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Fetish
Cinque storie, cinque differenti forme di amore “estremo” tratteggiate secondo suggestioni narrative differenti, che vanno dal surreale al morboso al thrilling, ma sempre con sorprendente e disturbante schiettezza e “carnalità”, e impreziosite da uno stile grafico raffinato ed elegante, glaciale eppure intenso. In un susseguirsi di bende, ferite e cicatrici, metafora dell’insanabilità delle lacerazioni interiori, le protagoniste del volume ci mostrano i diversi volti assunti della femminilità: donne come figure angeliche o meri oggetti, come vittime o carnefici, fragili o incrollabili. Autolesionismo, voyerismo, tortura, sadismo, feticismo: forme estreme della passione o disturbi ossessivi? Ma poi, c’è davvero differenza?
Dall’autrice del Giardino dell’Eden, un’opera sconvolgente che vi trascinerà negli abissi più oscuri della passione, quarto titolo a entrare nella collana Wasabi. Non perdetelo!
Dall’autrice del Giardino dell’Eden, un’opera sconvolgente che vi trascinerà negli abissi più oscuri della passione, quarto titolo a entrare nella collana Wasabi. Non perdetelo!
168 pages, Paperback
First published September 29, 2004
1 person is currently reading
205 people want to read
About the author
Kaoru Fujiwara
15 books30 followersAssociated names :
ФУДЗИВАРА Каору
Name (in native language) : 藤原薫
Zodiac : Aries
She was accused of plagiarizing photos from magazine covers and several photos taken from various sources.
Since then she has stopped creating any works, 7 years later she is finally back with a new series called Sono Saki no Fuukei serialized in Feel Young magazine since 2010.
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October 27, 2022Fetish is a collection of five one-shots (single-chapter short stories). Despite it being titled "Fetish" this really only applies to the final story of the same name, which is what featured is on the collection's cover. The other four have various themes that aren't really connected except by them all being somewhat dark and uncomfortable. I'd say only two of the total stories really have anything to do with the idea of "fetishes" and the other three are just sort of dark stories.
I'm not rating this because I feel like it's difficult to really place a rating on these tales.
I'll be summarizing each of the five stories and talking about them, so, spoilers ahead.
The first story is titled "Our Vast Loneliness."
I like some of the ideas in this one a lot, but as with most of Ms. Fujiwara's work, there's a lot of vagueness to things and in this instance I think it works against the story.
We have a lead who's afflicted by the sudden loss of important things (they seemingly vanish into thin air and later reappear at random) which he only realizes are important to him once they're gone. He is distant with his family and seems rather apathetic about life.
One day he brings home an older girl and starts a relationship with her, but when he finally gets his book published, he tries to end things with the girl and states that he never loved her (inferring that he was only dating her for selfish reasons until his book was published and she was no longer useful). Upset at his callous rejection of her, she pulls a kitchen knife on him and in the ensuing struggle the knife slices her neck and she vanishes, much like the objects the lead has lost.
Her loss makes him realize that she's important and that he's always loved her. The manga then reveals that the two have met before through a flashback wherein she gives him a cross necklace when he was crying as a child, so after a confirmation that she must be alive (as a loaf of bread reappears with bite marks missing, indicating she ate it in the place where all the lead's lost things go) he decides to isolate himself in his apartment to wait for her return, stating that it's actually he who has always loved her. This change is seemingly in retribution for her always having loved and supported him during their relationship and him never realizing and returning that love until she was gone, thus coming full circle with the habit he stated he had at the start of the story.
The second story is titled "Love Letter."
This actually works very nicely as a short story; it has a creepy vibe and the "fetish" aspect is more defined and clear. It has a stark, interesting meaning in the end. I quite enjoyed it.
We begin with a woman, Kaori, who's just had surgery to restore her eyesight after living with blindness for about a year. The surgery is a success and she gets back to living life, when she suddenly begins seeing herself while out and about. She realizes that the images she sees are of her from when she was blind, which she mentions to her boyfriend, who muses about the concept of "cellular memory" and that the tissue donor for her eyes probably had an unrequited love for her and looked at her so often that her image was permanently etched into their eyes.
The idea is almost beautiful for a moment and she is dismissive of it until she opens her bathroom door and sees an image of herself naked and showering. It's revealed that her donor didn't just watch her from afar; they took advantage of her blindness to stalk her and watch her everywhere, living inside her home and watching her constantly. Horrified, she claims to hear her eye donor's voice state how now she'll never be able to forget them because they always were watching, suffering with their unrequited love. It leaves off on a sense of relief from the donor, who is satisfied that Kaori at last knows of their feelings, and a sense of complete and utter horror from Kaori, who must live with the eyes of her obsessed stalker and live with the constant evidence of their twisted feelings for her.
I find the overall story to have a well executed vibe and the fact that nothing more than the stalker's obsessive watching is known to the reader and protagonist leaves a really eerie feeling that works in the story's favor. It leaves you wondering what it must be like to be the object of such a person's demented emotions, how violating and terrifying it must be, and how intensely a person must be committed to those feelings to, presumably, find some way to arrange that their eyes be donated to the object of their obsession so that they're always together in the flesh.
The third story is titled "All of Sully/Lily"
This tends to be the story that gets the most reactions out of people. It is very dark and depraved and can make the reader uncomfortable with its subject matter.
This story focuses on a scientist/surgeon/doctor who very much dislikes losing the people he loves; he's lost his mother, his sister, and his wife, so in order to ensure the survival of his daughter, Sully, he has created a clone of her, whom he calls Lily.
The purpose of Lily is for her to be a tissue and organ donor in the event that Sully is sick or injured. However, the scientist has a peculiar fixation towards Lily and clearly views her with a lot of lust and possessiveness, which he also feels for Sully, as shown by the scene where he has Lily dress in Sully's uniform and penetrates her in frustration because he witnessed Sully flirt with a boy--something he disapproved of and was upset about. He claims he is doing this (penetrating her aggressively) out of love, seemingly acting out a fantasy he has about what he wants to do to Sully with Lily in her stead. Lily, during this, begs him to tell her that he loves her, to which he replies "I love you more than anything else." It appears that, for him, Lily is an easy target for channeling what he feels for his daughter and she, unable to do anything but obey, allows him to engage in his worst fantasies in secret.
