A Cruel God Reigns

A Cruel God Reigns (Japanese: 残酷な神がæ"¯é…ã™ã‚‹, Hepburn: Zankokuna Kami ga Shihai Suru, aka. "A Cruel God Rules in Heaven") is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Moto Hagio. The manga was serialized in Shogakukan's josei manga magazine, Petit Flower. Moto Hagio was awarded the first Osamu Tezuka Culture Award Excellence prize in 1997 for A Cruel God Reigns.

Plot

The story follows the ordeals Jeremy endures at the hands of his sexually-abusive stepfather, Greg. He does not tell his emotionally unstable mother for fear of destroying her dream of a happy marriage, but tampers with the brakes in his stepfather's car, killing his stepfather and accidentally killing his mother too. The stepfather's older son Ian begins to suspect Jeremy of involvement in his father's death, and tries to get him to confess. Jeremy runs away from home and becomes a drug addict and prostitute; Ian finds him and tries to help him recover but also wrestles with his sexual attraction to the younger boy and his fear of becoming an abuser like his father. At the end of the story, Jeremy and Ian form a relationship.

Development

Hagio describes her impetus to write the story thusly: "Because of my problems with my parents, I did a lot of reading about psychology and counseling. Among those stories were a lot about stories about sexual abuse. I always had a hard time understanding why other members of the family, particularly the mother, does not step in and help. In order to search for the answer to this question, I started that story. [... ] I had the idea, but it was such a dark, heavy story, it took me 10 years to find a way to put it into manga form. When I started A Cruel God Reigns, I told the editor it would probably last two years, but it took a lot longer; it took nine years [to finish the series]." Hagio found that Julian (Ian) in particular was difficult to characterise. The name comes from Al Alvarez's 1972 book, The Savage God: A Study of Suicide.

Characters

• Jeremy - Sandra's son, he is sixteen years old at the start of the story.
• Sandra - Works in an antique shop, mother to Jeremy. A very emotionally weak person who attempted suicide when her husband died (Jeremy was ten at the time), and tries to do so again when Jeremy is sixteen.
• Greg - An English aristocrat, he proposes to Sandra but tells Jeremy he loves him too, abusing Jeremy and then threatening to leave Sandra unless Jeremy is compliant.
• Vivi - Jeremy's girlfriend. At the beginning of the story, they are planning to consummate their relationship, but she believes Jeremy to be unfaithful after Jeremy kisses like Greg has taught him. When Jeremy confesses that he is being abused by Greg, Vivi doesn't believe him.
• Cass - a classmate of Jeremy's who is rumoured to be prostituting himself.
• Ian - Greg's son in his late teens who begins to lust after Jeremy.
• Matt - Greg's twelve-year-old son, withdrawn but loves his dog, Pepe, and Natasha.
• Aunt Karen - Jeremy's father's sister.
• Hannah - Maid at Greg's mansion.
• Natasha - Lilya's older sister.
• Lilya - Greg's late wife, mother to Ian and Matt.

Publication

Shogakukan published the manga's 17 tankōbon volumes between March 19, 1993 and August 20, 2001, having decided to bring the series to a close in September 2000. After completing A Cruel God Reigns, Hagio took a year's hiatus from manga. The manga was republished into 10 kanzenban volumes between October 15, 2004 and February 15, 2005.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} プチフラワーコミックス - 残酷な神がæ"¯é…ã™ã‚‹ / 1 [Petit Flower Comics - A Cruel God Reigns 1] (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved 2009-07-21. 
2. ^ ^{a b} プチフラワーコミックス - 残酷な神がæ"¯é…ã™ã‚‹ / 17 [Petit Flower Comics - A Cruel God Reigns 17] (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved 2009-07-21. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Thorn, Matt. "The Moto Hagio Interview". The Comics Journal. Retrieved 2009-07-21. 
4. ^ J. McLelland, Mark (October 12, 2000). Male Homosexuality in Modern Japan. Routledge. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-7007-1300-4. 
5. ^ Duffield, Patricia (November 2002). "Moto Hagio article". Animerica Extra 5 (12): 1. 
6. ^ http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/convention/2010/moto-hagio-focus-panel
7. ^ Aoki, Deb. "Moto Hagio Interview". About.com: Manga. Retrieved 13 September 2010. 
8. ^ Aoki, Deb. "Moto Hagio Interview". About.com: Manga. Retrieved 13 September 2010. 
9. ^ http://flowers.shogakukan.co.jp/interviwe/interviwe_04.html
10. ^ 小学館文庫 - 残酷な神がæ"¯é…ã™ã‚‹ / 1 [Shogakukan book - A Cruel God Reigns 1] (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved 2009-07-21. 
11. ^ 小学館文庫 - 残酷な神がæ"¯é…ã™ã‚‹ / 10 [Shogakukan book - A Cruel God Reigns 10] (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved 2009-07-21. 
12. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q} 小学館：コミック (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved 2009-07-21. 

External links

• Zankokuna Kami ga Shihai Suru (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia