This post should have been longer.

 

Gon Vol. 1 (Masashi Tanaka, Morning/Seinen)

 

I breathed a sigh of relief after the scene where titular protagonist saves a batch of fish from a hungry bear, and then proceeds to eat the fish himself. The first three chapters revolve around Gon asserting his dominance over the wilderness. While I don’t think any mature reader would be able to approve of Gon’s actions, I think his inventiveness makes his role as a harsh controller somewhat appealing. For example, when he rides the lion to hunt, or when he uses beavers to build him his own personal dam are fine examples. The ending to the lion chapter is particular good: the result of Gon’s abuse has led to a feast for both of them but neither can trust one another. The last chapter places Gon in the feeding care of a mother eagle. In other words, he’s gone from being the controller to the controlled. However, he seems awfully content being looked after. Later on the eagle’s nest is attacked by a vicious feline, and Gon is forced to jump in to battle. Afterwards, Gon is shown what flying is like.

 

Palette of 12 Secret Colors Vol. 1 (Nari Kusakawa, LaLa DX/Shojo)

 

This volume only contains three chapters. The first two are both about people trying to steal magical birds from the protagonist and her school. The last chapter is a sentimental tale that involves the protagonist bringing snow to the island. This isn’t exactly what I think of when I think of great manga but there are two other points I want to make any way. I like that the magic here represents a creative out-lit rather than another means of violence, which would be the norm… though that makes me question why the author decided to make her protagonist so terrible at using the magic. I guess she thinks the protagonist would be better suited fighting crime. However, I didn’t care for the way that the doctor character (love interest) was initially introduced as condescending and unsympathetic to the protagonist, and then quickly being made up to look like the perfect match for her by the end of the volume.

 

 

 

 

 

Reaching Them

 

Reaching You Vol. 1 (Karuho Shiina, Betsuma/Shoujo)

 

Disappointing, but still above average. Sawako is a socially awkward high school student who after being inspired by popular classmate, works to become a warm and accepting person like him. The narrative often focuses on their interactions, though by the end of the volume, other characters have entered the story and accepted Sawako as an acquaintance. Unfortunately the author doesn’t seem all that interested in them. Rather, Sawako’s internal feelings are given centre stage while every one else is used to fuel them. I’m curious about whether the heavy use of internal thoughts will continue as the story progresses but I remain doubtful. It is nice to see a manga where the protagonist’s feelings towards her male counterpart are driven by appreciation and admiration rather than romantic love. However, the ending here bites. Just when I thought we were getting a decent high school story without any vindictive classmates I was proven wrong. The whole angle will probably be used as a distraction from actually developing the other characters.

Not a book review.

 

Spoilers ahead.

 

Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms (Fumiyo Kono, Action Magazine/Seinen)

 

A lot of good stuff has already been written on this book, but I have to say, nothing I read prepared me for the central event. The book is fundamentally an anti-discrimination piece and I’m not entirely sure I agree with how this message was delivered. The protagonist of the first story is an atomic bomb survivor. She feels guilty over her inability to help those she abandoned during the attack, to the point where she is unable to allow herself to enter a romantic relationship. She dies a bit later but the author doesn’t allow the reader to reason about her death in a thematic way. The obvious line of reasoning would be that she was unable to get over her guilt, so she became completely isolated. The reason I bring this up is because the author’s refusal to use any solid black textures throughout the book suggests this to a valid interpretation. But it just isn’t so, because she confronts her guilt successfully and does move on emotionally.

 

After her death, the narrative jumps in to the future, and unenthusiastically, I read on, waiting for the something bad to happen again. It didn’t help that the author made the second protagonist a daughter of an atomic bomb survivor but there lies the crux of the manga. The amazing thing is that nothing bad happens. Rather, the second story revels in the memories of the protagonist’s parents, leading up to their marriage. Back in the present, the narrative just kind of peters out. Admittedly, the final page bugged me at first though I’ve since come to appreciate it. This page consists of a juxtaposition of a moving train, and tree leaves that still aren’t being drawn with solid black textures, which gave me the impression that something was still missing or had gone unsaid. At the very least I felt the whole ‘look towards the future’ message, which understandably may be required to end the discrimination towards atomic bomb survivors and their offspring, got undermined.