pride – Manga Report

Pride Volume 3 by Yukari Ichijo
Available on Jmanga.com

Pride is rapidly becoming one of my favorite series on Jmanga. This story of two rival opera singers always manages to put an interesting twist on showbiz manga with some unexpected plot twists. The rivalry between classy yet suddenly broke Shio and crawling up from the gutter Moe was firmly established in the first two volumes, and they are thrown together when they both get work at the same nightclub. Something unexpected occurs when they sing together though, their different voices end up blending in a delightful way. Ran thinks that the two women combined are his perfect diva and he is inspired to write even more of his own music for them. They join together in an unlikely trio called SRM, with both singers challenging each other to grow while Ran feels free to explore his avant-garde impulses. After seeing the antagonistic relationship between Shio and Moe, it was interesting to see how their commitment to music made them want to work together.

One of the things that I enjoy about this series is the way that Shio and Moe are so forthright with each other about their mutual dislike. Moe basically states that she hates Shio, and Shio points out that Moe’s low character is also something that she despises. Moe announces that when they sing together she intends to use Shio as her foil to showcase her own voice, and Shio points out that if she intends to do that, Moe has to drastically elevate her technique. The fledgling trio actually starts to achieve a small amount of success when they get a chance to go on a variety show that has a singing and songwriting competition, but their chances of winning are derailed when a musical prodigy named Eiko also appears on the program as a surprise guest.

Pride Volume 4 by Yukari Ichijo
Available on Jmanga.com

It turns out the Eiko is the illegitimate half-sister of Shio’s wealthy fiance Mr. Jinno. Shio gets a glimpse of Jinno’s family life when she’s introduced to his parents, and she sees that Eiko has to sneak around in order to see her father. Jinno’s character begins to be revealed a bit more, and he is slightly more sympathetic, but still with the potential to do something scary if Shio crosses him. Just as Shio’s future life as a music company begins to take shape, Ran suddenly seems to be looking at her in a new way. Shio’s been able to take care of herself on her own for a bit, and the new levels of maturity and self-assurance begin to attract Ran. Shio keeps her engagement a secret because she doesn’t want to distract from SRM’s potential.

As a character, Shio is still interesting after 4 volumes, because she just seems to sail through some difficult situations due to her strong sense of self. This is contradicted by her cold decision to become engaged to Jinno, but she’s also very pragmatic. When Shio sees the truth about Moe’s mother, she handles the situation with aplomb, and doesn’t use it as an excuse to strike back at her rival. Moe begins to recognize that her singing has been improved by being exposed to Ran’s music and Shio’s technique, but she still goes through life with raw emotional reactions. The contrast between the personalities and life situations of two protagonists in Pride really drives the series forward in a compelling way. The fourth volume ends in a bit of a cliffhanger, and I can’t wait for volume five.

Electronic access provided by the publisher

Pride was a series I snapped up immediately when I saw it show up as a new shojo title on Jmanga.com. This manga details the story of two competing opera singers, one from an elite background and one trying to struggle her way up from poverty. In a twist from what one might expect, the rich girl is sympathetic if reserved while the poor girl exhibits lying psychopath tendencies. I do enjoy manga stories set with show business as a background, as they tend to be a great shoujo or josei variation on the type of striving and competition that I usually expect from sports manga. Pride would appeal to fans of dramatic, slightly retro shojo stories like the Glass Mask anime or my beloved ballet classic Swan.

The first two volumes of Pride are available at a bargain price as part of Jmanga’s Shojo from Shueisha sale.

The first volume is also available for free on Jmanga7.

