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Dolis
Mitsu has always been looked upon by men as the Dolis--the ideal girl, the eternal partner in any man's dream, the perfect lover... When Kishi falls head-over-heels in love with Mitsu, he soon discovers another side to this seemingly flawless woman. As the drama and romance between Mitsu and Kishi unfolds towards an unforgettable climax--the couple takes an extraordinary excursion into the uncharted arena where desire and romance confronts hope and survival.
192 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 1998
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82 people want to read
About the author
Maki Kusumoto
35 books13 followersAesthetic minimalism, a predilection for darkness, an infatuation with androgyny and a preference for the vague over the distinct: These tendencies are inherent in most Japanese art-forms. And manga are no exception. Maki Kusumoto’s (Japanese name: 楠本まき) strange comic-books reflect these trends perfectly. Although she has long had a cult following as a “manga-ka” (a manga artist) in Japan, she doesn’t really like to be classified as one. Her distinctly original drawing ability eminently suits characters struggling with inner demons in a world of deceptive placidity. Her university background in philosophy perhaps underlies the feel for existential unease; either way there is depth here that really has nothing in common with the manga norm.
Maki’s people are elegant and willowy, stretching their long limbs in sinuous poses; they caress each other with long-tapering fingers. She is to manga as Aubrey Beardsley was to mainstream illustration. Intense, sexy and slightly sinister.
Maki’s people are elegant and willowy, stretching their long limbs in sinuous poses; they caress each other with long-tapering fingers. She is to manga as Aubrey Beardsley was to mainstream illustration. Intense, sexy and slightly sinister.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 7, 2023
I didn't quite get this one. I assume it's deconstructing the manic pixie dream girl trope, but the art style was confusing and the plot went from 0 to 100 very suddenly. I didn't really buy that these two were in love, nor did I get why they would even date in the first place.
February 16, 2018
Multilayered. Complicated. Twisted. Beautiful. Compelling. Begging to be Re-read.
September 4, 2024
It's a dolis fatal dose
May 26, 2012
4 & 1/2 stars. (spoilage) ironically billed by tokyopop as a "drama/romance". a kind of deconstruction, really: an autopsy that lends new meaning to the phrase 'lost in love'. definitely aimed at a grownup demographic: josei or seinen, though? i think maybe only a woman would write it, even though by the end it's the male voice that by default owns the view. and the tabula rasa described, well-grounded in psychology, knows quite well the territory she inhabits and can speak for herself. but it's not clinical, this treatment; instead it pulls the reader into itself, claustrophobic. the interiority of both characters is sympathetically drawn. and the cut's sharp enough that the reader bleeds, is not mere audience, pulled in and even complicit somehow in the pain. also, as befits its subject matter, very beautiful on every page, hard as it might get sometimes to look.
when Kishi meets Mitsu, he sees her as his ideal woman. he is a musician; she is a grad student writing a thesis on aesthetics. but Mitsu, he notices, seems to be waiting for something. and her world seems so internalized she's hardly there. she asks him, not about himself, but how he sees her. her books include Hans Bellmer, Helmut Newton, Irina Ionesco: among them Kishi finds a note that says only DOLIS. he asks her what it means. it's her, she says, as an early lover will tell him later. she is object, not subject, in her own eyes. the dolly. Kishi sees beauty. she feels cut off. cut out. twice in the narrative, she cuts her hair.
the text of the page in Mitsu's PoV is full of blank spaces. Kishi's questions overflow the panel boxes. the figures are barely suggested. she cuts herself to feel, telling herself she won't go deeper. but then she must. perhaps she has no reflection, but in metaphor she is lost inside the artist's need to paint her. the gorgeous monochromes of the unmoored panels turn red as Mitsu, almost mute, bleeds out. forks become knives; the world bleeds sharp edges. the panel boundaries disappear. she lives, he lives, only inside the locked room box which they both inhabit alone. deep inside Mitsu's depthless but bottomless environment, the text belongs more and more to Kishi, using more and more words in an attempt to understand her, meet her, inhabit her. are they really real inside the Schroedinger box before it's opened? even the sketches almost disappear, as the real girl disappears forever into the ideal. yet she's the one who in the end opens the door.
then only Kishi is left, to choose. it's an evocation of a downward spiral. you can hear the train, but you're in it, cutting, feeling... nothing down to the bone, that shattering sense of loss inside the Other, that too-full intensity shown up in relief against too-empty feeling. calculate the weight of it, the pressure exerted in entropy, in space, in time slammed up against the other side of the crypt door. what does it take to open it? to close it? and can we ever call it, a pathology, two solitudes, the intensity of love?
when Kishi meets Mitsu, he sees her as his ideal woman. he is a musician; she is a grad student writing a thesis on aesthetics. but Mitsu, he notices, seems to be waiting for something. and her world seems so internalized she's hardly there. she asks him, not about himself, but how he sees her. her books include Hans Bellmer, Helmut Newton, Irina Ionesco: among them Kishi finds a note that says only DOLIS. he asks her what it means. it's her, she says, as an early lover will tell him later. she is object, not subject, in her own eyes. the dolly. Kishi sees beauty. she feels cut off. cut out. twice in the narrative, she cuts her hair.
