Heterodox Muse by Can't HUE

JLPT N4 done, hopefully for good. Time to relax... for a year.

Aaaand another dōjinshi I bought on the cover alone. Aside from a few MMOs I'm not really a gamer, and I'm violently allergic to bullet hell shooters in particular: therefore, I had no idea a game named Ikaruga existed, and the very Touhou-reminescent screenshots I found laying around pretty much seal the game as something I'm not going to be interested in. This dōjinshi, on the other hand...



Image courtesy of Toranoana, scanner is broken and
the cover is impossible to shoot with a smartphone.

Contents aside for the moment, I must admit it's one of the best covers I have seen in a long, long time. It really has that Lain-esque feeling I am a sucker for, combined with a glossy surface and shiny embossing that makes it impossible to capture, but a beauty to behold. It's a nice, full A4, B&W aside for the cover, and it came out in distant 2002 - almost 15 years ago! As one might expect, the circle that produced it, 'Can't HUE', is no longer around, and their website is long defunct. According to doujinshi.org all they manage to produce, Heterodox Muse aside, is a second Ikaruga themed work. Such a shame, because the work at hand really manages to combine high production values with one of those elusive qualities dōjin publications often seem to lack - a distinct style.

A distinct style but also an acquired taste, I should add. The tract, which almost seemed penciled but not inked, manages to be both chaotic and restrained at the same time, and it's really reminescent of Blame! era Tsutomu Nihei. It also displays the same strengths and weaknesses as its comparison: Can't HUE's visual style is beautifully gritty at its best, and an utterly incomprehensible jumble at its worst. Still, it's nice to see someone try their hand at something else than the ultra polished, Jump-influenced style that was already the norm in 2002, and seems to be the dominant pick today as well.

I should probably mention the story aspect (the text is mostly dialogue, and not terribly difficult even for an intermediate); but, truth is, there isn't much I can say, as I am thoroughly unfamiliar with the Ikaruga franchise. Without any knowledge of the characters' backstory, the narrative aspect pretty much boils down to 'hot pilot chick shares a bittersweet moment with wannabe Sephiroth'. Not that this is necessarily a flaw: as it often happens in the dōjin world, narration's weight is relatively insignificant compared to the visual aspect.

As it often happens, my blind purchases paid off this time as well. Moving on, I am feverishly waiting for the new Heikinritsu dōjinshi (it's coming out, he told me so himself), and for Sayu STUDIO's newer stuff to come down a bit in price. You might have to wait for a while before the next review, as it will tackle something new for me: a dōjinshi dedicated to a deceased circle member. Happy times...