The scientist has taught Lily that she exists for a specific purpose and that she is his do with as he pleases, but she does possess a will of her own, as shown by her escape attempt before the start of the story. As punishment for her trying to leave, he pierces her labia and chains her up until she submits, even taunting her over the fact that she was unable to rip the piercings from her flesh to escape. He frequently engages in sexual acts with her, such as making her fellate him at meal times, cementing how he "owns" her, even having her call him "master."
With Lily being a clone of his daughter that he has raised in captivity in secret, the scientist is essentially having a very abusive, incestuous relationship with his own child, as not only is Lily biologically identical to Sully, his own biological child, he projects lustful, possessive, domineering feelings he has for Sully onto Lily. Due to him being the only person she sees, it's likely Lily feels a deep sense of attachment to the scientist, despite the fact that their relationship is wildly twisted and she has always been intended as a sacrificial lamb for the original.
After all this is revealed, Sully is then shown to get into an accident and need extensive surgeries to survive; the scientist tells Lily that he'll have to use the majority of her body, implying that she will die, to which she only says "Yes, Master." He successfully saves Sully's life, fulfilling his desire to never again let someone he loves die, yet he's struck with the realization that Lily is now gone forever and that he had spent more time with her than he had his own daughter, effectively meaning he had saved Sully at the cost of Lily, who he had actually loved more and been closer to.
The story ends with him touching a part of Sully that had once been Lily and laying down next to her as she slumbers in her bandages, seemingly longing for Lily and feeling at least some regret that he chose to kill her to save Sully's life, making his confession of love to Lily while acting out a Sully-fantasy more poignant, as it appears he ultimately meant it for Lily, not Sully.
The story is fascinating because it presents a demented and different sort of narrative, but it's definitely is one of the more uncomfortable and dark stories due to the nature of the scientist's relationship with Lily as the story's "made for you" style psychological dynamic is made even worse by the fact that he's exploiting a biological and social father-daughter relationship with the clone.
It's an interesting psychological sort of horror and I think in an expanded story it would have made for quite a harsh, complex topic. Despite how crazy it is, I'm not like, condemning this, because ultimately this story isn't trying to make it seem romantic or anything, it's sort of just exploring this horrific taboo and the pitfall of the scientist's own beliefs and actions. You sort of leave off the story with this sense of horror at how misguided the scientist was in all aspects; how he treated Sully, how he treated Lily, how he sacrificed the one he cared for most and only after he couldn't take it back did he realize what he'd done.
A very uncomfortable and dark story, but well done regardless if the intention was to be unsettling.
The fourth story is titled "Airport"
This story is super short and odd. I still don't fully understand it. It almost feels like something is missing from the chapter because it's even more vague than the author's usual work.
A cab driver picks up a pregnant woman who tells him to drive her "wherever" and when he says he needs a destination, she picks the airport and he drops her off. While waiting in the terminal he sees her walk by and notices that she's no longer pregnant.
It's not clear if the pages that follow are just him speculating or if they're actual depictions of what unfolded after he dropped her off, but we're shown the woman inside the airport with blood from the birth in the bathroom, on some luggage, etc. which presumably means that she gave birth within the airport and has either abandoned or killed her infant (possibly disposing of the body in some luggage). The cab driver then says to himself "don't pick me...", hoping the woman doesn't opt to get back in his cab. He then turns to his backseat, where there's blood and the sounds of a baby crying are heard.
I guess maybe this means she gave birth in the cab, ran into the airport, disposed of her baby, and now that he realizes she's coming back without it, he's horrified? I'm unsure.
Honestly, this story is like 10 pages long and I have no idea why it's in this collection. It's more of a horror story than something I'd consider a tale worthy of being paired with the other four stories. There's not even any specific theme like loneliness. It's just "oh, wow, this pregnant lady is weird! I guess she gave birth and abandoned her baby, how horrible!" but like it's not even clearly stated what happened or why or if what's shown on the page actually took place or was just a thought or what. I think this is the weakest story by far, but perhaps the idea is just to be a short, somewhat unsettling idea to make people wonder about things; was there ever really a pregnant woman and if so, what did she do with her baby? Why?
Anyway, still a low-par story and one the author's least impressive.
The fifth and final story is titled "Fetish"
This is the main story of the collection and is the main focus of the collection, as it's the one featured on the cover and shares its name with the collection's title.
A girl with a lot of bandages is told by a young man on a bus on day that she looks cool and he offers her his number, interested in a date. They talk and meet up and the girl wonders why he likes her. At his place, she discovers a collection of photos of injured women. He explains that he's a photographer and that the pictures came about after a bus full of models got into an accident. Earlier, he told her about having a cat, but she doesn't see one, so she starts to feel uneasy, thinking he's lying. The album of photos makes her think that perhaps he has a fetish for injured women and that that's the only reason he likes her. Although she's distressed, she isn't driven away and decides to sleep with him.
Afterwards, she has a dream where he breaks up with her after she's healed, thus proving he only liked her when she suited his fetish, and she promises to get injured again to keep him with her. She wakes up from her dream and sees a cat, which calms her, and she talks to him about her concerns. He proves that he wasn't lying to her and when she asks if he's mad at her for not trusting him, he says that he isn't. She asks to see him again, to which he agrees.
It's shown that eventually she heals from her injuries and they remain together, but as they walk down the street, he glances at an injured woman before turning back away from her and continuing to walk with his girlfriend, leaving the reader wondering if he actually does have a fetish for injured, bandaged women and what this might mean for the future of his relationship with the protagonist.
I actually have a quote from this particular story that I like:
Overall, it's an interesting story. I think most people expected this story to be the most complex and dark, when it actually is one of the more tame and subtle ones. Story #3 is the real kicker in comparison to this. I find this little collection an interesting read and wish the ideas had gotten a bit more expanded, but they're thought provoking and unique, to say the least. I've read them once or twice in my life and they've stayed with me rather vividly. A haunting, strange reading experience.
Definitely not for young audiences or for adult readers who are sensitive to darker themes.
