[ARTBOOK] Takato Yamamoto by Takato Yamamoto

Takato Yamamoto by Takato Yamamoto

MUST GET THIS BOOK! And every artbook by this talented artist. His art is just so breathtaking and full of possibilities.


      An intro/review found on the internet:

There’s much that’s superficially familiar in Takato Yamamoto’s art—“Boy’s Love” tableaux with fey young men in various states of undress mooning over each other, then the perennial Japanese obsession with naked women bound by ropes. But closer examination reveals a degree of finesse and imagination that elevates his work away from the porn ghetto into the rarified realm of Decadence (as if those favourite Symbolist themes of Saint Sebastian [above] and Salomé [below] weren’t enough of a clue). For a start the drawing style is a great amalgam of influences from Beardsley through to Harry Clarke by way of the finest Edwardian pornographer, Franz von Bayros. Then there’s the curious details of severed heads, claws, sundry bones and eyeballs which decorate the otherwise florid arrangements supporting the figures. So far there don’t appear to have been any books of Takato Yamamoto’s work produced in the west and it’s possible that the sexual content and grotesquery limits that possibility. But you can some galleries here, here and here. His official site is mostly Japanese and has to be navigated from an interior page since there seems to be a file missing from the index.
- Credit: John Coulthart

There's two others which I like very much but can't risk posting it here. Both has a male tied to a post with arrows all over his body and there's another one with a male and female entwined with egg shell covering them. Actually most of the artwork was just as mesmerizing and hypnotic to me despite it's somewhat grotesque nature.


Please go to these links for more amazing artworks by Takato Yamamoto. Do be warned that some might find these images offensive due to its disturbing nature, so be careful when viewing it:
>> John Coulthart - The Art of Yamamoto Takato
>> Sevasevol - Takato Yamamoto
>> Pseudoape - Takato Yamamoto, The Heisei Esthiticism style


View all my reviews

[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

*:--☆--:*:--☆:*:--☆--:*:--☆--:*:--☆--:*:--☆:*:--☆--:*:--☆--:*


View all my reviews

[REVIEW] The Backwash Of War by Ellen Newbold La Motte

The Backwash Of War by Ellen Newbold La Motte

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Read from April 28 to 30, 2014 — I own a copy, read count: 1

Brutal, poignant and honest account of the devastation of war and the succeeding deterioration of humanity.

Pretty tough book to read yet utterly engaging, I couldn't look away. The truth in this book is hard to swallow, the vilest side of humans could be witnessed during trying times like war.

After reading so much on the sufferings of the severely wounded from the start till the end of the book, I felt the hospital aren't really helping these people. They are just adding on to their misery and pain. Makes me think bleeding to death is more merciful than rotting inside our while you are still alive. These unfortunate soldiers could have pass on faster if not for the intervention of medicine in the guise of saving life. I felt like yelling at them to STOP PATCHING UP THE DYING AND LEAVE THEM THE HELL ALONE. Leave them in peace please.

He was pretty ill when brought in, and if he had died promptly, as he should have done, it would have been better. But it happened at that time that there was a surgeon connected with the hospital who was bent on making a reputation for himself, and this consisted in trying to prolong the lives of wounded men who ought normally and naturally to have died. So this surgeon worked hard to save Grammont, and certainly succeeded in prolonging his life, and in prolonging his suffering, over a very considerable portion of time. He worked hard over him, and he used on him everything he could think of, everything that money could buy.

The tone of this book is dripping with unbelievable amount of sarcasm. I could feel the author's intense anger reverberating through the text with such force I felt like being punch in the gut and slapped on the face. BUT it's alright because her words are nothing but the truth however ugly the truth was and I am glad she had the courage to write this book and to tell it like it is. She was using sarcasm as a medium to bring across her distaste on war and was deeply sadden by the devastation it has brought to the innocents.

For a more in-depth review please do refer to Steelwhisper's thoughful review. I have to thank her bringing this book to my attention.

BOOK DETAILS:

Title: The Backwash Of War

Author: Ellen Newbold La MotteG. P. Putnam’s Sons

Publication Date: October 12th, 2008 (Ebook) - (First published in year 1916)

Publisher: G. P. Putnam’s Sons - New York and London

Type: Memoir, approximately 24,156 words

Genre: Historical War Memoir (a diary turn book)

Tags/Keywords: classics, historical, soldiers, war, severely wounded, dying, death, prolonged sufferings, war, true account, diary, nursing, military hospital, humanity, amputation, disfigurement, tragedy, disability, mutilation[soldiers, war, severely wounded, dying, death, prolonged sufferings, war, true account, diary, nursing, military hospital, humanity, amputation, disfigurement, tragedy, disability, mutilation (hide spoiler)]

Description:

Ellen LaMotte (1873 - 1961) was an American nurse, journalist and author. She began her nursing career as a tuberculosis nurse in Baltimore and then served as an army nurse in Europe during World War I. After that she traveled to Asia where she saw the effects of opium addiction. The Backwash of War (1934) was based on her diaries kept during her time at the front. La Motte speaks of her time in an army hospital in France as periods of boredom interspersed with moments of fright. The Backwash of War is an excellent memoir of war from the viewpoint of a woman army nurse.

GET THIS BOOK FROM PROJECT GUTENBERG:

★|| Various Ebooks Formats ||★|| Read Online ||★

* Reviewed on April 30th, 2014

*:--☆--:*:--☆:*:--☆--:*:--☆--:*:--☆--:*:--☆:*:--☆--:*:--☆--:*

View all my reviews