![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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.