Harlequin Ginger Blossom

Publisher
Dark Horse
Writer
Emma Darcy
Artist
Mihoko Hirose, Misao Hoshiai
Country of origin
Japan
Year
2001

Harlequin Ginger Blossom' Harlequin Violet : Blind Date

By David Rasmussen
18th Jun 06

Color me curious but have you ever heard of this line of romance mangas before?
You probably heard of the Harlequin line of romance novels, those pops of romantic fluff found on any grocery store’s magazine/book aisle. Published by Silhouette Books, the line has been around for the longest time and spawned quite a few made for TV movies of the week (just don’t expect me to start drawing titles out of the top of my head at a moment’s notice).
However while this might be one of the best known romance novel franchises out there, the appeal of the Harlequin line to manga romance readers have been, to date, not present. That is until somebody in Japan decided that Harlequin romance novels should make sweet passionate love to the manga genre, generating this unique visual interpretation of the books in that much beloved manga style in form of the Harlequin Ginger Blossom line, now being printed by Dark Horse.

Thanks to the people at Dark Horse I recently received (with their generous help) advance copies of two of these (slated for release June 9th, 2006), one from each age set. One of these, the one I’m reviewing here, is Harlequin Violet, a series geared and targeted for OT for Older Teen (16+) readers due to it‘s stronger mature/sexual content (but nothing overtly graphic mind you since this IS romance novels)! The other (the other review naturally) is Harlequin Pink, a series geared and targeted for T for Teen (12+) readers.

The first thing that leaps out at you with the whole line, be it the 12+ Pink line, or the 16+ Violet line, is the fact that somebody decided (probably as a marketing gimmick) the best way for readers to tell the two lines apart is to litterly theme them to their age related color schemes. In this case, for Harlequin Violet titles, the cover, and in fact the entire manga, is colored in what the book calls “hot violet ink”… really?
Yeah, once you flip open the book you’d think Radar from MASH ran rampant through the printing factory with his favorite grape drink, pouring it into the printing presses as he ran, because the entire book from tom to bottom (including the ads at the back) are done entirely in violet ink! It’s not a bad thing, and it’s not distracting, it’s just that it’s… well… it’s VIOLET! (Ditto with Harlequin Pink, which makes you think a nearby cotton candy factory expelled it’s content into the printing factory where this book was being published).

Now, as for the story, oh story of stories.
When a college woman known for her genius ends up outthinking herself by entering a contest she was hellbent on losing, she begins to find out that the prize she ended up with may be the hand she was dealt instead of the hand she dealt herself from the bottom of the deck.

Peggy was a pretty smart cookie in college. With looks, brains, and a bit of street smart wisdom she found that she could not be beat in whatever she set her mind to. So, when a TV show holds this contest called “Blind Date” (the purpose of which to award a blind date with this popular star as part of the promotional for the musical “Blind Date” of which he’ll be the star of) came up she eyed the consolation second prize of a stereo system and began to plot her way into getting in, and losing on purpose (oh, and getting a free tour of the studio while she was at it). She got picked for the contest, of course, but just getting into the top three for the big “Love Connection” mini event was not enough for not even Chuck Woolery could save her now from the events that were about to transpire.

She got in, yes, and despite the fact she did NOT get a tour of the studio she was still upbeat about losing. All she had to do, after all, was totally be completely “honest” (to the point of being brutally so) about her feelings and she would be so not picked… that is, of course, unless the star and focus of the “blind date” thing totally didn’t want to be there, and ends up picking her because he knew she didn’t want to be there either. Totally smart, right? So why is it the guest astrologist on the show is so certain they’ll synch?
Ends up they may indeed synch, if only they can get over stumbling blocks like mistrust, misconceptions, ill wills and human foibles that threaten to break them apart before they could realize how well they work together… happy ending coming, yes, but it’s the walk there that’s the important thing.

Ok. Before we go on let’s clear up something about why I am about to say a discouraging word.
For the past several weeks I’ve been singing the praises of VIZ’s Shojo line. Praising reads such as Aishiteruze Baby, Crimson Hero, the newly praised Full Moon O Sagashite, and Nana. I also have my eye on other Shojo titles, with possible future praise for Shojo Beat’s Kaze Hikaru (now that the title has changed it’s pace as of Shojo Beat V. 2, Issue #5 with Sei slowly entering her march to adulthood) and Tokyo Boys & Girls (to be reviewed at a future date).

Also, as you know if you read my past reviews, I’ve always been a fan of shojo and romance reads (that are done well) so I should have no problems with the Harlequin Ginger Blossom line, and in an essence I don’t… content wise. Yes, Harlequin Romance novels have never been my forte, and now to suddenly praise them now that they’re in manga format doesn’t seem my way to be certain, but once you check this out you’ll see that the visualizing of these stories with a manga touch breathes fresh life into the writings which will make them acceptable (and accessible) to both the die hard Harlequin Romance reader and the romance manga fan(atic). It is as if this manga will become a bridge, a bridge that brings these two seemingly incompatible factions together in a common cause (and a common love).