I'm not rating this because I feel like it's difficult to really place a rating on these tales.
I'll be summarizing each of the five stories and talking about them, so, spoilers ahead.
The first story is titled "Our Vast Loneliness."
I like some of the ideas in this one a lot, but as with most of Ms. Fujiwara's work, there's a lot of vagueness to things and in this instance I think it works against the story.
We have a lead who's afflicted by the sudden loss of important things (they seemingly vanish into thin air and later reappear at random) which he only realizes are important to him once they're gone. He is distant with his family and seems rather apathetic about life.
One day he brings home an older girl and starts a relationship with her, but when he finally gets his book published, he tries to end things with the girl and states that he never loved her (inferring that he was only dating her for selfish reasons until his book was published and she was no longer useful). Upset at his callous rejection of her, she pulls a kitchen knife on him and in the ensuing struggle the knife slices her neck and she vanishes, much like the objects the lead has lost.
Her loss makes him realize that she's important and that he's always loved her. The manga then reveals that the two have met before through a flashback wherein she gives him a cross necklace when he was crying as a child, so after a confirmation that she must be alive (as a loaf of bread reappears with bite marks missing, indicating she ate it in the place where all the lead's lost things go) he decides to isolate himself in his apartment to wait for her return, stating that it's actually he who has always loved her. This change is seemingly in retribution for her always having loved and supported him during their relationship and him never realizing and returning that love until she was gone, thus coming full circle with the habit he stated he had at the start of the story.
The second story is titled "Love Letter."
This actually works very nicely as a short story; it has a creepy vibe and the "fetish" aspect is more defined and clear. It has a stark, interesting meaning in the end. I quite enjoyed it.
We begin with a woman, Kaori, who's just had surgery to restore her eyesight after living with blindness for about a year. The surgery is a success and she gets back to living life, when she suddenly begins seeing herself while out and about. She realizes that the images she sees are of her from when she was blind, which she mentions to her boyfriend, who muses about the concept of "cellular memory" and that the tissue donor for her eyes probably had an unrequited love for her and looked at her so often that her image was permanently etched into their eyes.
The idea is almost beautiful for a moment and she is dismissive of it until she opens her bathroom door and sees an image of herself naked and showering. It's revealed that her donor didn't just watch her from afar; they took advantage of her blindness to stalk her and watch her everywhere, living inside her home and watching her constantly. Horrified, she claims to hear her eye donor's voice state how now she'll never be able to forget them because they always were watching, suffering with their unrequited love. It leaves off on a sense of relief from the donor, who is satisfied that Kaori at last knows of their feelings, and a sense of complete and utter horror from Kaori, who must live with the eyes of her obsessed stalker and live with the constant evidence of their twisted feelings for her.
I find the overall story to have a well executed vibe and the fact that nothing more than the stalker's obsessive watching is known to the reader and protagonist leaves a really eerie feeling that works in the story's favor. It leaves you wondering what it must be like to be the object of such a person's demented emotions, how violating and terrifying it must be, and how intensely a person must be committed to those feelings to, presumably, find some way to arrange that their eyes be donated to the object of their obsession so that they're always together in the flesh.
The third story is titled "All of Sully/Lily"
This tends to be the story that gets the most reactions out of people. It is very dark and depraved and can make the reader uncomfortable with its subject matter.
This story focuses on a scientist/surgeon/doctor who very much dislikes losing the people he loves; he's lost his mother, his sister, and his wife, so in order to ensure the survival of his daughter, Sully, he has created a clone of her, whom he calls Lily.
The purpose of Lily is for her to be a tissue and organ donor in the event that Sully is sick or injured. However, the scientist has a peculiar fixation towards Lily and clearly views her with a lot of lust and possessiveness, which he also feels for Sully, as shown by the scene where he has Lily dress in Sully's uniform and penetrates her in frustration because he witnessed Sully flirt with a boy--something he disapproved of and was upset about. He claims he is doing this (penetrating her aggressively) out of love, seemingly acting out a fantasy he has about what he wants to do to Sully with Lily in her stead. Lily, during this, begs him to tell her that he loves her, to which he replies "I love you more than anything else." It appears that, for him, Lily is an easy target for channeling what he feels for his daughter and she, unable to do anything but obey, allows him to engage in his worst fantasies in secret.
The scientist has taught Lily that she exists for a specific purpose and that she is his do with as he pleases, but she does possess a will of her own, as shown by her escape attempt before the start of the story. As punishment for her trying to leave, he pierces her labia and chains her up until she submits, even taunting her over the fact that she was unable to rip the piercings from her flesh to escape. He frequently engages in sexual acts with her, such as making her fellate him at meal times, cementing how he "owns" her, even having her call him "master."
With Lily being a clone of his daughter that he has raised in captivity in secret, the scientist is essentially having a very abusive, incestuous relationship with his own child, as not only is Lily biologically identical to Sully, his own biological child, he projects lustful, possessive, domineering feelings he has for Sully onto Lily. Due to him being the only person she sees, it's likely Lily feels a deep sense of attachment to the scientist, despite the fact that their relationship is wildly twisted and she has always been intended as a sacrificial lamb for the original.
After all this is revealed, Sully is then shown to get into an accident and need extensive surgeries to survive; the scientist tells Lily that he'll have to use the majority of her body, implying that she will die, to which she only says "Yes, Master." He successfully saves Sully's life, fulfilling his desire to never again let someone he loves die, yet he's struck with the realization that Lily is now gone forever and that he had spent more time with her than he had his own daughter, effectively meaning he had saved Sully at the cost of Lily, who he had actually loved more and been closer to.
The story ends with him touching a part of Sully that had once been Lily and laying down next to her as she slumbers in her bandages, seemingly longing for Lily and feeling at least some regret that he chose to kill her to save Sully's life, making his confession of love to Lily while acting out a Sully-fantasy more poignant, as it appears he ultimately meant it for Lily, not Sully.
The story is fascinating because it presents a demented and different sort of narrative, but it's definitely is one of the more uncomfortable and dark stories due to the nature of the scientist's relationship with Lily as the story's "made for you" style psychological dynamic is made even worse by the fact that he's exploiting a biological and social father-daughter relationship with the clone.
