Sunday, April 8, 2007

Translucent Silver Hair (Page 5)

//Panel 1 //
Charles:
…Love surely hides deep within the growing bosom of a young girl…
And calls out to me…sweeter than any breeze, or lyric…
//Panel 4//
Charles:
When did you come here? …This house has been vacant for ages.
//Panel 5//
Marybel:
The day before. My name is Marybel.
//Panel 6//
Charles:
I’m Charles. I’m fourteen.
//Panel 7//
Marybel:
Hmmm. The same age as my brother Edgar.

Look at Panel 1. A hero or heroine surrounded by flowers is a cliche in shojo manga, but here it is in context. Charles' eyes are superimposed to indicate that this is the view seen from his viewpoint. Shojo manga also feature large, intricate eyes. Panel 3 is made up of two sets of eyes to show their eye contact -- the composition is in reverse of Panel 1, and you can see that it represents Marybel's viewpoint. These are visual techniques that emulate cinematic effects - the close-up of eyes dissolves into a long shot of a person (Panel 1), then cuts to the close-up of the face (reaction shot), which then cut backs to Charles' face.

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