Spending too much on comics, then talking too much about them
Michelle (Soliloquy in Blue) Smith adds her thoughts to the Sexy Voice and Robo Manga Moveable Feast:
“I really admire how Kuroda-sensei tells the story, because he doesn’t feed one the conclusions about Nico’s revelation on a spoon; all the clues are there, but one must make one’s own connections.”
Click here for a running list of entries to this edition of the Manga Moveable Feast.
Tangognat takes a second look at Sexy Voice and Robo for the Manga Moveable Feast:
“One of the things that I like about Nico is that her character is more complex than the typical precocious child you’d expect to see investigating human behavior. While she might be worldly enough to manipulate Robo in order to get help her whenever she wants, she still maintains an element of innocence and a childlike point of view.”
Click here for a running list of entries to this edition of the Manga Moveable Feast.
Sadie Mattox at Extremely Graphic takes the Manga Moveable Feast as an opportunity to read Sexy Voice and Robo for the first time, and, well…
“I know that plots are simply arenas, places for the characters to play and oftentimes they can be silly or completely unrealistic to accommodate a much larger story. However, mysteries are reliant on plot. So having myself pulled through a series of convenient coincidences not once but every single time got a bit tiring.”
Click here for a running list of entries to this edition of the Manga Moveable Feast.
Kate (The Manga Critic) Dacey picks up on the resonances between Iou Kuroda’s Sexy Voice and Robo and Louise Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy:
“Fitzhugh helped usher in an era of young adult fiction featuring tough, psychologically complex heroines who weren’t always likable, characters like the plain, frizzy-haired Meg Murray of A Wrinkle in Time or the smart, prickly Galadriel Hopkins of The Great Gilly Hopkins. Yet Harriet remains in her own special class. Unlike Meg or Gilly, she isn’t the heroine of an inter-dimensional sci-fi epic or a gritty, realistic drama; she’s the heroine of her own story, a self-mythologizing character who inhabits a highly romanticized version of the adult world.”
And check here for a running list of entries to this edition of the Manga Moveable Feast.
Nico, the titular Sexy Voice of Iou Kuroda’s Sexy Voice and Robo (Viz), is a busy young woman. She’s got school, a part-time job working the phones for a dating club scam, and she investigates delicate and difficult situations for an elderly retired gangster. She’s a tremendously active protagonist, and she expends considerable energy trying to figure out the world through the prisms of the mysteries she encounters.
Nico leaps into action, at least intellectually. She parses the possibilities and sifts the solutions with terrific vigor. Her confidence that her insights and analysis will lead to a desirable outcome isn’t misplaced. Nico can resolve difficulties with her intelligence and sympathetic understanding. Kuroda respects her and likes her, so her precocity is never a joke or freakish.
But even budding spies or fortune tellers need a day off. Kuroda gives Nico a beautiful bit of respite in “Touch Blue Sky.” Perhaps it’s the novelty of seeing her in a more passive role that makes me so fond of this particular chapter, or perhaps it’s the fact that her passivity is as calculated as her engagement.
The chapter starts with an extremely resonant moment. Nico is getting a haircut, a mundane and restorative activity that’s out of step with her usual agenda. This being Nico, the haircut takes place on the back of a scooter in the open air of a city park. It’s the kind of strange urban treat you’d expect a girl like Nico to discover, and she clearly revels in it. She’s a girl who lives in her head a lot of the time, and she’s earned the sensory pleasure that Kuroda grants her.
Again, this is Nico we’re talking about, so this sedate mood doesn’t persist. She drags her sidekick, Robo, to the stylist’s salon. (He wants to practice on men’s hair, and Robo can always use a pick-me-up.) Robo is barely in the chair when a fugitive drives his motorcycle through the salon’s front door.
It would be easy to say that this is when things get interesting, but they were interesting from the start, from those first, open-air snips that left Nico’s head feeling so light. Nico slips into the role of observer as the stylist, Maruo, slips into her usual role. He gets the fugitive talking, reinforcing Nico’s belief that Maruo is a kindred spirit… someone who must understand people as a part of his job. She can’t help but compare Robo’s clumsy attempts at empathy to Maruo’s composure and patience, and the peril of the situation gives way to another chance for Nico to do what’s so essential to her nature – to watch people and figure them out, with the added bonus of improving her technique in the process.
Kuroda pays special attention to Nico’s expressions in this chapter. He never really neglects them, but these are the pages where Kuroda demonstrates how many emotions he can convey in a few spare lines. Nico ranges from satiation to alarm to bemusement to curiosity to even something like despair, or at least disappointment. She may not be driving the story, but it’s clearly being viewed through her eyes and reflected on her face.
It all ends with another haircut in the open air and Nico a bit wiser than she was at the beginning. She may be a little sadder as well, and a budding hope may have proved to be futile, but she’s not going to deny herself pleasure. And she’s earned it.
For the Sexy Voice and Robo Manga Moveable Feast, I thought it might be fun to try and interview some of the folks who worked on the book. So here’s a quick question-and-answer session with Eric Searleman, Senior Editor, VIZ Media, who edited Viz’s translation and oversaw production. (Thanks to Christopher Butcher for suggesting some of the questions below.)
