We have a new chapter available in the graphic noiz manga.
Read for free: graphic noiz manga chapter 2
Catch up: graphic noiz manga chapter 1
Thanks to the miracle of webcomic hosting I can share with you the next chapter of the graphic noiz manga. Read for free as we continue the story. In this chapter Shiro confronts his older sister Julia who is trying to arrange a marriage for him and Shiro is having none of it. The drama picks up as we get deeper into the emotional tension between the Japanese siblings and delve into the family dynamic.
So tell me why the family dynamic is important in graphic noiz?
graphic noiz is a yaoi story which focuses on Shiro Ijima the bestselling author and Noiz the amateur manga artist partnering to create the Fissure manga. You would think the high powered author whose words sway tons of readers would be in complete control of his life and surroundings. Shiro is Japanese which was a dynamic that I wanted to explore in the series. His family moved to American when he was about 16 so he learned both cultures. Having been a young manga artist at 16, it was not until he came to America that some of that “family” loyalty was lost. Shiro is a high powered author who in books in the novella series can even call up a gallery and get them to do an art show just because he wants them to. He also gets into clubs, has a lavish apartment and finds his way in high society. I would not so much say he is a jet setter but he is able to shower his women fans who he dates with a lavish outing before he dumps them cruelly, something he might not have done if he stayed in Japan. This dichotomy of cultures has helped to make Shiro into who he is but the underlying “Japanese” sentiment and the importance of respecting your parents and elders like his mentor Katsuhiro who was around him when he was a teenager would have been ingrained in him. The mentor would be someone he looked up to even if the person was being cruel to him.
Julia who is Shiro’s older sister is trying to arrange a marriage for him which is a central plot point in the manga and in book 2 of the novella series. She is basically trying to control Shiro’s life and has picked out a match for him with approval from their father who we saw come to America in book 1 and then return to Japan. The fact that all the Ijima children are in America for the story shows that there is a little bit of rebellion going on. Shiro wants really nothing to do with his background and has pretty much left Japan behind with its salaryman and loyalty to work mentality, praise for children, having a wife and not bucking the system. Shiro has taken in the independence of American culture and embraced it as his own discarding his heritage.
What about Noiz’ family? Noiz is a different story. Noiz lost his parents when he was a teenager to a car accident. He was raised by his aunt for his last high school years and left school early to go to art school wanting to be free of her. His mother was Japanese who discarded her culture when she was brought to American after marrying a Native American military man. Noiz’ mother basically did not teach him much about his culture. He remarks on how he never learned to use hashi correctly. He grew up being American. We will see later on in the series some of the Native American cultural aspects for Noiz but for now in the series this takes a back seat. Noiz is pretty much on his own only calling on his aunt to help pay his rent when he comes up short otherwise he handles it. This contrast of needing money and just starting out as an artist versus Shiro who is well established was a dichotomy I wanted to explore.
Reviews of graphic noiz book 1 all touch on the family dynamic and call it “revealing” and “fascinating” as well as “strong” and “promising.” This is important to the story once Shiro comes in contact with events from his past. This family that he wants to have no part in will become even more important as the crazy picks up and Shiro is once again tested like he was when he was 19 and under the influence of his Japanese mentor Katsuhiro.
Why do you classify graphic noiz as yaoi and not romance?
Well because this is not happily ever after and this is not a relationship story. I wrote a blog post about the fact that I would never write a romance. Boy’s love and yaoi are as close to romance as I am going to come. Shiro and Noiz are not actually in a “relationship.” They dance around each other in the first few books and there is lust between them but neither one of them, Shiro especially, who doesn’t even want to admit he is bisexual will look at Noiz as more a plaything and someone to possess than be an equal in a relationship with. In book 3 we see Noiz take care of Shiro where in book 1 Shiro was in control of their entire interaction. The dynamic changes as we get farther into the story and the character elements change around the two of them.
The yaoi part of the story is teasing. Even in the chapter opening art below, we see that there are definitely feelings there but not until book 3 do we actually see either of the characters really express what they feel.
I don’t classify graphic noiz as romance because the central theme of the story is making manga not being together or dating. Noiz is gay in the story but Shiro dates women and it is only Jade, Shiro’s little sister that actually lets Noiz know that Shiro has feelings for him. Shiro initially in book 1 is just playing a game and stringing Noiz along while flirting with him something he also does with his women fans. In book 2 we learn that Shiro’s feelings are actually more serious. By book 3 the dynamic changes and this change will influence later books in the series. With the two characters tested, their ties are going to have to weather some difficult feelings and we will see if their touchpoints are strong enough to keep the two of them dancing around each other for the remainder of the story.
What about sex in graphic noiz, how will it be portrayed?
As of the manga book 1, there is a scene where Shiro and Noiz are together in bed. I won’t give away the scene but it is both heartwarming, at least I think and suggestive at the same time. In some yaoi there is the need to blank out body parts. In graphic noiz the sex happens behind the scenes and is teased mainly so there will not be the need for that in the actual images.
This is a YA yaoi manga and I wanted to keep the heat level within those parameters so that I could keep a young adult audience. That was very important to me to maintain that YA rating. The lust part of the story is important to the way the characters interact but I did not want that to so much be the theme of the entire book. The sex is behind closed doors.
Doesn’t that make graphic noiz boy’s love and not yaoi?
I have seen yaoi done to different levels. Some are just teasing, while others are all out explicit and some can be violent. We get into some of that violence when we get to the manga book 2 and the novella book 3 which is due out next week and then into book 4 which has yet to be written.
Some would say that graphic noiz is boy’s love because the heat is behind closed doors. I leave that up to the reader to decide how much heat they want to allocate when they read the story. I am not into gratuitous sex and that is another reason that I categorize it as yaoi and not romance.
Where can I find out more about graphic noiz?
The graphic noiz books are available in the Kindle Store on Amazon and paperbacks are available for book 2 and soon book 3. Also graphic noiz information is available at QueeromanceInk just check out the yaoi category for the books and the manga.
More graphic noiz is coming as we start work on the graphic noiz manga book 2 this coming week.