Same Face Syndrome

I would say 99.999% of manga suffer from Same Face Syndrome. It's an epidemic that will never be rectified because artists are lazy. But it's not their fault. Why draw something that most readers won't give a crap about? With the world so ADD nowadays, readers take what, ten, fifteen seconds to look at a page? It's less time consuming to swap your characters' hair like wigs.

"You guys, I'm having a bit of an identity crisis here. Can somebody draw themselves a mustache?"

What amazes me is everything else is fine. Beautiful even. The backgrounds are detailed down to every shaded window, the animals are drawn to near perfect anatomy, and if the elderly aren't regular faces with a line underneath each eye, they've got all the wrinkles and sagging skin. So the artist is capable of drawing diverse faces other than different combinations of eyes and eyebrows. What boggles my mind is when the artist chooses to make their main cast practically the same. Who cares about background characters and throwaway characters, but the main cast?

I have to read some manga with the same concentration I use with those Where's Waldo books. Just so I won't be thrown off when all of a sudden the character I'm following is being called by another name. Is it a nickname? Or a totally different character? I suspect this is the reason why most authors have one light haired guy and one dark haired guy as their main characters. Not because it's a nice contrast but so people won't be confused.

But I've got to hand it to artists, they come up with the craziest, most distinguishable hairstyles. Sure, limit the characters' face shape and body type, but hair? Time to pull out your crayons and feed your inner child. The limit does not exist!

"Yusei, stop trying to make motorcycles happen, it's not going to happen!" -Mean Girls Boys

One of my favorite series, The Tarot Cafe, involves a string of side stories in addition to the main plot, thus making hair style variations indispensable. Some of the stories can literally be ripped out of the book, and you wouldn't miss anything important. You might think, "Can't believe they charged me this much for a book with fifty blank pages." Which I will respond, "No, it's a good thing someone ripped those pages out. Now you wouldn't have to flip through them."

But I understand why there's so many side stories. The main character, Pamela, needs to collect the beads for a special necklace so she can fulfill a wish. In exchange for one bead, she will listen to a random character's story and tell them their fortune. That's about it. She doesn't get involved with their story at all or at least outside playing therapist. A lot of those extra characters end up dying or turn out to be ghosts. From what I remember, their stories don't even impact her life. Not unless the characters are part of the main plot, which doesn't come until the second volume.

Some of the side stories are cute though, others made me want to smack a ho, but overall they are pleasant (just a forewarning to shoujo lovers, there are quite a number of BL stories). I absolutely adore the art. I can't get enough of all the gorgeous detail. I don't mind how feminine the men are either. In fact one of them reminds me of a certain goblin king.

"Slap that baby, make him free!" "Oh god, Master. You punched me in the forehead!"

Anyway, the manhwa is comprised of seven volumes. I'm only going to summarize the first two volumes because I really recommend the series.

Volume 1 (filled with four short stories and Pamela and Belus appear every now and then)

• Magical cat and mobster's daughter (this one made me want hurl cookies at the girl because the cat dies to save her lover)
• Vampire and human (she gets reincarnated and he still fucks it up by killing her sister...again)
• Fairy helping a human girl get a boyfriend so she can lift her own curse and marry her fiance
• Alchemist tries to woo a princess by creating a male jester doll to make her smile; the princess turns out to be a sadist who gets off by whipping the poor jester

Volume 2 is where the main plot gets rolling. There's a continuation of the alchemist story where karma strikes the princess via acid in the face, and then a werewolf randomly comes into the cafe.

But he's a paying customer!

Belus quickly grabs the werewolf by the throat, intending to kill him, but Pamela tells him to stop. Werewolf collapses against the wall and transforms into a young boy. When the boy regains consciousness, they find out his name is Aaron and his entire sad past story. Apparently, his alcoholic father beat him almost every day until he was sixteen when a random stranger came up to his father and said, "Hey give me your son, and I'll give you enough money for a lifetime of booze." And like most abusive, fucked up parents, he agrees. "Okay. I'll just leave him in forest."

While exploring what he supposed was his new home, Aaron discovers a bunch of naked women dancing around a bonfire, and one of them goes up to Aaron--before she transforms into a werewolf to bite his head off. Then out of nowhere, Jareth's illegitimate son the stranger takes action and uses his sex appeal to calm the blood-thirsty beasts because he's their master.

He introduces himself as Nebiros and takes Aaron to his castle. There, he expresses his loneliness and claims he's cursed because he disobeyed God. But now that Aaron's here, he has a companion. He'll give Aaron anything he wants as long as he doesn't leave the castle without his permission (because imprisoning the person you love in one place and throwing material possessions at them will prevent them from leaving you). And there's a montage of Aaron and Nebiros having good times where Nebiros even spoils the crap out of Aaron with designer shoes.

Eventually, Aaron begins feeling trapped and insists on seeing his douchebag father. 
Nebiros: Hm...no. So I'm going away for a couple of weeks. Don't leave the castle. 'kay bye!

And Aaron is surprisingly obedient until a girl comes along, claiming she lives in a village nearby. I don't get how he isn't suspicious that she made it through the woods safely, but I suppose being in a castle and not having talking furniture and silverware would make one desperate for company. She visits Aaron every day to get past his defenses, and Aaron realizes despite the homoromantic montage, he's still a boy who likes girls. The day before Nebiros is scheduled to return, the girl suggests they run away together.

Aaron: But Nebiros said not to.
Girl: Pfft, eff him. He don't own you. You wanna die in here? Hm?
Aaron: Okay, let's do this. *cue Mission Impossible theme song*

They head deep in the forest before the girl does a hulk transformation with the most troll expression on her face.

And this is the moment when Aaron decided he didn't like women anymore.

Aaron gets bitten and is almost eaten alive when Nebiros conveniently finds him and saves him yet again because he decided to come home early. And he's pissed.

Nebiros: You were gonna leave me! I gave you everything. Come on! I mean, all I asked was for you to stay trapped inside the castle until you died where I will love your bones to eternity. Gosh, this really upsets me. I thought you could melt my ice cold heart, but God was laughing at me this whole time! You win, God. Aaron, GTFO. I don't want you anymore. Btw, you're cursed now. So good luck with that.

"And don't you even think about holding a boombox outside my window. It's not going to work."

Nebiros's castle disappears and Aaron finds out his father died shortly after he came to the castle. And every full moon, Aaron transforms into a werewolf and kills a bunch of people. With one tear streaking down his face, he ends his tale and says, "Someone suggested you can help me undo the curse and find Nebiros."

And Pamela shrugs her shoulders. "Why don't I give you a job at my cafe instead? I have a lot of special customers. One of them could help you. And you can sleep here to if you have nowhere else to go."

Aaron has this expression like she just showed him a delightful card trick. "Are you serious? Would that really be okay?"

Belus: Pamela, but--he's a werewolf! Did someone kick your common sense into a gutter?
Pamela: My word is law! Aaron, you've been promoted to main character. Go ahead and settle down at the cafe. I'll buy you whatever you need. You're part of the family now.

Aaron starts crying tears of happiness and pulls out a bead as if he were saying, "Here you go, you generous woman! One bead! You deserve it!" The scene shifts to Belus at Nebiros's castle where Belus is all smiles like "Girl, why you playin' around."

Nebiros: Get out.

When I read the next chapter, I thought, "You've got to be shitting me."

It opens with Pamela contemplating on life, "There was a time when I didn't get a customer for 78 years. And I was a regular cafe owner." Wait what? She says it so casually. And before I could even ponder how old she is (like dang, that's some nice skin, wonder what kinds of anti-aging products she uses), some guy collapses outside the cafe. He asks to hide at her cafe, but Pamela's in La-la-land because he looks exactly like her dead lover.

Yeah, Aaron, and now he's getting up so he's a zombie too.

Don't worry about the parent thing--he also had a thing for housing random orphans too.

After Pamela agrees to hide him from some shady men, he explains that for months a religious group dressed up as a biker gang has been following him, and despite reporting them to the police, they won't leave him alone. She tells him his fortune, he leaves, and she gets up and tells Aaron, "Well I'm gonna get some hot chocolate." The scene cuts to after Pamela's walking home with groceries. The guy she just helped is being chased again by the creepy biker dude. Pretty boy runs through the crowd and goes into what I assume is an alley filled with boxes.

Man, he either has a thick skull or she hit him with a crowbar made of styrofoam.

Holy Reincarnation, Batman!

Yes, not only does he look like her dead lover, he also has the same name. I think this is the first Shoujo I've ever read where the girl meets a potential love interest after rescuing him from a rapist. Usually it's the guy doing the rescuing if not raping the girl himself.

Next scene shows young Pamela in the Scottish Highlands, Year: 1232. Young Pamela's crying saying that they're going to take away Mrs. Rawling, a woman who is sick. Pamela's mother hushes her while a man gives them a suspicious look.

Pamela's mother turns out to be a healer who's also a fortune teller. One night, her mom's reading her daughter's fortune, worrying about her daughter's future, when she hears the devil say that he'll give her the power to protect and save her daughter if she makes a contract with him. Pamela's mother being a smart woman who doesn't make shady contracts with devils, essentially flips him the bird. Until he tells her daughter's going to be burned at the stake in less than a year.