It's an interesting psychological sort of horror and I think in an expanded story it would have made for quite a harsh, complex topic. Despite how crazy it is, I'm not like, condemning this, because ultimately this story isn't trying to make it seem romantic or anything, it's sort of just exploring this horrific taboo and the pitfall of the scientist's own beliefs and actions. You sort of leave off the story with this sense of horror at how misguided the scientist was in all aspects; how he treated Sully, how he treated Lily, how he sacrificed the one he cared for most and only after he couldn't take it back did he realize what he'd done.
A very uncomfortable and dark story, but well done regardless if the intention was to be unsettling.
The fourth story is titled "Airport"
This story is super short and odd. I still don't fully understand it. It almost feels like something is missing from the chapter because it's even more vague than the author's usual work.
A cab driver picks up a pregnant woman who tells him to drive her "wherever" and when he says he needs a destination, she picks the airport and he drops her off. While waiting in the terminal he sees her walk by and notices that she's no longer pregnant.
It's not clear if the pages that follow are just him speculating or if they're actual depictions of what unfolded after he dropped her off, but we're shown the woman inside the airport with blood from the birth in the bathroom, on some luggage, etc. which presumably means that she gave birth within the airport and has either abandoned or killed her infant (possibly disposing of the body in some luggage). The cab driver then says to himself "don't pick me...", hoping the woman doesn't opt to get back in his cab. He then turns to his backseat, where there's blood and the sounds of a baby crying are heard.
I guess maybe this means she gave birth in the cab, ran into the airport, disposed of her baby, and now that he realizes she's coming back without it, he's horrified? I'm unsure.
Honestly, this story is like 10 pages long and I have no idea why it's in this collection. It's more of a horror story than something I'd consider a tale worthy of being paired with the other four stories. There's not even any specific theme like loneliness. It's just "oh, wow, this pregnant lady is weird! I guess she gave birth and abandoned her baby, how horrible!" but like it's not even clearly stated what happened or why or if what's shown on the page actually took place or was just a thought or what. I think this is the weakest story by far, but perhaps the idea is just to be a short, somewhat unsettling idea to make people wonder about things; was there ever really a pregnant woman and if so, what did she do with her baby? Why?
Anyway, still a low-par story and one the author's least impressive.
The fifth and final story is titled "Fetish"
This is the main story of the collection and is the main focus of the collection, as it's the one featured on the cover and shares its name with the collection's title.
A girl with a lot of bandages is told by a young man on a bus on day that she looks cool and he offers her his number, interested in a date. They talk and meet up and the girl wonders why he likes her. At his place, she discovers a collection of photos of injured women. He explains that he's a photographer and that the pictures came about after a bus full of models got into an accident. Earlier, he told her about having a cat, but she doesn't see one, so she starts to feel uneasy, thinking he's lying. The album of photos makes her think that perhaps he has a fetish for injured women and that that's the only reason he likes her. Although she's distressed, she isn't driven away and decides to sleep with him.
Afterwards, she has a dream where he breaks up with her after she's healed, thus proving he only liked her when she suited his fetish, and she promises to get injured again to keep him with her. She wakes up from her dream and sees a cat, which calms her, and she talks to him about her concerns. He proves that he wasn't lying to her and when she asks if he's mad at her for not trusting him, he says that he isn't. She asks to see him again, to which he agrees.
It's shown that eventually she heals from her injuries and they remain together, but as they walk down the street, he glances at an injured woman before turning back away from her and continuing to walk with his girlfriend, leaving the reader wondering if he actually does have a fetish for injured, bandaged women and what this might mean for the future of his relationship with the protagonist.
I actually have a quote from this particular story that I like:
When you find someone you like, you unconsciously adjust to your partner's tastes. I'm especially like that.
Overall, it's an interesting story. I think most people expected this story to be the most complex and dark, when it actually is one of the more tame and subtle ones. Story #3 is the real kicker in comparison to this. I find this little collection an interesting read and wish the ideas had gotten a bit more expanded, but they're thought provoking and unique, to say the least. I've read them once or twice in my life and they've stayed with me rather vividly. A haunting, strange reading experience.
Definitely not for young audiences or for adult readers who are sensitive to darker themes.
November 3, 2020
Sciapo e falsamente controverso. Narrativamente nullo.
2 stelle solo per i disegni, molto belli.
2 stelle solo per i disegni, molto belli.
June 7, 2015
La idea es atractiva. 5 historias que van desde un tono bastante dramático al más perturbador. El problema principal, radica en lo poco claro de parte de los sucesos de varios de sus relatos. Ideas que pueden ser atractivas, pero que terminan derivando en finales demasiado cripticos para cualquier lector.
Sin duda, All of Sully/Lily y Fetish, son las historias más redondas de esta antología. No solo plantean conceptos perturbadores, sino que nos meten en la psique de los personajes. No son perfectas, y lamentablemente el dibujo (Dentro de los estándares más genérico del Josei/Shoujo), nunca logra hacerla despegar tan bien de los estandares del público al que es dirigido.
Aún así, Fetish destaca por sobre tantas obras del comic japonés para audiencia femenina. Dudo que Fujiwara quiera buscar el nivel de profundidad, realismo o oscuridad de Kiriko Nananan o Kyoko Okazaki, pero al menos demuestra que el toque femenino puede escaparle a los lugares comunes.
Sin duda, All of Sully/Lily y Fetish, son las historias más redondas de esta antología. No solo plantean conceptos perturbadores, sino que nos meten en la psique de los personajes. No son perfectas, y lamentablemente el dibujo (Dentro de los estándares más genérico del Josei/Shoujo), nunca logra hacerla despegar tan bien de los estandares del público al que es dirigido.
Aún así, Fetish destaca por sobre tantas obras del comic japonés para audiencia femenina. Dudo que Fujiwara quiera buscar el nivel de profundidad, realismo o oscuridad de Kiriko Nananan o Kyoko Okazaki, pero al menos demuestra que el toque femenino puede escaparle a los lugares comunes.