TMC: Could you tell me a little bit about the genesis of the project? I may be remembering things wrong, but it seems like it came on the tail end of a period when VIZ Media was publishing a fair amount of alternative manga, followed by more of a focus on mainstream, youth-targeted stuff, and now things have swung around again with Signature and the IKKI titles. Is that an accurate timeline, or am I remembering things incorrectly?
ES: The spark was definitely sparked by the relationship between our publisher (Hyoe Narita) and Hideki Egami, the Edtor-In-Chief of IKKI magazine. The two men worked together years ago and have remained good friends. Thinking about it now, I guess you could hear the faint rumblings of www.SigIKKI.com way back in 2005 when we first published SEXY VOICE AND ROBO.
TMC: Did the knowledge that the series was essentially unfinished affect VIZ Media’s decision to license the work? Did it affect how you handled to the translation and packaging, maybe to make it seem like a more ‘complete’ work?
ES: Despite SEXY VOICE AND ROBO being unfinished, we were thrilled to publish Iou Kuroda in the U.S., he’s an amazing artist and storyteller, and deserves a wider audience. If he ever revisits the adventures of Nico and her pal Robo, I’d love to edit an expanded edition sometime. Fingers crossed.
TMC: Could you talk a bit about the design choices? I’m thinking about the size of the book in particular, which is more like an anthology or western trade paperback than what people have come to think of as the standard manga digest size.
ES: When the designer and I sat down to talk about this project, we both agreed that it deserved a prestige format. It was important to us to showcase Kuroda’s artwork in a bigger trim size. Also: in Japan SEXY VOICE AND ROBO was published (after serialization) in two books. We decided to combine those two books in a single volume to give fans a richer reading experience.
If you’re familiar with the original Japanese editions, you’ll recall that they featured appealing DayGlo-like covers. Izumi Evers, one of VIZ Media’s designers produced a handful of variant cover designs for us and her “big black brick” version got the green light.
Along with all of this we also felt that SEXY VOICE AND ROBO would have broad appeal. Obviously manga fans would dig it. But we felt American indy comic fans would like it too. I think the trim size helped attract that sort of reader.
TMC: I know it was critically well-received when it was published, but how were sales? How has it performed over the time that it’s been in print?
ES: You’re right. SEXY VOICE AND ROBO made a big splash with critics. It also helped stretch our market and, as I mentioned earlier, it helped pave the way for our current IKKI titles. Kuroda’s book has been available in the States for five years and people are still talking about it. Arguably it exists as something of a turning point for VIZ Media.
TMC: Do you think that the book would be received differently if it were to be released now, alongside the SigIkki material, rather than basically as an anomaly in VIZ Media’s line in 2005?
ES: On one hand, SEXY VOICE AND ROBO got a lot of attention initially because it was, as you say, an anomaly. For the discriminating manga reader, what else was out there at the time? Not much. On the other hand, I don’t think you can deny the fact that it would benefit mightily from our current commitment to www.sigikki.com. Ultimately I think our edition served its purpose well. It introduced Iou Kuroda’s comics to the U.S. and it helped identify a new breed of manga reader.
TMC: Has VIZ Media considered adding it to the online IKKI line-up to give potential readers another point of entry to the book?
ES: We’re happy with the core group of IKKI titles we’re serializing. And we’re happy to have SEXY VOICE AND ROBO in our backlist. Beyond that, there hasn’t been any serious discussion about adding it to www.sigikki.com. Hopefully fans of SATURN APARTMENTS and I’LL GIVE IT MY ALL… TOMORROW will follow the trail back to Sexy Voice and Robo. If they do, they’re in for a tremendous treat.
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For another perspective on Viz’s Signature line, check out Brigid Alverson’s excellent interview with Leyla Aker, Viz Media Editorial Manager, in the latest Publishers Weekly Comics Week.
Ogiue Maniax wrote in to share this review from 2008:
“Ah, Kuroda Iou’s Sexy Voice and Robo. I must say, I love this manga. Not because of the characters, though they’re all really engaging and interesting to watch, and not because of the story, though it is very entertaining and its premise is unique. No, I love Sexy Voice and Robo because of the art.
“It is so damn good that it makes me cry.”
Sexy Voice and Robo – a glimpse inside the obsession
Inside every guy is a cool, suave, man-of-the-world, a veritable James Bond of a man. A man who can rip his shirt off and people won’t shriek in laughter, a man who can leap across spaces between building rooftops 30-stories up without a blink. The geekier and more hopeless the guy, the more the man inside them obsesses them. They just *know* that if one day the world can be saved by a detailed knowledge of Wolverine’s origins, or the differences between Zaku models they will be that savior. But until then, he’ll just keep building those models and reading those comics…and dreaming of the women he might meet on that day.
Sudoh Ichiro is such a man. He wants what the world conspires for him to never have – a normal relationship with a woman. And because he cannot have this thing, he reaches out to what appears to him to be a completely sensible alternative – a phone dating service.