Cut to Pamela begging her mother to stay home because the mother and child she's going to try to save die anyway. Her mom still goes and when it does happen, the distraught husband blames her for their deaths and accuses her of being a witch who sold his wife and child to the devil. The villagers also want to burn Pamela because she predicted Mrs. Rawling's death. But the mom begs the priest who's about to set her on fire to spare Pamela. Priest agrees to take Pamela to the monastery then kills her mom. Dude later abandons Pamela in the woods, and she gets cornered by some wolves. And of course Ash comes to save the day and uses his cool poses to scare them away.

"Actually, I was here the whole time. This is how I watch the Discovery Channel."

 Pamela finishes her reminiscing and states, "Could it possibly be him? It's been more than 700 years." (Wow, so she's supposed to coughing up dust when she talks.) She offers modern day Ash to stay at her house because it will be safer.

Of course not. Hide yo' kids, hide yo' wife, 'cause Ku Klux Klan be snatchin' everybody.

Aaron hides behind a couch, and Pamela and Ash are taken to a church where their kidnappers introduce themselves as the "Albigensian Crusaders" who have hunted witches and heretics for the past 700 years. One of the men removes his hood to reveal that he's the rapist from earlier. He claims Ash is a "wanton witch who used charm and beauty to seduce and corrupt innocent people". Yeah, like Ash didn't wish he had a cheese grater chastity belt when the dude had him pinned down.

They assume Pamela is Ash's companion and also condemn her because they found her tarot cards. Then they begin a trial. The leader asks them if they believe in magicians.

Ash: No.
Leader: AHA! Since you don't believe in magicians, you deny the existence of devils therefore you deny the existence of God! You are a witch!
Ash: But--that doesn't make any sense!
Leader: You, girl! Do you believe in magicians?
Pamela: So what if I do?
Leader: Witch! Witch!

Convinced Pamela's a witch, they then try getting Ash to confess he's also a witch by torturing him.

The most creative villains I've ever seen: Biker Gang Ku Klux Klan Christians.

Mr. Rapist offers to stop this crazy shit if Ash lets him have his way. Ash yells, "I'd rather die." Rapist slaps Ash and proceeds to torture him some more to a point where he faints. Pamela's screaming for them to stop--and she has another flashback!

No way! Ash was a dragon?

Pamela body slams the guy holding her back and runs towards Mr. Rapist. But he sees it coming. He grabs a spear and stabs her into a Virgin Mary statue which then falls on top of her. The leader starts laughing it up because God has judged her until HOLY SHIT, she crawls out of the rubble. She's bleeding in the head and everybody starts freaking out, thinking she's some indestructible monster. She's able to take off Ash's chains no problem. And I find it ironic that she comments, "Oh no, he's bled too much," when blood is pouring down her forehead. It is at this time Belus finally smashes through the stain glass window to rescue them.

"You're super late." "I was trying to figure out the best way to make an entrance."

Pamela looks at the unconscious Ash one last time, it fades to black, and they're back at the cafe.
Belus: Good thing Aaron filled me about you guys getting kidnapped and all. Daw, little guy's not so useless after all. (Aaron: I would throw this coco in your face, good sir.)
Pamela: Is Ash going to be okay?
Belus: He'll be fine. I mean I erased some of his memory and left him in the park. But he should be good to go.

Either Belus lied or Ash is Jason Bourne.

The series gets a lot more complicated, but in a good, I'm so hooked, let me read this until five am, kind of way. I feel especially bad for Pamela because she's the kind of heroine I like, one who takes action and doesn't whine about it. I don't know if it's because she's 700+ years old that she was able to reach this maturity or if it's just her personality (though it appears she's just a badass based on the flashbacks later on; poor girl had to grow up fast).

But Same Face Syndrome, call it style or laziness, in the end it's all about the quality of the characters. Someone said that they could easily distinguish the characters based on the tiny details, slimmer jaw and whatnot. I thought that was crazy because the characters all look the same to me. But then I realized there was something about their personalities that made me more aware of the subtle differences (imagined or not). I still laugh at how some characters look like they are all long lost siblings. Or that everybody makes fun of the "ugly girl" when victim looks the same as the pretty girl in their class without eyelash extensions. It makes me roll my eyes.

You know what's fun? Pretending that an author's new stories are continuations of their old ones. Stop it, Jeffrey, you're a multimillionaire thirty year old trapped in a twelve year old's body, not a young orphan destined to save the pixies from powdered doughnuts and pollution! And when did you grow out your hair? It gets especially interesting if the author also writes BL.

BL: It's a deep, dark place where the bowling lanes are three inches wide, and the gutters six feet deep.

Credits: Evil Flowers and Mangafox