the text of the page in Mitsu's PoV is full of blank spaces. Kishi's questions overflow the panel boxes. the figures are barely suggested. she cuts herself to feel, telling herself she won't go deeper. but then she must. perhaps she has no reflection, but in metaphor she is lost inside the artist's need to paint her. the gorgeous monochromes of the unmoored panels turn red as Mitsu, almost mute, bleeds out. forks become knives; the world bleeds sharp edges. the panel boundaries disappear. she lives, he lives, only inside the locked room box which they both inhabit alone. deep inside Mitsu's depthless but bottomless environment, the text belongs more and more to Kishi, using more and more words in an attempt to understand her, meet her, inhabit her. are they really real inside the Schroedinger box before it's opened? even the sketches almost disappear, as the real girl disappears forever into the ideal. yet she's the one who in the end opens the door.
then only Kishi is left, to choose. it's an evocation of a downward spiral. you can hear the train, but you're in it, cutting, feeling... nothing down to the bone, that shattering sense of loss inside the Other, that too-full intensity shown up in relief against too-empty feeling. calculate the weight of it, the pressure exerted in entropy, in space, in time slammed up against the other side of the crypt door. what does it take to open it? to close it? and can we ever call it, a pathology, two solitudes, the intensity of love?
July 14, 2015
I was sent Dolis by a good friend of mine who urged me to hurry and read it as it is a favourite of hers. I did then, and am left with an overwhelming feeling of not really having the right words to review this well enough. To get the real feelings out. Still, this is my short review.
I drifted through Dolis, and then again, and then a third time, reading it and taking it in beautiful, eye scorchingly gorgeous artwork and it's wonderfully tragic, dark and unrelentingly furious story. Maki Kusumoto is a real talent. The way the breakdowns of mental state occur, the way the descent into madness occurs, is just so fluid yet jarring. I was taken aback by the poetic way that simple things were said, the lyrical flow of the words and the beautiful way the tale unfolded. It's a beautiful book that tells the tale of love, of the misconceptions of love, and of heartbreak, madness and the human obsession with trying to halt change from happening. There are so many metaphors and small intricate details in this book that it is impossible, in a short review, to go into them all, but I do recommend this to fans of the darker and deeper Manga. I am a newcomer, someone who hadn't read much Manga in my life, and I ate this up. A real eye opener, and something I will revisit many times.
I drifted through Dolis, and then again, and then a third time, reading it and taking it in beautiful, eye scorchingly gorgeous artwork and it's wonderfully tragic, dark and unrelentingly furious story. Maki Kusumoto is a real talent. The way the breakdowns of mental state occur, the way the descent into madness occurs, is just so fluid yet jarring. I was taken aback by the poetic way that simple things were said, the lyrical flow of the words and the beautiful way the tale unfolded. It's a beautiful book that tells the tale of love, of the misconceptions of love, and of heartbreak, madness and the human obsession with trying to halt change from happening. There are so many metaphors and small intricate details in this book that it is impossible, in a short review, to go into them all, but I do recommend this to fans of the darker and deeper Manga. I am a newcomer, someone who hadn't read much Manga in my life, and I ate this up. A real eye opener, and something I will revisit many times.
February 13, 2017
A strange, disturbing one-shot manga. The artwork is quite different from most manga and might not be to everyone's taste, though I personally liked it. Nice use of color as well.
March 12, 2012
The art alone would make me recommend this, but the story is an eerie descent into madness and body politics. I love the physical reflection of the inner turmoil of both our main characters, and applaud Kusumotosan for including both sides of this relationship coin.
April 24, 2024
30 April 2016: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Poignant.
__
24 April 2024: ⭐️⭐️✨️
It was okay. I've read so many manga and comics and other stories in my life that this didn't do much for me. I liked the colouring. And I think I kind of liked the story. But it wasn't so special that I'll remember it.
Poignant.
__
24 April 2024: ⭐️⭐️✨️
It was okay. I've read so many manga and comics and other stories in my life that this didn't do much for me. I liked the colouring. And I think I kind of liked the story. But it wasn't so special that I'll remember it.
September 12, 2008
interesting premise-- but not enough characterization to pull it off.
March 4, 2016
I give 4 for the artwork and 2.5 for the storyline. Try to make it fair, I rate it 3. The story is complicated, if not weird. But if you enjoy extraordinary artwork, I think you'll enjoy this.
June 18, 2010
one of the best comics / or mangas ever drawn. full of daylilife philosophy, mangas are not only for childrens.
June 8, 2011
i have very little tolerance for emo. nice presentation though.
May 26, 2012
Breathtaking art, and a story so complicated and disturbing, it's not meant to be read to everybody else unless you have an open mind.
April 5, 2015
5-star art, story is an extremely predictable 2-3.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews