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usaghinanami99 · 6 years

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Hello, comrades! Here I am presenting you a short review of Nachtmahr, a Marx/Engels yaoi dōjinshi by the wonderful RONO (@gattungs-wesen). Before starting, though, I feel the need to drop some advices: first of all, I am by no means a professional reviewer and would never claim it; on the contrary, I haven't written a review for non-scholastic purposes since last summer, so my already scarce abilities are probably rust by now. Second, I am nothing more than a fellow Marxist like many who also happens to be a passionate fangirl of the M/E pairing; please keep in mind my young age and subsequently limited study degrees before addressing me as naive or shallow. And last, I tend to use way too many words for pretty much everything, so you're lucky that the work I'm going to write about is very short, otherwise even I don't know much far I could have gone... actually, I do know: I used to write 5 pages-long analysis of single Pokémon episodes before my spare time decreased drastically, so here's that. Without further ado, let's get started!

Before starting reading, one has to consider how the fanbook is presented, and I think its cover illustration makes for a very, very nice presentation: a cover ought to convey what the stuff you're going to read is about, and this one sets the tone perfectly. In particular, it establishes what the book is all about thanks to an efficient representation of the main couple (of course we all know this is a Marxengels fanbook, but I'm thinking of people stumbling upon it in a comiket, as opposed to us who specifically found it looking for M/E material), which, on the other hand, also serves the need to demonstrate how the art inside the book is going to be – I'll touch upon the subject later, but it's obvious just from the cover that it's going to be pretty at the very least. Finally, the illustration also perfectly establishes the mood of the whole story: not many yaoi books open with this type of picture, am I right? I mean, they usually tend to depict two hot boys in a very steamy and sexy fashion, or at least that's how the yaoi I read generally work. This, on the other hand, is going to be epic and tragic, and the characters' expressions and positions convey this feel better than I could ever explain – also because my English vocabulary is quite limited.

This is where I should review the story itself, but I think it's going to be rather short for my standards, because, to put it bluntly, nothing really happens. Okay, this is just an exageration to say that there is no traditional plot advancement, which is not inherently a bad thing, not at all. In fact, even some masterpieces have been written which don't feature any conventional plot (Beckett anyone?), and this case seems certainly akeen. The thing is, stuff doesn't happen because it's all in Engel's head, which is a clever way to enter his thoughts and twist the reader's expectations at the same time. What I mean is that, at least for me, at the first read it is not clear whether something is real or not, if it's Engels dreaming or an actual memory of his; granted, everything is crystal clear by the end and upon subsequent re-readings, I definitely don't mean to say that the storytelling is confusing – it just likes toying with what us readers would expect, and that's always nice if done in such a clever way. This is where the dōjinshi's title comes to play: "is what I'm reading a nightmare or not?", I was constantly asking myself during my first reading. In the end it turns out that the answer is "yes", but one is still left to question themselves about just how much Engel's nightmares were real or not; and, while the answer to this second question leans more towards the "no", it's left ambiguous enough that a reader is still provided with a window of hope, if they want. Engel's nightmares, which are virtually the major subject of the story, transition from the near past of Marx's death to the distant past of a tender love scene between the two philosophers, which isn't probably anything more than a mere fantasy of Engels', but, honestly speaking, it feels so real when it starts that it's shocking to see this idyllic scene brutally shatter. I'm sorry for those (including myself, alas) who expected a scene of tender love-making between the two columns of Communism, because the carefree sweetness comes to an end when Engels is bound to notice the wedding ring on his beloved's finger; now, I have to admit my personal headcanon is that Jenny was fully aware and supporting of the relationship between the two, and would also often take part in nice orgies along with both families, but it's not like we own their diaries or anything, so any guess is as good as mine. But RONO's guess in particular is very depressing, which I genuinely didn't expect given how much fun most of his fanart tends to be, but gosh, does it work? Very well indeed, there's enough angst to make you shed many tears, what with poor Fred's unrequited love (which is already the saddest thing ever, btw) and his self-guilt given by cheating? Speaking for myself, I headcanon the whole Marx-Engels big family as polyamorous, add to it the fact that free, unbound love is certainly an important part of their ideals, as we all know from the Manifesto itself – but I do not want to dismiss this more tragic view of their relations, which is indeed as valid as mine. After this heartbreaking nightmare, we cut to reality, with a devastated Engels being aided by none other than Kautsky, whom I didn't expect to find here at all! I'll keep my opinions on the man for myself, unless someone is dying to know what I think of every Marxist philosopher I've ever read, but I'll just say that my thoughts on this particularly controversial figure don't bear any importance on the overall enjoyment of the work. A work that ends in the most heartbreaking way ever possible (as if the end of the dream weren't already enough!), with Engels surrendering to despair in front of Karl and Jenny's tombstone. If you meant to call deep depression upon your readers, than you've done the best of works, RONO! I'm obviously exaggerating again for the sake of comedy, because I really love how emtional and tragic this story came out to be. I related with it on a personal level and felt genuinely hurt for how much my precious OTP had to endure, but this is no news for me, and I highly appreciate the work that I've had the honour to read.

I'm afraid I've got even less to say about the art, because I am so far from being an expert; if my opinion is of any importance, then, I'll just say that I found it perfect and worth of an official work, which I think is the best compliment one could make to a fanbook. Come on, someone go and hire the man, otherwise so much talent will go waste! Luckily enough, nowadays more and more manga artists become professionals after having started as amateurs, and in this case I definitely see all the talent and passion needed for the big jump. Official or not, this work is awesome and its status won't change it! ...Well, I did say I can't properly judge art! Want to know something else, then? RONO is the one and only artist who can make bearded men attractive for me. That's a thing. Oh, and also don't forget the closing illustration, which depicts young M/E happily dancing to what I think is a waltz (?). This particular picture was yet another reason of crying for me, because my best favourite film in the world happens to be Beauty and the Beast, so I think you can imagine just how much important romantic balls are for me. Well, I don't know whether this was intentional or not, but after all, it's a nerd's job to find references regardless of whether there are actually any or not! Unfortunately, Karl and Friedrich's story ends in a much more bitter tone than Belle and Adam's, but this unexpected bonus really did the trick for me – I am very emotive, to the point that I cry every single time I rewatch B&B, so of course I did the same thing many times upon reading and rereading this dōjinshi.

Finally, every good reviewer should find at least some flaws in the most perfect work, but I've never claimed to be a good reviewer. Do you really want something negative about this fanbook? Okay, then, I guess you won't be particularly invested in it if you don't ship M/E... but if you don't, just go and read all that Engels wrote after Marx's death (and be ready to burst out in tears)! And of course follow and support the artist if you don’t already, because he deserves all the love in the world from us commies!

#marx #engels #marxengels #karl marx #friedrich engels #yaoi #doujinshi #review

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