 Hey everybody, welcome back to another exciting episode of A Week in Geekdom. Today, we're doing an overview slash review, a different sort of video on this manga. It is Hotel Harbor View. This is, as you can see here, one of the old Viz Spectrum editions, the stories by Natsuo Sekikawa, and of course the art is by the talented Jiro Taniguchi. So, let's get on to it. Before we get started, let me remind you once again to hit that like button, subscribe if you haven't, follow me on social media, all that fun stuff. Let's see if we can go to 3K on this channel, A Week in Geekdom, talking about anime, comics, and manga. So, what the heck is Hotel Harbor View all about? Well, first and foremost, I have to give a massive shout out to my buddy Chase for making this video possible. He gifted me this copy, of course, wanting me to read it and make a video for this channel. So, like I mentioned earlier, story and art, and this is the Viz Spectrum edition. And if we look inside over here, some really thick paper, and you can't really see it that well, but this is the first printing from October 1990. And the story was published in 1990 as well over in Japan. Thought maybe it could have been from 89 or something like that, but no, same year. So, what is this story about? Hotel Harbor View is essentially the first story in this two episode series, or graphic novel, if you will. This is a deeply rooted manga in noir detective mystery storylines. You only have two stories, one being longer than the other, as you can see here. And this only clocks in at barely 70 pages, so it's a fairly quick read. The art, I would say, is the biggest selling point and biggest draw to something like this. So, if maybe you're not a fan of crime or film noir or gritty detective stories and that type of ambiance or style, maybe the book isn't for you. When violence does occur, it is graphic. And there is nudity in this and sexual content, but it is all done for the plot of the book. Not fan service, like modern manga. There's a purpose to the sexuality and the nudity behind this story. So, in the first story of Hotel Harbor View, we are following several characters, but it is mostly this young lady over here, which we're going to mention in a little bit. As you can see some of the artwork there, looking freaking phenomenal, might I add. The line work and just the attention to detail to the characters, the Bangaka just knocked it out of the park, in my opinion. The cityscapes and the lights, it just oozes personality and it makes you feel like you're there. In the case of the first story in Hong Kong, in the late 80s, early 90s, looking freaking phenomenal. I mean, just look at that scenery. Look at that panel display. This is a masterful artwork, in my opinion. And we are following this guy over here, which you saw at the cover of the book. And he is down on his luck. You don't really understand what's happening to the character. He's sort of waiting for something to happen. And it's fairly quickly where we find out that he is sort of waiting for this young woman here, little rendezvous action. Now, don't worry, I censored all of this so you cannot see what the heck I'm pointing at, but just know there is a lot of nudity going on at display here. We soon find out that they all have previous paths that are only alluded to and it doesn't really move the story along because that's not really the goal of the series of this graphic novel. It's more about the moment in time, this sort of a capsule of these characters and what they're going through. And in the case of our character here, he is sort of looking for that specific action or demise, if you will, without spoiling things. And yeah, it's more about the characters, the situation, the moment that they're in that really makes the story what it is. Now, without spoiling anything, this is actually one of my favorite pages. You can see all these radical speed lines and just a really fluid dynamic artwork that just... I mean, you don't need dialogue to understand what's happening and it just flows quickly as you glance through the pages. That's the craftsmanship of an expert storyteller. And of course the two creators here just knocked it out of the park. Usage of shadows, highlighting all the different details on these characters, just phenomenal work throughout, in my opinion. Now, in the second story, Brief Encounter, Parts 1 and 2, you're probably wondering, this guy isn't the main character at all. You're probably right. This is the story of this young lady here who is an assassin and she is filling out different missions. And we just happened to come across two different cases in her life and the impact that her relationship with the target has had or is having in her life. Now, in the second story, we have this gentleman over here who is the next target, if you will, a former mentor to our female assassin. And we're not really given a specific reason behind the hits. We just know that this is the job that they're fulfilling and we interpret the emotions that these characters are feeling through such a horrendous occupation, being an assassin, taking somebody's life and the power and the effect that that can have on the person. Now, obviously, themes of love, sex and the era in which this is set in really do affect the mood of the storyline in a very interesting way. Now, I could leave it up to you if you've read it. I have to be completely honest. At first, I thought, man, this was a really quick read. I have to go over it again to see where the meat of the story is, the substance. Because, yeah, most of these panels that you're looking at here, they flow pretty quickly and there's not a whole lot of dialogue going on. The art is fantastic. It's wonderful. I absolutely loved it, but the story itself is lacking a little bit. But again, it took me a while to realize it's not really about the story, more about the emotions. And of course, you could go into psychoanalytical mode here and talk about the effects of love, death, sex, all that stuff, and how it affects the human condition. And yeah, it could go on and on and on like that. Now, I don't know if a graphic novel or manga like this could sell well in today's market when it's so dominated by cape and cowls and shonen jump and material like that, but it does have its audience and this is a phenomenal sort of noir manga, if you will. Now, at the back of the book, there is a wonderful essay on... Well, let me highlight this. I'm not really spoiling anything by showing you this. It's just a fantastic pinup and the detail at work here. This is some high-level stuff, man. And over here at the end, you get a really nice essay on the themes by Fred Burke talking about death checks into the hotel harbor view, talking about, you know, all that stuff that I mentioned, affairs, death, sex, violence, killings, gunshot wounds, all that stuff and how it relates to each other and forms a narrative for this book. And yeah, so overall, those are my thoughts on hotel harbor view, quick little overview. Hopefully you've piqued your interest. I don't know if this is readily available. My hunch is not really, but it shouldn't be too expensive to acquire. I think, again, if you like that sort of detective noir style storytelling, you're really going to enjoy hotel harbor view, especially for that artwork. Guys, thank you so much for liking, commenting, subscribing and being a part of a week in geekdom. Have you checked out hotel harbor view? Let me know in the comment section down below what you thought of it. And if you haven't, what are some of your favorite detective or noir style comics or manga that you think I should check out? Thank you everybody for watching. God bless. Stay safe out there. I will catch all of you. On our next video.