from him. His only hope for survival is his submission. In the men's eyes Tarin is just a savage that needed to be tamed and to learn his place amongst the men.

I know some readers might find the woodland boys to be too childlike and dislike the story because the boys' peculiar behaviour would make the men appears like perverted geezers pawing on the kids. Nevertheless I am excusing this odd behavior of the boys because they have essentially lived in seclusion ever since young and devoid of adult attentions or exposure to the civilized world. Therefore it is highly plausible for them to retain their innocence and to displays such level of naivety akin to a young child just on the onset of puberty despite being in their late teens years. Hell! the boys can't even speak properly, they lack vocabulary and grammatical knowledge to make their dialog mature.

All this makes sense to me and I am glad the author has the wisdom to depict these special boys with such strange situations realistically. In fact, I would commend the author for her superb skill at bringing to life such a difficult character to portray, as the main character. Making him an engaging character who not only charmed the readers but carried the storyline effortlessly was an amazing feat.

I wish I could tell you more but I do not want to spoil the story for you. Do read this with an open mind if you wish to gain more than just a capture-captive story. I loved it so much that I picked up the sequel right after putting this book down and finished the second book in record breaking time.

If you wish to explore more of Tarin's world, you might want to check out the author's page dedicated to this wonderful book: TARIN'S WORLD (it is very informative and I really appreciate the author's effort on putting it up. How I wish other books I've ever read has such a page for the readers)

BOOK DETAILS:

Title: Out of the Woods

Author: Syd McGinley

Publication Date: March 22nd, 2011

Publisher: Torquere

Type: Novel, 80,349 words (approximate)

Genre: Post-apocalypse and Dystopian M/M Fiction, Science Fiction-Futuristic

Main Characters:

Title of Spoiler:

Tarin (a young woodland boy), Garrick/Beak-face (a hunter cum Captain and also Tarin's man), Mart (Tarin's former protector in the woods), Cale (a Lieutenant and also Mart's man), Titus (Head of the religious group and a co-commander of the community), Sten (he is a General and a co-commander with Titus), Ofer (an abused community boy), Cory (a woodland boy under Tarin's protection), Edon (Sergeant), Gideon (Healer cum Colonel), Helem (Armorer cum Colonel), Jadon (a Major), Micah (Cadet), Kenan (Cadet)

Tags/Keywords:

Title of Spoiler:

Post-apocalypse, Dystopian, Patriarchal society, Matriarch, Totalitarian, Oppression, Abuse, Same Sex Relationships, Gay, Enslavement, Capture, Captivity, Confinement, Corporal Punishments, Pleasure Slaves, Sex pets, Slavery, Slave training, Military, Military ranking, Hierarchy, Caste System

Description:

Wild boy Tarin is determined not to be captured by the men who live in the decaying Before Times buildings on the other side of Tarin's woodland home, but he's just as determined to protect the younger boys in the woods. No one remembers being a child or knows where all the women have gone or how society crumbled, but for as long as they can remember, boys have lived in the woods and are hunted by the men each Fall. Some boys believe in a mysterious Lady who protects them, while others think the men are magic. Tarin knows better - he's met a man, and escaped by stabbing him. Hunted through the woods as he tries to protect the weaker Cory, Tarin is trapped and claimed by the very man he knifed. All Tarin wants is to stay in the woods and not have to get 'civilized,' but he's carried off into a different world of rules and discipline. Will he be able to survive now that he is Out of the Woods?

Excerpt on Publisher's website (click on the link)

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* Reviewed on April 10th, 2014

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[FAV LIST] M/M Books with Themes of Restricted Freedom and Personal Choice

These are my personal favorite books with Restricted Freedom and Personal Choice Theme of the M/M Genre.
I kinda have a kink for slavefic especially those of the noncon variety.
There's a Goodreads Listopia on this subject too - Linkitty








 

[REVIEW] Gamble Everything by Cari Waites

Gamble Everything by Cari Waites

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Recommended for: those who enjoy depraved mindfucks.

Read from August 07 to 12, 2013 — I own a copy, read count: 1

5 full stars cos I floated in subspace

I blame my swollen bottom lip on this piece of mindfuck extraordinaire. It had me nibbling on my lip every so often trying to distract myself from the fierce intensity of the mind-blowing scenes and ocean of feels it invoke.

Overall, the story has a nice flow to it and promotes smooth reading experience. The characters stays in character, how nice is that. I love all the mindfucking Archer did to poor Danny aka Daniel aka Baby-boy. Archer's method of unmaking Danny to create Daniel could give the best psychologist a run for their money.

Archer plays Danny's body and mind like a fine tuned piece of musical instrument. He's so good he makes Danny aches for more even though he was repulsed by it. Archer had effectively turned Danny into Daniel, his affectionate baby-boy who finds joy in his boy-pussy especially when his daddy plays with it.

It was utmost fascinating and arousing to watch the training and reconditioning of Danny's mind. All those fierce canings and the after-cares by Archer was exquisite and most effective in molding Danny's mind to become Daniel. This part of the story kind of reminds me of Home Trained For You by Selim whereby the protagonist's identity was forcefully ripped away to be replaced by an ideal of his captor's choice by way of harsh punishments and some gentler coaxing of soft praises and rewards. Should anyone has similar stories like these please do rec it to me for I have deep fascination with how a mind could bend to another's will the right amount of inner and outer conditioning.

At first I had thought that the author is going for D.I.D (Dissociative Identity Disorder)* and that this is what Archer is aiming at when he was training Danny to become his ideal boy. Then, this theory was dispelled when that blows-me-away ending wraps everything up nice and tight. I was left in a daze of what had just took place and was in much awe to be able think clearly. I even had to reread that scene to shake off my state of shock. *Note: Home Trained For You by Selim has D.I.D - which is why I find it most engrossing.

Whatcha gonna get from this book (just to name a few):

• Hurt-comfort - it is so good it will make your body purrs.
• Orgasm denial - a caged cock is frustratingly arousing to the readers as well. It was utterly blissful whenever Danny gets to release his sexual tension via his boy-pussy or during rare occasions when he was rewarded a 'release' for good behavior *mind floods with endorphin*.
• Enema - 'The Chair' only makes it all the more erotic - All that futile struggling and going no way. *Sighs contently*
• Sounding - The Chair + Teddy = delightful combination to up the eroticism. Soon, Daniel boy was stuffed and fucked.
• Fisting - in 'The Chair' of course! Poor Daniel suffers so beautifully for his daddy. Teddy da Bear was there to hold his hands all the way too.
• Multiple Partners - Sharing is caring?
• Toys - oh, don't forget the toys. A good boy must have toys - in this case, an ever growing butt plug to seal the deal.
• Bondage - usually minor ones like wrist cuff but upped a few notch when he's in 'The Chair'.
• Age-play - top to toe, down to every details - little boy's cartoon T-Shirts, PJs, Boxer briefs with the flap at the back, Shorts, bedroom full of robots, aeroplanes, spaceships, moon and bean bag plus many more kiddo stuff to content with. Just missing the diapers (bummer that).
• Daddy-kink - when you have age-play in M/M of course it must go hand in hand with a Daddy in tow. This daddy has a real firm hands. His dominant controlling ways are very sexy.

He treats me like a child, and I don’t mean that in some whiny teenage way. I mean he literally treats me like a child. I wear kids’ clothes. I sleep in a bedroom with a robot poster on the wall, a beanbag on the floor, and coloring-in books on the shelves. I eat cereal for breakfast and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch.
At night, he tucks me in.
Then fucks me.
I call him Daddy.
He calls me his baby boy.

I know this excerpt/quote sounds crazy to some of you and you might think that this is just another one of those plotless PWP smut-galore. All I could say is that, wait till it blows you to smithereens. I dare you to get your mindfuck dosage here.

Ahh, what a ride this was. I was positively tripping over all those free flowing unrestrained angst. I am both drowning and floating in it. Loving every bit of this feeling and savoring every moment of it. When Daniel floats in subspace, I find myself floating along.

Once again I am going to say, I strongly recommend this book to those who could enjoy mindfucks even if it is on the depraved side of things. Imho, this is THE finest mind-bending erotica!

NOTE: I would advise those who MUST have Safe Words and such in their D/S stories to turn away from this book right now. The rest of you, please step this way and have fun in this succulent piece of fantasy.

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PREVIOUS COMMENTS:

August 12th, 2013:- 

My god, this is the BIGGEST mind fuckery EVER! I am still trying to catch my breath now. What an ending. So wrong yet so right. 

I've been totally mindfucked and loved every moment and milliseconds of it. Such an intense book this was. Many would have thought that this is just one of those plotless smut-galore. Wait till it blows you AWAY to smithereens. Then you will learn to NEVER EVER judge a book by its cover again. 

I got what I wanted from the book. In fact, it gave me more than what I expected from it. So much more that it broke my emotional dam and I am drowning in it yet savoring every minute of that feeling. I am floating. 

I strongly recommend this to those who enjoyed mind fucks. This is THE finest! 

I will try to review properly once I get my head back on straight.

August 7th, 2013:  

This series is now also available at SMASHWORDS as a bundle or 7 books (whole series) for only USD3.99 - Superb! 

Smashwords link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/338043 

( ＾◡＾)っ ❤ Go get yours now if you haven't already. 

I have just added this Bundle edition into GR database for ease of review. I am going to do my updates and review on this thread instead rather than the previous single book thread. 

I really think I am going to love this book very much since it has age-play/infantilism AND it's M/M too. Such a rare combination. I want moar already!