January 30, 2025
Si tratta di cinque storie che raccontano varie situazioni, tra di loro molto diverse, in cui regnano sovrane delle ragazze distrutte e rotte nel profondo. Sono elementi onnipresenti nelle opere della Fujiwara come anche i temi dell'abuso e della violenza (fisica e psicologica). Come da descrizione, cinque diversi tipi di amore malato, questo il tema.
Con questa autrice a volte è difficile connettere perché la sua scrittura è ermetica, volutamente vaga e drammatica. A volte riesce a donare respiro e valore a situazioni che, se troppo esplicitate, risulterebbero banali o semplicistiche. Altre volte la sua scrittura si ritorce un po contro alla storia stessa, rendendola fin troppo nebbiosa e difficile da seguire.
È un'autrice secondo me da prendere con le pinze, da valutare opera per opera e da non prendere mai per scontata. Ha della capacità che non si fermano al bel tratto, ma gli va dato modo di raccontarsi.
Con questa autrice a volte è difficile connettere perché la sua scrittura è ermetica, volutamente vaga e drammatica. A volte riesce a donare respiro e valore a situazioni che, se troppo esplicitate, risulterebbero banali o semplicistiche. Altre volte la sua scrittura si ritorce un po contro alla storia stessa, rendendola fin troppo nebbiosa e difficile da seguire.
È un'autrice secondo me da prendere con le pinze, da valutare opera per opera e da non prendere mai per scontata. Ha della capacità che non si fermano al bel tratto, ma gli va dato modo di raccontarsi.
November 8, 2018
Algunas de las cinco historias han sido un poco sosas, pero las demás han estado muy bien, y el estilo de ilustración de los personajes los hacía muy interesantes. Ha estado bastante bien y se lee muy rápido, aunque tal vez no es el tipo de género que mucha gente elegiría.
November 2, 2021
i liked 2 of the stories, good overall.
January 16, 2025
Ovaj oneshot se sastoji od pet uznemirujućih priča o, nazovimo to, opsesijama i užasima, ali ima mi tu još nečega (naročito me muči četvrta priča). Sve priče su u neku ruku psihološki horori o nekim sjebanim likovima. Ne očekujte ovde bdsm u onom klasičnom ruhu (na šta asocira naslov i na koji ste navikli u filmovima), jer toga ovde nema. Ovo je dosta suptilnije. A neki likovi će vas zaista malo i zaposednuti/proganjati. Crtež mi je na momente lep. Na facama žena je prikazana neka seta, melanholija, neka daleka čežnja, bespomoćnost/beznadežnost, strah... Ne znam to najbolje da opišem, ali izazivaju neki osećaj uznemirenosti i naježa. Kako su priče kratke, nema ovde nikakvog produbljivanja i razvoja likova. Ovo je samo mali zavir u neki isečak iz njihovog života. I to baš onaj mračni, uznemirujući i mistični. Vrlo često ćete imati osećaj nedorečenosti i to će vas malo nervirati. Nekako mi se čini da je to i bila namera mangake.
Pa hajmo redom (spojleri na sve strane):
Our Vast Loneliness 3/5
For a long while now, I've been prone to losing things. It's the things most important to me that I lose. It's always, always after I lose them that I realize how imortant they are. And then, they're suddenly returned to me.
Glavni lik je apatičan, skoro pa napušten od porodice, ne zna šta će sa životom, te pokušava da piše knjigu. Pisac u pokušaju privlači pažnju nešto starije konobarice (27 godina - Japanci i starost 🙄) s kojom započinje vezu. Veza traje sve dok traje i njegova anonimnost, tj. dok ne dobije nagradu, pa misli da će poleteti u oblake valjda. Onda konobaricu šutne, jer koji će mu, nije je nikad ni voleo. Konobarica poteže nož (ne moram da naglasim koliko to sve patetično izgleda, jer Japanci 🙄) i u tom rvanju pisac povredi nju. Žena samo iščezava, kao i sve njegove bitne pređašnje stvari. No, pisac nalazi trag da je konobarica ipak neko ko mu je pre mnogo godina značio u životu i koga je u životu održao kada mu je bilo teško. I tako ostaje zaključan u stanu čekajući da mu se preklana žena vrati kao i sve stvari koje gubi. Poruka/pouka - čovek neretko sjebava i gubi stvari/osobe koje su mu bitne i isto tako neretko te stvari ostanu nepopravljive koliko god nas savest grizla i koliko god se trudili da to ulepimo i vratimo u prvobitno stanje. Jednostavno nekad je za to kasno. Bitno je naposletku da takvih stvari nije previše. Jer koliko god da ih je i malo, umeju da razjebu dušu, a nekome i život ceo, pa pazite šta radite.
Love Letter 4/5
Totalno kripi priča o uhođenju koje je otišlo predaleko, ali ne onako kako smo navikli u filmovima. Ovo je potpuno nova dimenzija (jer opet - Japanci). Zamislite da je neko toliko opčinjen vama, da vam donira svoje oči i da po dobijanju očiju, ne samo progledate, već vidite sebe svuda oko sebe - na ulici, u omiljenom kafiću, a naposletku i u kupatilu dok se tuširate. Fazon, do kraja života u duhu i telu, ali bukvalno! Au, koja je ovo jeza od priče! Hororčina!
All of Sully/Lilly 4/5
A man believes that people he loves should have spare bodies. His daughter happens to have one...
Možda najnasilnija od svih. Priča prati naučnika/doktora koji je mnogo teško podneo smrt svih bližnjih žena - majke, sestre, supruge. Ostala mu je jedino ćerka Sully. Od straha da bi ga i Sally mogla napustiti kao i sve prethodne ženske osobe, lik pravi klona - Lilly. Time osigurava da njegova ćerka uvek ima adekvatnog donora ma šta da joj se desi. Klon je zatvoren 24/7 u ogromnoj kućerini i na milost i nemilost je svim seksualnim fantazijama svog gospodara. Verujem da ovo može biti naporno za čitanje, jer ima silovanja, skoro incesta, vezivanja, zlostavljanja i sl, sve do momenta kada Sully doživi tešku saobraćajnu nesreću i naučnik mora da iskoristi dobar deo Lilly. Nakon što spašava ćerku, njegova zatočenica Lilly umire i on tek tad shvata koliko je zapravo za istu bio vezan - više nego za ćerku, i koliko je vremena sa njom provodio - više nego sa ćerkom, pa možda i da je na neki način "voli" - više nego ćerku, bolesno, opsesivno, jezivo... No, kao i u prvoj priči, malo prekasno. I kao i u prvoj priči, zasluženo treba da pati. I to dugo i najstrašnije.