That is all true… except for a few glaring problems I have with the title.
And no, it has nothing to do with the dayglo pink or the strong violet inks used in the titles. While I am, yes, not one for pointless gimmicks (I don’t see the point of the color coding inkings other than as a trick gimmick), as far as gimmicks go it’s not a horrible one… in fact it kind of brings out the quirkiness of taking Harlequin romance novels and fusing them with manga stylings. That’s not my problem.
My problem also does not lie with the titles picked to date… but that I don’t need to because this assumption of my dislike of the title will only become apparent if you know me from a certain site I work for. Don’t worry, it’s nothing major so it’s not a worry here. No, my problem is the price!

Recently we’ve been seeing some affordable reads from TOKYOPOP. Kingdom Hearts, and the soon to be reviewed Kat & Mouse. Logging in at mostly 100 pages (with the recent Kingdom Hearts V. 3 logging in at 144 pages) the titles come in at a low price of $6 a pop ($4.50 if you order from Right Stuf International).
This cost saving manga gamble has, in turn, paid off well for TOKYOPOP, with Kingdom Hearts (which already enjoyed a nice fanbase) finding nice returns with sales being high because of the lower price tag (which in turn lured in more and more readers with the promise of a most affordable price tag of $6 ($4.50 Right Stuf International) to lure them in. Then there’s VIZ’s Shojo line which is also enjoying a fine turnabout on it’s $9 a pop mangas which also a nice price saving for your pocket. That being said, and you look at Dark Horse’s Harlequin Ginger Blossom line (coming in at 120-124 pages a pop), you have to wonder what the cost for this title would be. Would you believe… $10?
Yeah, apparently Dark Horse wants to lure in new readers by taking a manga with the basic page count of the $6 a pop by overcharging you at straight usual manga rates of $10 for it. Yeah, that’s “nice”.

Look, I might be the only one that understands this, but with competition from TOKYOPOP (bringing in good reads at roughly the same page count for $4 less), and VIZ (it’s Shojo manga line going at $9 a pop for roughly 66% more pages than this series) you think Dark Horse would price lower to keep it in competition, and yet they seem willing to price themselves right out of the market with an unreasonable price of $10 a pop.

This is a bad move. Let’s forget a moment that manga fans usually have an allergic reaction to thinking of reading Harlequin anything, and need to really have some incentive to become exposed to this series which will make most sense to them (I.e. a saving to their pocketbook). Do people really want to pick up a title with the page count of a $6 title (TOKYOPOP) and pay a $10 price tag for something that should be priced at between $6-$8? I don’t think so. The $10 price tag, more than anything, is going to be the albatross around the neck of this franchise which will weight it down until at such time the title becomes more reasonably priced (and lures in new readers with the lower prices).

Ok, let’s break this down.

Harlequin Ginger Blossom’ Breakdown
What’s Hot?
Believe it or not, this might be the cure for the common romance novel. Taking the inaccessible Harlequin line and merging it with manga breathes new life into it, and thus makes it more accessible to a wider audience. I don’t know if the die hard Harlequin novel fans will embrace this, but I do know there is no reason not to check this out and give it a fair handed chance in your romance manga line-up… almost.

Oh, yes, the mature content is modest in content. Nothing too graphic but again that’s the charm of the read because this is a romance title, after all, so it’s abit more mature than the Pink but still doesn’t overdo it (which is a praise-able thing in my opinion).

What’s Not?
The one stumbling block that might keep new readers away from this title is the price.
For mangas that come in at about 120 or so pages, which is about the same as TOKYOPOP’s low page count Kingdom Hearts mangas, how the hell can they justify charging you $10 a pop for a title that should only be about $6 to $8 a pop! This has to be more accessible, and the first thing to bringing in new readers is to bring down the price abit to accommodate the low page count.
If the manga came in at the page rate of your usual $10 manga then I wouldn’t complain about this, but this thin read is NOT $10 a pop! That’s not good or sound financial strategy there by my book.

Moments to Remember?
It’s got it’s moments, and that just shows how much life was sparked in the read once the visual imagination of the manga style livened up the writings. That should make it, yes, recommendable.

What to Ignore?
Uh… well, I said about the price so I don’t need to harp it over and over.

Overall?
Let’s get right to it. This franchise could take off as the perfect marriage of traditional romance novels and manga visualization, but as long as the price tag hampers it’s efforts to rise to the occasion this title will never achieve it’s full potential. The day the price tag dips down abit is the day we’ll see this title rise… but until then this title will be worth reading, if however you are only willing to drop $10 a pop for the read.
That’s the question. Are you willing to pop $10 a pop for a $6-$8 read? That’s up to you.

-- David Rasmussen 18th Jun 06