Hayashi Niko is a middle-school student. She is the voice on the other end of that phone, creating the perfect fantasy for the poor onnazuki on the other end. Her bread and butter is talking to those men who just can’t find the hero inside them and need some help to bring him forth. Niko’s skills at mimicking voices and her understanding of human nature puts her in the unique position to turn Sudoh into the hero he longs to be. Except he’s still a yutz – something Niko makes plain by nicknaming him “Robo.” This nickname not only represents his obsession with models, it reflects her ability to manipulate him into doing pretty much anything she wants.
In Sexy Voice and Robo, we watch as time after time the otaku has a chance to be that hero, and as time after time he fails to be anything more than just a sidekick. Why? Why can’t Sudoh find the James Bond that lives within him? Because there is a secret all otaku know, even if it is buried deep in our hearts. Despite the fact that we know the hero lives in there, somewhere, if only we can find him, we also know that even deeper still is a couch potato who obsesses over toys. I mean…really. Let’s get a grip here. If we were Olympic athletes, we wouldn’t be blogging this stuff, or trolling 2chan for pictures, we’d be at the freaking Olympics!
Obsession is not healthy, whether it be for gold medals or for writing prizes, but when our obsessions take the form of fake relationships on the phone and plastic models, you just gotta *know* that a hero is not you.
Of course we all want love, but. If you’re sitting on the sofa putting together *another* gashapon and thinking that you’d like to see a real girl’s underwear, the hero within may never really have a chance to come out.
Sexy Voice and Robo is a life lesson for the obsessed among us. It’s also an incredibly compelling and well-conceived manga written with a little glimpse into the obsessions that make us otaku, and a sense of humor for what makes us us.
This is the lesson of Sexy Voice and Robo – that our obsessions make us weak. They make us predictable…and they make us human.
Over at Comics212, Christopher Butcher revisits his 2005 review of Iou Kuroda’s Sexy Voice and Robo, which was enthusiastic:
“So, to make up for lost time (and a two-paragraph introduction…), run out and buy SEXY VOICE AND ROBO right now.“
Sexy Voice and Robo was one of the first graphic novels that I can remember seeing on the bookshelves, right when I was first getting into manga. It stood out to me because of its abnormally large format (something which I was not used to at the time) and I was reluctant to buy it because of its larger price point. When you are 10 years old, 20 dollars can be a difficult amount to come by. 12 years later, when I am financially responsible and now have a job, I am lucky to have finally picked it up. The wait was certainly worth it.
Sexy Voice and Robo is certainly a much more ‘adult’ graphic novel than most books I’ve read before, yet in many ways, it is a coming-of-age story. Sexy Voice, as talented as she is with her voice talents, reminded me of the main character of Juno. Mature far beyond her peers, Sexy Voice is still very much a child on the inside, putting on a front of maturity in an attempt to understand and relate to the adult world around her. She is still trying to understand what she wants to do with herself in life (as evidenced by her indecision to choose a career path) and is thrown into this extreme situation; one that ultimately deals with aspects of life that she is not ready for.
SV has learned from communicating with and observing people but there are certain aspects of life that she can never really understand at this time in her life. Her interactions with manipulative woman in ‘Voice Two’, the responsible hair stylist in ‘Voice Seven’ and the playful girl who is harboring a dark secret in ‘Voice 12’, serve as wonderful examples. These experiences serve as a time machine for SV, giving her the opportunity to peer into different lifetimes and places she could ultimately end up in. Seeing the fun she could continue to have but also the consequences of her actions takes a real affect on her. She even chooses to add a new career, a negotiator, to the list at the end of ‘Voice Seven’, after being so impressed by the hair stylist.
Speaking in terms of relationships, I can’t avoid talking about the budding (and possibly unrequited?) romance between Sexy Voice and Robo. It’s a very interesting dynamic to think about; I initially didn’t pick up on it at first. Sexy Voice, as I mentioned before, is more mature than most of those around her. To an extent, she can be perceived as more mature than Robo. I think that’s what initially attracts her to Robo though, the reason that she keeps calling him back, taking him out to dinner and on all these adventures. In him, she sees what she doesn’t see in most adults, which is a very childlike, naïve way of viewing the world. Robo has a sense of purity about him. He collects robots not for the money or to sell them, but for the pure passion of it. He cries like a baby at a complete stranger’s sob story. I think that Sexy Voice is afraid, that one day she will lose that same passion and become like the rest of the adults around her.
To contrast, Robo, while searching for his perfect woman (not compromising for breast size along the way), has fallen in love with her several times over, even though he will never admit it. From countless phone calls to even seeing her in disguise on the street, he willingly follows her wherever she goes. She gives him a sense of purpose that he has been looking for in his life. Even if it is just driving around together or tracking down a wayward thief, the two of them really influence each other in a number of ways.
All in all, this book can certainly be placed up high on my favorites list and will be venerated as one of the greats. The art is impeccable, being very clean and well thought out but at the same time, so raw and unique. The people and places give the story a very timeless feel. I know it was set in 2002 but it transcends time, feeling like it could happen today, tomorrow, or the next.
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