Airport ?/5
I wonder if I'll be driving her again...
Najkraća od svih pet (svega 11 strana). Nisam sigurna šta sam pročitala. Previše mi se učinilo jednostavno naspram svih ostalih priča ovde, a zapravo mi je najteže za tumačenje. Nešto ovde nisam pohvatala. Uočavam neke detalje i razlike, ali nikako da ih spojim u glavi. Ko je lik u crnom? Neki sektaš koji prisilno uzima decu? Da li je vozač zapravo ona ista trudna devojka? Da li je ona opet trudna? Da li će joj neko opet uzeti bebu? Da li se devojka porodila, ostavila bebu, ubila taksistu, prerušula se i sad taksira? Bukvalno imam par scenarija u glavi i kao da mi je razrešenje tu na vrh mozga, ali mi stalno izmiče. Stoga i ne mogu da ocenim ovo.
Please, don't pick my cab... Sad da li je cab ili cub ostaje mi da mislim i dalje.
Fetish 3/5
When you find someone you like, you unconsciously adjust to your partner's tastes. I'm especially like that.
Možda na oko i najpozitivnija priča, ali u mojim očima ovo takođe nema srećan kraj. Ovde pratimo devojku u zavojima koja upoznaje momka koji misli da joj sve to skupa stoji kul. Prva pomisao je naravno da lik ima fetiš ka povređenim ženama (kao oni likovi iz filma Crash). Devojka vrlo naivno započinje vezu sa pomenutim likom. Ali i dalje ima košmare da će je lik ostaviti čim se izleči i obećava mu da će se povrediti ponovo samo da ostanu zajedno. Nakon buđenja, mangaka devojku (pa i nas) narednim tablama malo smiruje i razuverava u tim crnim mislima. Njih dvoje ostaju u vezi i nakon njenog izlečenja, ali poslednje table nam nagoveštavaju ipak nešto drugo. Uz rečenicu koju devojka u jednom trenutku u priči izgovara (ona koju sam navela na početku) i uz tih poslednjih par kadrova ovde vidim kraj, ali nikako lep i sigurno ne spokojan.
Ova Kaoru Fujiwara je vrlo zanimljiva. Pre ovoga sam čitala jedino Sono Saki no Fuukei. I tu se sećam neke setne, melanholične i depresivne atmosfere i likova. Definitivno ću posegnuti za još nečim njenim.
Pa hajmo redom (spojleri na sve strane):
Our Vast Loneliness 3/5
For a long while now, I've been prone to losing things. It's the things most important to me that I lose. It's always, always after I lose them that I realize how imortant they are. And then, they're suddenly returned to me.
Glavni lik je apatičan, skoro pa napušten od porodice, ne zna šta će sa životom, te pokušava da piše knjigu. Pisac u pokušaju privlači pažnju nešto starije konobarice (27 godina - Japanci i starost 🙄) s kojom započinje vezu. Veza traje sve dok traje i njegova anonimnost, tj. dok ne dobije nagradu, pa misli da će poleteti u oblake valjda. Onda konobaricu šutne, jer koji će mu, nije je nikad ni voleo. Konobarica poteže nož (ne moram da naglasim koliko to sve patetično izgleda, jer Japanci 🙄) i u tom rvanju pisac povredi nju. Žena samo iščezava, kao i sve njegove bitne pređašnje stvari. No, pisac nalazi trag da je konobarica ipak neko ko mu je pre mnogo godina značio u životu i koga je u životu održao kada mu je bilo teško. I tako ostaje zaključan u stanu čekajući da mu se preklana žena vrati kao i sve stvari koje gubi. Poruka/pouka - čovek neretko sjebava i gubi stvari/osobe koje su mu bitne i isto tako neretko te stvari ostanu nepopravljive koliko god nas savest grizla i koliko god se trudili da to ulepimo i vratimo u prvobitno stanje. Jednostavno nekad je za to kasno. Bitno je naposletku da takvih stvari nije previše. Jer koliko god da ih je i malo, umeju da razjebu dušu, a nekome i život ceo, pa pazite šta radite.
Love Letter 4/5
Totalno kripi priča o uhođenju koje je otišlo predaleko, ali ne onako kako smo navikli u filmovima. Ovo je potpuno nova dimenzija (jer opet - Japanci). Zamislite da je neko toliko opčinjen vama, da vam donira svoje oči i da po dobijanju očiju, ne samo progledate, već vidite sebe svuda oko sebe - na ulici, u omiljenom kafiću, a naposletku i u kupatilu dok se tuširate. Fazon, do kraja života u duhu i telu, ali bukvalno! Au, koja je ovo jeza od priče! Hororčina!
All of Sully/Lilly 4/5
A man believes that people he loves should have spare bodies. His daughter happens to have one...
Možda najnasilnija od svih. Priča prati naučnika/doktora koji je mnogo teško podneo smrt svih bližnjih žena - majke, sestre, supruge. Ostala mu je jedino ćerka Sully. Od straha da bi ga i Sally mogla napustiti kao i sve prethodne ženske osobe, lik pravi klona - Lilly. Time osigurava da njegova ćerka uvek ima adekvatnog donora ma šta da joj se desi. Klon je zatvoren 24/7 u ogromnoj kućerini i na milost i nemilost je svim seksualnim fantazijama svog gospodara. Verujem da ovo može biti naporno za čitanje, jer ima silovanja, skoro incesta, vezivanja, zlostavljanja i sl, sve do momenta kada Sully doživi tešku saobraćajnu nesreću i naučnik mora da iskoristi dobar deo Lilly. Nakon što spašava ćerku, njegova zatočenica Lilly umire i on tek tad shvata koliko je zapravo za istu bio vezan - više nego za ćerku, i koliko je vremena sa njom provodio - više nego sa ćerkom, pa možda i da je na neki način "voli" - više nego ćerku, bolesno, opsesivno, jezivo... No, kao i u prvoj priči, malo prekasno. I kao i u prvoj priči, zasluženo treba da pati. I to dugo i najstrašnije.
