Yama Wayama has had a very fulfilling last few years. The author bursted on the manga scene with an art style that's original, paired with stories of everyday people connected by their choices in life. Captivated, By You is Wayama's one shot collection that helped put the spotlight on the newcomer in Japan.... I think a drama/film was made based on this manga too.
A couple of short stories about high school life and students who must live through everyday while finding life's meaning in simple occurrences..
Captivated by You is a collection of short stories that starts off very very rocky... at least in my opinion. I'm pretty sure that many people will pick up this collection thinking that this manga is Boy's Love or Yaoi. Let's make one thing clear right now, Yama creates stories that could cross the line over into BL territory but the overall message isn't about sexuality. Anyways, I wasn't sure how to feel about Captivated after reading the first two stories, so good thing the stories get better over time. I quite enjoyed the characters and how they were a disturbance to school society without meaning to be. At first, readers will think that these stories have no point as well as direction however, the connection lies in the same characters that make constant appearances in multiple stories toward the end of the book. My favorite stories were Run Yamada! and the multiple part story about the cursed student that everyone avoided in fear of being cursed themselves. Theses stories are downright comedic yet tell in detail the deepening of an odd friendship containing two very different people. There's also a ton of jokes that you won't get unless you know a lot about Japanese pop culture. For example, One character was barely answering another character in a part of the story and the character asking the question thinks to himself, " What is he trying to be like Erika Sawajiri?". A lot of English speakers won't know who she is but the joke is in reference to a Japanese actress, singer, and model who at the press conference for her newest drama was so angry that she barely answered reporters's questions. She didn't want to do that drama at the time but her agency made her causing her bad attitude. Erika was extremely popular in the early 2000s for her looks and acting ability. She known most for her starring role in the 2005 J-drama 1 Litre of Tears. Also, the Junji Ito joke that everyone should have laughed at if you're a fan of his work. Horror it'sself is actually a big spoof for the last stories because a lot of influence comes from other manga horror stories. The rumored cursed student was a play off the classic long winded shojo manga " Kimi ni todoke: from me to you"where the main female lead is supposed to look like girl who comes out the well in the Ring films so, the students avoid her. All of these shady jokes did my soul some good.... Yama even threw the J-pop idol company Johnny's Associates in there for good measure. The translators really should have had a reference page at the back of the book like they used to back in the day. If you were looking for sexually explicit Yaoi, you may call this manga boring or intellectual. What probably happened was you missed what Captivated, By You was trying to convey which is that there's a place for everyone in this world, including a place for those society might call odd.
Yama's artwork is more on the sketch side of things to me. The sharpness in the strokes of the pen gives character's a mature adult feel as students. Some other people claim that the manga looks like a horror manga without the horror.... I don't see that at all. Is it mature? Yes. Is it head first into the dark horrors of your mind Junji Ito style? HELL NAW! I'm trying to see the comparison.... Could be the use of the pen strokes that they both use. Ito is still on another level though. I'm sure Yama would agree.
Captivated, By You is a manga that you might have to read more than once to get value out of the pages. I loved certain stories more than others. Not everyone will get what I got out of my read though.
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