Back into the Labyrinth

Way back in high school, I fell in love with Jareth. I would stare at the moon and imagine a snowy white owl swooping onto my window ledge, transforming into this mysterious, gorgeously garbed and breathtakingly handsome king who would offer me the world if only I loved him. *Swoon*

What girl could resist? Of course, he was the Goblin King with frightful looking minions, but that was just a trifling matter to me then.

Needless to say, Jim Henson' LABYRINTH became the pixie dust that transformed my mundane life into something so much more exciting. My friends and I obsessed about getting the Sarah look: long straight hair with the bangs clipped to the side, a long flowing shirt, vest, slim jeans, flat brown shoes, and a fancy charm bracelet. A trip to the National Library near Intramuros became a make-believe trek through the labyrinth facing "dangers unknown and hardships unnumbered". Did I mention that we memorized the movie lines and song lyrics? We also became die-hard David Bowie fans because to us he was and will forever be Jareth.

LABYRINTH really meant --mean-- so much to me that when I found the manga, BACK INTO THE LABYRINTH, continuing the story, I had no compunctions at all (maybe a little; I am, after all, an OC person) about buying it, budget be damned.

However, it was a purchase that I am now regretting. The storyline is too derivative, and too obviously that. It was liberally laced with Harry Potter devices; the main character, Toby -- the baby in the movie -- is now inexplicably the Goblin King's heir in the story. He is weakly written and so unlikeable. I also just absolutely hated it that they worked certain scenes and narrative devices from the movie into it. I didn't need to be reminded every page or so that this was the sequel to the movie! For instance, they showed the statue of Hoggle taking a leak at the entrance of the labyrinth, echoing the movie. There are also repeated lines of "through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, etc." Thing is, this isn't Sarah' story anymore. I wish it were.

The beauty of LABYRINTH for me was its imagination and the world of what-ifs it opened. This manga showed me nothing but been-there, done-that scenes instead.

One saving grace, though, is that it reminded me of why Howl's character (Howl's Moving Castle) completely enchanted me. Howl could have been a younger Jareth, or his younger brother.

It just occured to me, though, right now that they have turned Jareth in the manga into a flamboyant, and unscrupulous version of Howl in this manga. Grrr.

I wish that this could've been written better if only to do justice to Jim Henson's vision and genius.