Airport ?/5
I wonder if I'll be driving her again...
Najkraća od svih pet (svega 11 strana). Nisam sigurna šta sam pročitala. Previše mi se učinilo jednostavno naspram svih ostalih priča ovde, a zapravo mi je najteže za tumačenje. Nešto ovde nisam pohvatala. Uočavam neke detalje i razlike, ali nikako da ih spojim u glavi. Ko je lik u crnom? Neki sektaš koji prisilno uzima decu? Da li je vozač zapravo ona ista trudna devojka? Da li je ona opet trudna? Da li će joj neko opet uzeti bebu? Da li se devojka porodila, ostavila bebu, ubila taksistu, prerušula se i sad taksira? Bukvalno imam par scenarija u glavi i kao da mi je razrešenje tu na vrh mozga, ali mi stalno izmiče. Stoga i ne mogu da ocenim ovo.
Please, don't pick my cab... Sad da li je cab ili cub ostaje mi da mislim i dalje.
Fetish 3/5
When you find someone you like, you unconsciously adjust to your partner's tastes. I'm especially like that.
Možda na oko i najpozitivnija priča, ali u mojim očima ovo takođe nema srećan kraj. Ovde pratimo devojku u zavojima koja upoznaje momka koji misli da joj sve to skupa stoji kul. Prva pomisao je naravno da lik ima fetiš ka povređenim ženama (kao oni likovi iz filma Crash). Devojka vrlo naivno započinje vezu sa pomenutim likom. Ali i dalje ima košmare da će je lik ostaviti čim se izleči i obećava mu da će se povrediti ponovo samo da ostanu zajedno. Nakon buđenja, mangaka devojku (pa i nas) narednim tablama malo smiruje i razuverava u tim crnim mislima. Njih dvoje ostaju u vezi i nakon njenog izlečenja, ali poslednje table nam nagoveštavaju ipak nešto drugo. Uz rečenicu koju devojka u jednom trenutku u priči izgovara (ona koju sam navela na početku) i uz tih poslednjih par kadrova ovde vidim kraj, ali nikako lep i sigurno ne spokojan.
Ova Kaoru Fujiwara je vrlo zanimljiva. Pre ovoga sam čitala jedino Sono Saki no Fuukei. I tu se sećam neke setne, melanholične i depresivne atmosfere i likova. Definitivno ću posegnuti za još nečim njenim.
October 31, 2021
WOW WOW WOW
No esperaba encontrarme con un manga como este.
Defintivamente tiene historias muy buenas y otras un poco MEH pero me voy a enfocar en las que sí me gustaron porque valen muchisimo la pena.
La atmosfera que Kaoru Fujiwara crea en cada panel, la incomodidad que sus historias generan en el lector en pocas páginas no tienen comparación. Si estás buscando una lectura creepy y muy retorcida, en este tomo único vas a encontrar muchas hsitorias cortas que lo dan todo.
Si podes revisar los TW antes de empezar a leer, lo recomiendo mucho. Varias de las historias tratan temáticas que no todo el mundo se siente cómodo leyendo así que OJO.
No esperaba encontrarme con un manga como este.
Defintivamente tiene historias muy buenas y otras un poco MEH pero me voy a enfocar en las que sí me gustaron porque valen muchisimo la pena.
La atmosfera que Kaoru Fujiwara crea en cada panel, la incomodidad que sus historias generan en el lector en pocas páginas no tienen comparación. Si estás buscando una lectura creepy y muy retorcida, en este tomo único vas a encontrar muchas hsitorias cortas que lo dan todo.
Si podes revisar los TW antes de empezar a leer, lo recomiendo mucho. Varias de las historias tratan temáticas que no todo el mundo se siente cómodo leyendo así que OJO.
August 7, 2024
Todos los protagonistas se ven iguales y no tienen más personalidad que ser depravados (debí esperarlo por el título), el capítulo tres me pareció especialmente morboso y desagradable, la narrativa no es buena ni clara.
February 24, 2013
Definitivamente uno de mis mangas favoritos ;)
November 27, 2021
i really liked the first two and the last story but the two in the middle is what's really stopping me from loving this. i love the artist's art. i have prints of it on my wall but i've never really dived into their actual works because of the "it's not for everyone" reputation they have.....and that reputation is perfect. i couldn't even stomach reading the 3rd story. i skimmed it. i had to read a review to even know what the story was about. the 3rd story perfectly shows the boundary i cant cross. it's too taboo, too dark of a subject matter for me to even explore hypothetically. it depicts incest, abuse, sexual abuse, and it's just shocking compared to all the other stories on the compilation. the other one that i didn't like was just too short to really get.
i love art but i can never cross that boundary. not in film (salo, climax, mother! or any willfully disturbing choices) not in music (i literally blocked out the lyrics to so many songs), and so especially not in manga haha
i love art but i can never cross that boundary. not in film (salo, climax, mother! or any willfully disturbing choices) not in music (i literally blocked out the lyrics to so many songs), and so especially not in manga haha
May 12, 2021
Carino, scorre via che è un piacere e si fa apprezzare per i disegni belli ed estremamente eleganti, anche se spesso volutamente sproporzionati e semi-deformi, cosa che non mi è piaciuta per niente. Ho amato tuttavia l'aria malsana che permea il volume e le idee originali che contiene; però se cercate scene scabrose o raccapriccianti, non le troverete di certo qui, la perversione presentata è sottile come un foglio di carta e, anche se il contenuto di alcune delle storie è parecchio malato, non riesce ad esserlo come dovrebbe e finisce per diventare scialbo e lasciare l'amaro in bocca. Un modo per parlare di certi argomenti, fin troppo edulcorato e mancante di ciò cui chi compra un volume del genere cerca: un bel po' di voyeurismo morboso, una perversione elegante e sottile, secondo me non rende.
