The ViviSection

Doujinshi commentary: Shining Place

Circle:    Rever    Shining Place: Front Cover
Type:   Shounen ai, gags & serious story. 38 pages.
Date:   2000/12/29

Let me get this out of the way right off: this is a shounen ai book. That translates as boys' love. I've seen this billed as a yaoi doujinshi, and since definitions of yaoi vary widely, I can't say that, for some, it isn't. However, anyone who buys this expecting smut is going to be disappointed - the closest it gets is a single, very non-steamy kiss. Nothing I'd warn my kid sister from reading.

Now that that's out of the way - this is a big (A4 - 8.25x11.75), lovely book. The artwork is just beautiful. I don't know if the artist, Yuuri Kimura, is a professional, but if not, it's a shame. The characters' expressions are wonderfully drawn, and it features the all-time cutest human-style Vivi, period.

The main story is a bit of hurt-comfort drama. In Treno Eiko rips Vivi a new one for some reason, and Zidane stops her, but not after hurting Vivi's feelings badly. He goes to his old home (Quan's cave) and sits alone on the ledge. Vivi joins him. They talk, Vivi cries and gets it out of his system, and Zidane comforts him. There are also a few pages of very cartoonishly drawn gags in which Zidane, a jealous friend, competes with Mr. 288 for Vivi's attention.

I have only one complaint with this book - why, if the artwork is so good, does the lettering have to be so sloppy? Some of the kanji is just indecipherable.

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