Pride Volume 1 by Yukari Ichijo

Shio Asami is a poor little rich girl opera diva in training when she has an odd encounter with another high school girl, Moe Midorikawa who is working for a housecleaning service. Shio finds out that her father isn’t going to attend the opera with her so she gives her extra ticket to Moe. The girls go to the opera, where Shio is greeted warmly by opera society since she’s the daughter of a famous dead opera singer. Two people take notice of both Shio and Moe. Natsuko runs a club in the Ginza, and thinks that Shio looks just like her mother. Record company executive Mr. Jinno thinks that it has been a long time since he’s met “such an upstanding mademoiselle” when he looks at Shio, but gives Moe the advice that if she wants to get to the top it “doesn’t matter what shameless tricks you have to play.” Moe makes a bunch of comments about about Shio’s privileged lifestyle, but Shio is bored with it all saying, “I’m not the type to gloat over other people’s jealously. Rather I find it unpleasant.”

When Shio gets home she abruptly finds out that her life is going to change when her father confesses to her that his company is bankrupt and he’s about to move to New Zealand to work on a friend’s sheep farm. Rather than cause a scene, Moe looks shocked, thinks a bit, tosses back a glass of champagne, and asks about her father’s plans. This was the moment where I decided I was on Team Shio for the rest of the manga! Shio has a little bit of money in savings which will allow her to get a job in Japan, but she’s going to have to go to work instead of continuing her music studies in college. Moe and Shio then meet again when they are both entered in the same singing competition. Moe wins due to some careful costume selection, acting ability, and her making a horrible reference to the death of Shio’s mother right before Shio goes onstage to sing her final song. Then after the competition there’s a DIVAFIGHT!

Ichijo’s art is clear and easy to follow, with a bit of an old-fashioned style. I wasn’t surprised to see that she’s been working in manga since the 1970s, with Pride originally coming out in Japan in the early 2000s. Pride seems a bit more josei than shojo, with both the girls out of school and facing difficulties as they enter adult life. Shio’s pride prevents her from asking anyone for help as she settles in to an apartment on her own. She goes out of her way to maintain a happy facade for her father so he will continue with his own plans to move away. Shio finds some unexpected support from Ran, a composer in the piano division at her school whose mother Natsuko wants Shio to work in her club. Shio ends up stumbling into an unlikely friendship with Ran and is relieved at the idea that she might actually have a job singing, even if she has to learn a repertoire of non-opera songs.

Pride Volume 2 by Yukari Ichijo

The slightly slimy Jinno ends up influencing the lives of both Moe and Natsuko. Moe’s relentless drive to exploit her one contact in the music industry has her working as Jinno’s maid, and later prostrating herself and asking for his help after a confrontation with her deranged mother. Moe’s behavior is a contrast to Shio’s inability to ask anyone for a favor. Jinno provides Moe with advice and music lessons, and Moe is determined to learn how to act like a more mature woman in order to attract him. She also gets a job at Natsuko’s club after demonstrating her ability to charm elderly men. By the end of the second volume a long-term rivalry between Shio and Moe is established, as Moe’s untrained and more expressive voice attracts Ran’s interest as the vehicle to express his original compositions. Jinno wants Shio to be his perfect society companion since she has no difficulty moving in music industry circles. Moe and Shio both have what the other most desperately wants, and it will be interesting to see if Shio is able to toughen up and become more streetwise in order to deal with her unscrupulous rival. While I have a clear favorite character to follow in this series in Shio, Moe’s background is filled in a bit and it is clear that she acts desperate because she comes from desperate circumstances. It’ll be interesting to see how everything plays out in future volumes.

My one criticism of the series is that with such a clear focus on the lives of the heroines, a chance to drop in some extra knowledge of opera and music got passed up. While it is true that sometimes I put down a volume of Swan with a feeling that I’d just read an encyclopedia article about the development of Russian Ballet, I enjoyed getting some random factoids to balance out the angst. I would have liked Pride even more if there were a few more details about vocal training or more background information about opera. There was plenty of drama packed into the first two volumes, and I am definitely on board with this series. As long as there’s a DIVAFIGHT every couple of issues I suspect that I will continue to be very entertained.

Electronic access provided by the publisher.