YAOI REVIEW: Loud Snow ~ Tina Anderson
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Loud Snow
Tina Anderson (writer) & Amelie Belcher (artist)
Self-Published Print & Digital ~ 140 Pages
Quick Synopsis:
“Romantic ice-age hilarity ensues as young whaler Anituk's miserable life with doting parents and an oversexed wife-hunting brother is rudely interrupted by the arrival of Abalu, a tall handsome stranger who delights in encroaching upon Anituk's angst.”
Plot:
Wow… what an original plot! Loud Snow takes place on the Eastern coast of North America in 17,000 B.C., better know as the Ice Age. The story focuses on one family in general with a mother, father and two brothers, Anituk and his older brother Nifu. The family lives farther north than other tribes and women are scarce. Nifu has now reached the age where he must look for a wife and our young Anituk doesn’t understand why he wants to replace their mother. It becomes pretty clear our little Anituk isn’t really into chicks.
Along comes stranger Abalu who’s tall with flowing long hair and an adorable smile. It’s not long before he takes a liking to Anituk and this is where ‘hilarity ensues’. I can’t tell you how many times I laughed out loud while reading this, especially when Abalu introduces himself to Anituk’s nether regions or when he keeps drop kicking the penguins. Tina’s sense of humor is nicely paired with Amelie’s facial expressions and the two together make for a funny read. Another thing I liked about this plot is the twist at the end. It’s not something you see coming and the initial reaction is WTF?!?!, but just hold your horses and don’t go off the deep end like I nearly did. That’s all I’ll say.
Loud Snow is quite a departure from Tina’s usual fare, which she admits in her own story notes within. I was quite surprised reading it yet at the same time I can see her throughout the story. When I got to the end I literally said (in my mind) “Awww!”. I’m not usually one for cute and adorable stories but dammit, I liked this one.
Character Development:
Anituk is approximately 16-years-old and full of angst. He’s got every excuse in the book to not want to kill the animals they hunt but the reality is, he’s just a softy. This leads to a lot of tension between he and his older brother but I think it’s just more Anituk being a moody teenager trying to find his place in the family. It’s clear he doesn’t really get he’s gay but he does know he’s not into girls. I think it takes meeting Abalu for him to start figuring out what the thoughts and feelings he has really mean.
Abalu is a bit of a mystery to us. He shows up in the story asking for a place to stay until his family comes to get him. He is welcomed in but Nifu has doubts about the handsome stranger. Abalu seems to always be smiling and has a very gentle nature. He’s a good balance to angsty Anituk and it isn’t long before Anituk starts to realize maybe Abalu isn’t as annoying as he thinks.
Illustrations:
From what I know, this is Amelie’s first fully illustrated book and she does a pretty good job considering. Each character is different from the other and their expressions really convey their individual personalities. I think she does a great job expressing what Tina was looking for and writing about. The illustrations themselves are good and the anatomy is done well overall.
If I have a beef about the illustrations, and I do, it would be with the first high-action scene involving a shark attack (pages 2 and 3 mostly). It was very confusing my first read through and I even went back to read through a second time. It took my third read to really figure out what was going on and honestly, I put it down after the second because it pulled me out of the story. I was just too confused to want to read any further. Had I known how much I would like the story, I would have just continued on but I didn’t want to chance this was going to be the entire way through so I stopped. Luckily a reviewer friend had already read it and told me it was worth continuing through so now I’m telling you. Once you get past the 3rd or 4th page, you’ll see it clears up.
Sexual Content:
There’s only one sex scene in Loud Snow and it isn’t really explicit as far as showing the goods but honestly, I still liked it. There was something about it that seemed a bit more like how sex between these two would really happen. There were no self-lubing ukes screaming for more even though it’s their first time or even a set seme/uke role. It was just… real. Even with all it’s sweet moments it’s still sexy.
Readability:
As far as speech bubbles go, I didn’t really have a problem. I felt the story was very readable, although it took a few pages of reading before I got used to the use of words instead of sound effects to describe what was happening. I also felt the use of words to describe facial expressions or actions wasn’t really necessary as these are things I can see for myself.
Overall:
Loud Snow is a sweet story with an original plot that will make you laugh throughout. The plot twist will break your heart, but the story’s ending will make it burst!
Plot: A
Character Development: A-
Illustrations: A-
Sexual Content: B+
Readability: A-
Overall Grade: A-
11 Comments
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This was so far removed from the other Tina Anderson stories I’ve read, I wouldn’t have known it was her without looking at the author name.
Not sure it’s that funny either – a little too dark for comedy. I just read it on emanga yesterday, and can’t decide yet if I like it! *rolls eyes at self*
BTW, I know you’ve linked via the “Buy Now!” to a website that has purchase info. But are you also allowed to post explicitly that emanga.com is hosting this title? And that the first few pages are free to sample?
[Reply to this comment]
Jennifer LeBlanc AKA Asami's Girl Reply:
October 17th, 2010 at 7:52 PM
You thought Loud Snow was dark? Really? Huh… don’t see it.
I linked to her site as it shows all options for purchase and eManga is the top link. There is also a free sample option through KINDLE on Amazon, and those can be read on KINDLE for PC if one does not have a KINDLE.
[Reply to this comment]
yblees Reply:
October 17th, 2010 at 9:30 PM
erm, not sure where the spoiler tags are so I’ll just say it:
*deleted*
[Reply to this comment]
Jennifer LeBlanc AKA Asami's Girl Reply:
October 17th, 2010 at 9:58 PM
That’s not dark for Tina though! XD
[Reply to this comment]
yblees Reply:
October 17th, 2010 at 10:29 PM
*LOL* No, not for Tina.
But I don’t know why the synopsis says “hilarious”. That’s kinda misleading.
Some of it is giggle-cute, but I still say it’s not comedy by a long shot.
Oh, and emanga is WAYYY better for reading comics and the PC-Kindle. There’s no zoom function on the PC-Kindle which is an utter pain.
[Reply to this comment]
Jennifer LeBlanc AKA Asami's Girl Reply:
October 17th, 2010 at 10:37 PM
Dude… I laughed A LOT reading it. Maybe Tina’s sense of humor and mine are just similar. Seriously, I was laughing out loud at some parts.
I find if I go full screen on PC KINDLE that usually works for me an I have the ‘old eyes’ too. I tried reading something on eManga once before and I wasn’t a fan. It’s probably just a matter of choice for each person. I really don’t like having to zoom in and out when I read. I just want to be able to read it at full size and just click through the pages.
[Reply to this comment]
yblees Reply:
October 17th, 2010 at 11:57 PM
Hmm, Games With Me Vol.1
On full screen, page measures 6″ by 4″ (smallish)
Purchased in June 2010. Has the PC Kindle software been upgraded since?
Will go check.
[Reply to this comment]
Sorry to double post. I can’t tell what version of PC-Kindle is out now, so I’ll have to download it to check.
I tried downloading another sample manga – the “Pet In Love” oneshot by Nase Yamato. On Full-Screen the page is apprx 5″ x 6.5″ (again, smallish)
With emanga – there is a “Fit to Page” option so the page is stretched to fill your computer screen top to bottom. No need to zoom in and out. Also, there is a view 2 pages option. With Loud Snow, graphics were blurred at max zoom, but readable using the “fit to page” zoom.
… The “Games with Me” sample is not working on emanga so I can’t tell what it looks like *facepalm*
Is disgusted with both and gives up for the night….
[Reply to this comment]
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