March 14, 2025
La verdad dos cosas fueron dealbreakers para mí: que a pesar de que el estilo de dibujo de la mangaka es precioso, tiene el same face syndrome al menos en este compilado de historias. En algún momento pensé que se repetían personajes en las historias, pero solo era que los dibujó igual.
El siguiente es que algunas historias eran inconsistentes. Y lo lindo del terror es que a veces usarlo como recurso solo aumenta el suspense, pero acá como que era muy notoria la ausencia de una estructura narrativa que justificara o profundizara las acciones de algunos personajes.
Y sí, la historia de Lilly me incomodó mucho. Prometía pero creo que solo me dejó un mal sabor de boca.
Las dos primeras historias me encantaron, tho.
El siguiente es que algunas historias eran inconsistentes. Y lo lindo del terror es que a veces usarlo como recurso solo aumenta el suspense, pero acá como que era muy notoria la ausencia de una estructura narrativa que justificara o profundizara las acciones de algunos personajes.
Y sí, la historia de Lilly me incomodó mucho. Prometía pero creo que solo me dejó un mal sabor de boca.
Las dos primeras historias me encantaron, tho.
August 14, 2021
La raccolta di per sè non mi ha entusiasmato – sebbene i disegni siano molto belli –; il racconto "Tutto di Sully/Lily" è però una piccola gemma disturbante che mi piacerebbe vedere rappresentato in un film – diretto da una donna.
October 4, 2021
I fall for this manga because of the title & concept but i found this a bit boring. The concepts of the story are weird & dark but the execution lacks something. Though the art work is very good. Apart from that i don't like the stories. Disappointed with it.
Read
December 27, 2021I read this book forever ago, but forgot the title until it just was recommended to me. Don't remember how I liked it so much, but I can say that I think of story 5 pretty often still. Maybe like once every 2 months or so. Cool to have found it again
May 13, 2018
Well this was something, especially the title story.
June 13, 2020
Only thing I liked about this was the art.
May 4, 2022
michael scott voice* i understand…nothing
August 24, 2022
istraumirah se za ceo zivot, ali je toliko fucked up da je zapanjujuce
Read
December 10, 2022pretty average & textbook body horror, underwhelming but fine
May 31, 2025
Our vast loneliness : 4/5
Love letter : 4/5
All of Sully/Lily : 4/5
Airport : 3/5
Fetish : 5/5
Love letter : 4/5
All of Sully/Lily : 4/5
Airport : 3/5
Fetish : 5/5
September 14, 2025
mi aspettavo qualcosa di più controverso
November 8, 2025
Como desveo algo
February 9, 2026
Indeed, a LOT of fetish
December 29, 2020
I'm sorry but what the fuck did I read ?
September 30, 2022
Ch 1: Our Vast Loneliness (3/5 stars)
Ch 2: Love Letter (5/5 stars)
Ch 3: All of Sully/Lilly (2,5/5 stars)
Ch 4: Airport (5/5 stars)
Ch 5: Fetish (5/5 stars)
Ch 2: Love Letter (5/5 stars)
Ch 3: All of Sully/Lilly (2,5/5 stars)
Ch 4: Airport (5/5 stars)
Ch 5: Fetish (5/5 stars)
March 29, 2024
Un'autrice già conoscevo con Il giardino dell’Eden che mi era molto piaciuto. Questo volume è composto sempre da episodi autoconclusivi, ma molto più maturi, tosti ed espliciti, sia a livello di storia, ma anche i disegni che non nascondono nulla. L’episodio Aeroporto mi ha inquietato tantissimo, anche se più di tutti lo ha fatto Sully/Lily, dove un padre ha una relazione morbosa con la copia della figlia che tiene per poterla far sopravvivere quando si sentirà male. Violenza, mezzo incesto, crudeltà... Che si vuole di più? Insomma a me piace questa autrice e forse ho apprezzato maggiormente Fetish di Il giardino dell'Eden perché mostra una maggiore maturità dell’autrice e del perché è maestra del fumetto adulto femminile. Non un punteggio pieno perché non tutti gli episodi mi sono piaciuti allo stesso modo e alcuni hanno una conclusione che non ho compreso, e le parti più oniriche dell’autrice non mi hanno convinto molto neanche nella precedente raccolta. Però mi piacerebbe molto leggere altro di questa autrice, magari qualcosa di più lungo per vedere se riesce a piacermi anche in una serie.
December 5, 2014
I did what one should never do, and based my expectations on the cover image. Turns out I ended up rather disappointed. The reading experience was far staler than I imagined.
Fujiwara's Fetish contains a total of 5 short manga stories about, unsurprisingly, different types of fetishes. The stories felt very tame, the depths of individual characters unexplored. The art style is plenty pretty, even eerie in its doll-ish representation of the characters, but ultimately too repetitive. Many characters, despite being supposedly different people in each story, look far too similar to each other.
One plus about this manga, though, is that the fetishes presented in these stories aren't your textbook stereotypical rubber hoods and whips, shiny thigh-high stiletto heels, corsets, and hot candle wax. They are, often, far more subtle and less direct than one might instantly assume when hearing the word.
Fujiwara's Fetish contains a total of 5 short manga stories about, unsurprisingly, different types of fetishes. The stories felt very tame, the depths of individual characters unexplored. The art style is plenty pretty, even eerie in its doll-ish representation of the characters, but ultimately too repetitive. Many characters, despite being supposedly different people in each story, look far too similar to each other.
One plus about this manga, though, is that the fetishes presented in these stories aren't your textbook stereotypical rubber hoods and whips, shiny thigh-high stiletto heels, corsets, and hot candle wax. They are, often, far more subtle and less direct than one might instantly assume when hearing the word.
June 19, 2025
➡ Our Vast Loneliness - ★★★☆☆
➡ Love Letter - ★★★★☆
➡ All of Sully/Lily - ★★★★★
➡ Airport - ★★☆☆☆
➡ Fetish - ★★★★☆
➡ Love Letter - ★★★★☆
➡ All of Sully/Lily - ★★★★★
➡ Airport - ★★☆☆☆
➡ Fetish - ★★★★☆
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews