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larryhammerAnother subgenre of manga I'm rather attracted to is futuristic slice-of-life stories -- especially the post-apocalyptic versions. You don't see much of this in prose science fiction. Or at all, that I can recall. Samples of my favorites, all reading right-to-left:
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (14 vol), Ashinano Hitoshi -- Some time after the ecological collapse, Alpha is an android running her owner's coffee shop while he's away. The title means "Account of a Yokohama Shopping Trip," which happens in the prologue; the rest of the story, insofar as there is one, is Alpha's daily life -- serving customers, making friends with neighbors, other robots, and children who grow up, and slowly learning about humans (and how to be more human) even as they're passing from the world. Even the dramatic events like being struck by lightning or traveling for a year are handled in a quiet, undramatic way. There's so little plot, some chapters have no dialog at all -- and oh does it work. The spare art is the perfect vehicle.
Additional samples in the same gallery. This just may be my favorite comic in any form. Inexplicably, YKK has not been licensed. Scanlations are here (prologue + ch 1-121) and here (ch 122-140 + epilog). (Note for those who like Emma: you will almost certainly like YKK.)
Ai-Ren (5 vol), Tanaka Yutaka -- Some time during the ecological collapse, a teenage boy with a terminal illness is given an engineered companion for his final months -- a girl designed to match him perfectly, with a lifespan about the same as his prognosis so neither will long outlive the other. The story isn't just Ikuru and Ai's quiet daily lives -- other threads show us how this messed-up world is getting worse -- but that's the strand that stands out. How the little details are what carry us on -- and possibly save the world, in a tikkun olam sort of way.
Not licensed, and given it has young teens having explicit sex, I can't imagine it coming out in the States without heavy censoring. More's the pity, as it's a story to rip out your heart and stomp that sucker flat. Twice. Scanlations here. (Note in case it isn't obvious: don't read without strong lolicon filters engaged.)
Aqua (2 vol) + Aria (9 vol, ongoing), Amano Kozue -- At the start of the 24th century, Mars has been terraformed into a ocean planet called Aqua (the ice caps were bigger than we thought), and Akari is an apprentice gondolier on the canals of Neo-Venezia. The story revolves around her training, and her friendships with her teacher, fellow gondoliers, and occasional customers as she explores the city. The plot is more present than YKK, and as such somewhat weaker -- which is to say, each chapter is a specific story, but they don't really build to a larger arc, making it that much more episodic; the stunning art more than makes up for this. (I've seen a message board comment describe it as a YKK rip-off with cuter girls. Not entirely a fair cop: there's also at least one cuter boy.) It's at its best when the mangaka slows down to revel in land-, water-, and cityscapes. She's especially fond of dramatic viewpoints from above or below the figures.
More in the gallery, including the following page, where we look up at the gondola from below. This is really one series with a name change. Three volumes of Aria are available in English; Aqua is forthcoming, then after reissues of Aria 1-3, the rest will come out. Go buy. (Note for those interested: the director of the anime adaptation also directed Princess Tutu.)
As you can probably tell, all of these are dripping with mono no aware, an awareness of the transience of things. (Bad translation, yeah, but it fits.) Which is part of what a post-apocalyptic setting brings, built into the premise.
And I want more. Anyone know of any?
---L.
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (14 vol), Ashinano Hitoshi -- Some time after the ecological collapse, Alpha is an android running her owner's coffee shop while he's away. The title means "Account of a Yokohama Shopping Trip," which happens in the prologue; the rest of the story, insofar as there is one, is Alpha's daily life -- serving customers, making friends with neighbors, other robots, and children who grow up, and slowly learning about humans (and how to be more human) even as they're passing from the world. Even the dramatic events like being struck by lightning or traveling for a year are handled in a quiet, undramatic way. There's so little plot, some chapters have no dialog at all -- and oh does it work. The spare art is the perfect vehicle.
Additional samples in the same gallery. This just may be my favorite comic in any form. Inexplicably, YKK has not been licensed. Scanlations are here (prologue + ch 1-121) and here (ch 122-140 + epilog). (Note for those who like Emma: you will almost certainly like YKK.)
Ai-Ren (5 vol), Tanaka Yutaka -- Some time during the ecological collapse, a teenage boy with a terminal illness is given an engineered companion for his final months -- a girl designed to match him perfectly, with a lifespan about the same as his prognosis so neither will long outlive the other. The story isn't just Ikuru and Ai's quiet daily lives -- other threads show us how this messed-up world is getting worse -- but that's the strand that stands out. How the little details are what carry us on -- and possibly save the world, in a tikkun olam sort of way.
