Velveteen & Mandala

Velveteen & Mandala (Japanese: べっちんとまんだら, Hepburn: Becchin to Mandara) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Jiro Matsumoto.

Velveteen & Mandala
Cover of the Japanese tankōbon
べっちんとまんだら
(Becchin to Mandara)
GenreDystopia
Manga
Written byJiro Matsumoto
Published byOhta Publishing
English publisher
Vertical
MagazineManga Erotics F
DemographicSeinen
Original runJune 2007 – October 2009
Volumes1

Plot

Velveteen & Mandala takes place in a dystopian Tokyo[1] that is in the midst of a war. The story focuses on the high school students Velveteen|, who lives in a battle tank on a riverbed in Tokyo's Suginami ward, and her frenemy Mandala. After a large air raid, zombies start to fall from the sky, and the girls get involved in exterminating the zombies in the dry riverbed area. Although they have to fight the zombies, most of conflict is between them as they are both deeply disturbed.

Release

A seinen manga,[2] Velveteen & Mandala first appeared as a serial from June 2007 and October 2009 in Ohta Publishing's Manga Erotics F magazine.[3][4][5] The 14 chapters[5] of the series were compiled into a single tankōbon released by Ohta Publishing on November 26, 2009.[6] In the following year, at the Anime Weekend Atlanta, Vertical announced that it had licensed the manga for an English-language translation in North America.[7] Vertical's representative Ioannis Mentzas said the series was chosen among other Matsumoto's title on the basis that it had not been scanlated.[8] Vertical released the manga on August 30, 2011.[1]

Reception

Carlo Santos of Anime News Network praised the series for its visuals, but criticized its plot and some "tasteless displays". He wrote, "the bizarre imagery, where Matsumoto crosses all lines of good taste and common sense, is what makes it stick. [...] Yet Matsumoto's sketchy lines are just as capable of lush riverbank landscapes and slick action shots, and when that beauty meets the ugliness of the story, that's when the artist's unique vision fully takes hold." However, he declared, "Story-wise, Velveteen and Mandala is in serious need of some editing and rethinking" and that "those stomach-churning scenes" do not "really add a point to the story, aside from being a shocking moment".[9] Katherine Dacey of Manga Bookshelf also praised the artwork, calling it "scratchy and energetic" and praising the "superbly animated" characters' faces. However, she was very critical of his use of "sexual violence to titillate and shock the reader", especially seem in a gang rape scene. She concluded, "it's never clear if Matsumoto has a greater point to make, as the manga lacks any overarching sense of narrative direction or social commentary."[10]

Shaenon K. Garrity wrote for About.com that "this may be the screwed-up manga of your dreams" or a work that should be avoided depending on one's tates. Although it features "disturbing adult material", she stated, "His teen-girl protagonists are sexualized in a way that's so casual it's strangely inoffensive". Garrity praised its "vibrantly sketchy art" and its "original take on zombie horror". In her words, "Matsumoto twists the raw material of a straightforward zombie horror romp into a trippy, Donnie Darko-like plunge into the psychic darkness, peppering it with dark humor".[11] Joseph Luster of Otaku USA praised how it "manages to be both fun and sad", affirming "Velveteen & Mandala will stay in your head and beg to be reread". He said it is sexual but "not titillating"; it is "a 'gross-out' book that plays with the reader, creaking open the door to hint at something more before slamming it shut on the reader's fingers and gleefully scooting along to more head-popping and scat humor."[12] David Brothers of ComicsAlliance said, "Velveteen & Mandala is a funny, touching, scary, violent, and deeply uncomfortable comic" and that "the exact manga you need if you're a fan of Johnny Ryan's Prison Pit, Charles Burns's Black Hole, or seeing some good old-fashioned gross action."[13]

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References
  1. "Velveteen & Mandala". Random House. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  2. Lamb, Lynzee (July 30, 2011). "Vertical Industry Panel - Otakon 2011". Anime News Network. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  3. McCulloch, Joe (September 6, 2011). "This Week in Comics! (9/7/11 – Machine Power)". The Comics Journal. Fantagraphics Books. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  4. "『革命家の午後』カバーUP!＆予告コマ" (in Japanese). Ohta Publishing. June 29, 2007. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  5. "「べっちんとまんだら」があつい!" (in Japanese). Ohta Publishing. October 15, 2009. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  6. "べっちんとまんだら" (in Japanese). Ohta Publishing. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  7. "Vertical Adds Jiro Matsumoto's Velveteen & Mandala Manga (Updated)". Anime News Network. September 19, 2010. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  8. Cha, Kai-Ming (October 12, 2010). "Despite Sales Drops, Manga Makes News at New York Comic Con". Publishers Weekly. PWxyz LLC. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  9. Santos, Carlo (August 30, 2011). "Bakuman Battle Brawlers". Anime News Network. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  10. Dacey, Katherine (August 15, 2011). "Velveteen & Mandala". Manga Bookshelf. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  11. Garrity, Shaenon. "Velveteen & Mandala". About.com. IAC. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  12. Luster, Joseph (August 19, 2011). "Velveteen & Mandala". Otaku USA. Sovereign Media. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  13. Brothers, David (August 17, 2011). "'Velveteen & Mandala': The Schoolgirl Zombie Fighter Manga That's Unsettling in All the Right Ways". ComicsAlliance. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
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