Thanks for the two cents! I hadn’t thought of the Steinbeck connection, but yes, there were a few scenes that verged on “Tell me about the rabbits, George.” I won’t be able to read volume two with a straight face!

Kate

The “Of Mice and Men” comparisons are inevitable.

Dammit! Where’s the edit function, Jon! ;)

Those familiar elements pull you in. The art DOES feel like a Goseki Kojima homage, but it’s serviceable and plays into my nostalgia such that it made those confusing fights entertaining.

The black character King WAS full of cliches. And yes, the characters do feel like they were made from 70’s era television. It’s impossible not to cringe when the big bestial black man full of simple honor and world view refers to the sharper “George” character for guidance. The Of Mice and Men characters are inevitable.

At the end of the day, however, the story was clumsy, but honest – at least from the misinformed and misguided perspective of a Japanese genre novelist. It’s fascinating to see how a Japanese man on the other side of the world made his awkward attempt at distilling what he knew about black men. It’s obvious that the breadth of his knowledge came from 2nd hand sources, and the movie ROOTS.

To be honest, the story is illuminating. Rather, be more disturbed by the fact that if the story were made today, that black folks PR hasn’t evolved in over 30 years, such is the choke hold on African American international communication and representation.

Would the same story told about a black man today, by another Japanese author, show more texture and depth?

That’s the real question. This awkward story, for what it is (historical inaccuracies all told), is sadly entertaining.

I respect other readers’ opinions, even when they diverge considerably from my own. I have more respect for readers who actually use their own names and offer concrete counter-arguments, however. Snarky posturing is easy; offering a substantive rebuttal takes time and thought.

Kate

PS: I am aware of the fact that the book was originally published in the 1970s, something I learned after I posted this review. That fact doesn’t change my opinion of Color of Rage, which seems like third-rate Koike at best.