Not licensed, and given it has young teens having explicit sex, I can't imagine it coming out in the States without heavy censoring. More's the pity, as it's a story to rip out your heart and stomp that sucker flat. Twice. Scanlations here. (Note in case it isn't obvious: don't read without strong lolicon filters engaged.)
Aqua (2 vol) + Aria (9 vol, ongoing), Amano Kozue -- At the start of the 24th century, Mars has been terraformed into a ocean planet called Aqua (the ice caps were bigger than we thought), and Akari is an apprentice gondolier on the canals of Neo-Venezia. The story revolves around her training, and her friendships with her teacher, fellow gondoliers, and occasional customers as she explores the city. The plot is more present than YKK, and as such somewhat weaker -- which is to say, each chapter is a specific story, but they don't really build to a larger arc, making it that much more episodic; the stunning art more than makes up for this. (I've seen a message board comment describe it as a YKK rip-off with cuter girls. Not entirely a fair cop: there's also at least one cuter boy.) It's at its best when the mangaka slows down to revel in land-, water-, and cityscapes. She's especially fond of dramatic viewpoints from above or below the figures.
More in the gallery, including the following page, where we look up at the gondola from below. This is really one series with a name change. Three volumes of Aria are available in English; Aqua is forthcoming, then after reissues of Aria 1-3, the rest will come out. Go buy. (Note for those interested: the director of the anime adaptation also directed Princess Tutu.)
As you can probably tell, all of these are dripping with mono no aware, an awareness of the transience of things. (Bad translation, yeah, but it fits.) Which is part of what a post-apocalyptic setting brings, built into the premise.
And I want more. Anyone know of any?
---L.
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Date: 14 March 2007 09:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 14 March 2007 09:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 14 March 2007 09:51 pm (UTC)---L.
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Date: 14 March 2007 09:49 pm (UTC)---L.
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Date: 14 March 2007 11:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 15 March 2007 12:54 am (UTC)Saikano gave me something of the same vibe, only with a lot more heartrending doom. (A LOT OF DOOM.)
It's not futuristic or manga, but the anime Uta~Kata is the best fantasy slice-of-life I've seen, as well as being a genius riff/deconstruction of the magical girl genre.
And Simoun! Like mecha, only not! With weird gender stuff! Yeah.
And of course the most Zen comic of all time is Mushishi.
no subject
Date: 15 March 2007 01:14 am (UTC)Heartrending DOOM does describe Saikano -- even more than Ai-Ren -- and it does have that slice-of-life vibe, yeah. I almost included it on this list. Simoun doesn't, though, for me -- too much drama and PTSD. (I haven't watched the last handful of episodes yet -- I'm waiting for the fansub of the last, before watching in swoop, because I can tell I'll want to.)
I'm curious whether the upcoming anime of Bokurano will have the same vibe. The manga, despite the mecha, feels closer to horror than anything else.
I need to find the Uta-Kata anime. The manga adaptation left me Meh, despite some nifty cool things going on, but I couldn't tell if it was the source, the adaptation, or the scanlation. Either way, it was played more for the adventure than the daily life. If the original is slice-of-life, I suspect it belongs in the section of genrespace, which I haven't a name for, that includes Kashimashi, Kamichu!, and Mushishi. (No, I can't explain why my brain insists those three are closely related, only report that this is so.)
---L.
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Date: 15 March 2007 04:45 am (UTC)You need-- absolutely need, if you haven't already seen it-- the anime Shingu: Record of School Wars. (Rightstuf, who put it out, will try to tell you that the subtitle is 'Secret of Stellar Wars'. No.)
Shingu is the only thing I've ever seen that reminds me of YKK. Except it's not post-apocalyptic.
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Date: 15 March 2007 05:06 am (UTC)*googles*
Wait -- high school / mecha / alien invasion series that reminds you of YKK? Um, right. This has GOT to be interesting.
*adds to list*
---L.
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Date: 17 March 2007 04:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 18 March 2007 12:24 am (UTC)---L.
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Date: 19 March 2007 03:55 pm (UTC)Unless your daily life involves strangling the last other living human on the planet.
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Date: 19 March 2007 04:42 pm (UTC)---L.