Monthly Archives: December 2017

your name. Another Side: Earthbound

Leave a reply

By Arata Kanoh, Makoto Shinkai and Hiyori Ashikawa. Released in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel.

your name was an astonishingly popular movie (and I assume did OK as a novel), so it’s no surprise that there would be a desire to see more of the world. It’s also no surprise that any side stories are not going to be written by Makoto Shinkai, who has no doubt already moved on to his next great work. Instead, this collection is by Arata Kanoh, who has done this sort of thing before – he has a 5 Centimeters Per second novel out in Japan, and seems to specialize in these sorts of books. What we get here is a collection of four short stories set in the world of your name (all on the Mitsuha side of the swap – sorry, Tokyo, no one cares about your end) and expanding on the points of view of three of the side characters (in case you’re wondering, the first story is more about Taki being not very Mitsuha-ish and making people “see another side” of her with his threatening bullies and doing Michael Jackson Smooth Criminal dances while in her body). As with many side story collections, it’s a mixed bag.

The second story focuses on Teshigawara, one of Mitsuha’s friends, and his POV on what’s been going on. One of the running gags through this volume is how horrible Taki and Mitsuha are at this bodyswapping, as absolutely everyone can see something is going on but can’t figure out what. It’s put down to stress, or possession by a fox spirit, etc. We get a few of the scenes in the original novel on his end, and see his frustration at the two girls talking about leaving this dead-end village when they graduate. He’s in a family business, expected to take it over, and rather frustrated about the whole thing, and therefore hearing them going on about how boring it is there is making his teeth grind.

The best story in the collection deals with Yotsuha, Mitsuha’s younger sister who spent most of the original novel staring suspiciously at her sister groping herself. Again, she knows something’s up with her sister, but can’t quite pin it down, and is casting around for reasons for the personality change. It’s a good look at events from the persopective of a 10 to 11-year-old tomboy, and we see the love that Yotsuha has for her sister, even if it doesn’t necessarily come out the way she wants. She also gets to experience what Mitsuha’s going through in another, more mystical way.

The final story was my least favorite, though that’s not the fault of the book – I just can’t bring myself to like Toshiki, Mitsuha’s father, and this story is an effort to give us backstory and show us how he turned into such an ass, as well as expand on Mitsuha’s mother. It didn’t help that we get a terrifying amount of cultural history regarding the past of the village’s rituals and how it got wiped out, which is meant to be interesting but I found a bit exhausting. I’m not sure I buy the “perhaps it was fate’s plan that I turn into a jerk and become Mayor” idea either.

That said, if you enjoyed your name, this is a pretty good followup to it. It’s not essential, but allows you to enter into that world one more time, which is just the sort of thing some readers love.

Astra: Lost in Space, Vol. 1

Leave a reply

By Kenta Shinohara. Released in Japan as “Kanata no Astra” by Shueisha, serialized in the magazine Shonen Jump +. Released in North America by Viz Media. Translated by Adrienne Beck.

As fans of Weekly Shonen Jump know, not every series that comes out in Japan, or even is a hit in Japan, gets licensed here in North America. And in the modern digital age, it has become much easier to follow the Japanese publication and theorize about the next pickup, or whine about why such and such a title is still not licensed despite being up to Vol. 22 or so. The mid to late 00s, in fact, had a bunch of those “not quite” titles, including my pet favorite Medaka Box, as well as Beelzebub and Supernatural Detective Neuro. And there was also Sket Dance, a very popular comedy that ran for over thirty volumes in Japan, but I think suffered from comparisons to Gintama (comedy about a group that theoretically helps people, any romance is played for laughs, cast full of weirdos), no “supernatural” elements, and lack of a real plot. I mention all this because the author’s new series which has been licensed, Astra, has improved on much of this. It’s got fantastic elements, it has an overarching plot, and it’s five volumes long rather than 32.

The premise is that sometime in the future a group of teens go on a survival camp to another planet, where they are supposed to have fun and do cool camping things. It’s all perfectly controlled and safe. They even brought along one character’s little sister to take care of. Unfortunately, the moment they arrive, they are all sucked into a mysterious orb and deposited in the middle of deep space some five thousand light years from home. Even the Rolling Stones weren’t that far away. They manage to board an abandoned ship… but find it needs repair, and they need food and water or they will die. So they land on a nearby planet, and proceed to forage. Naturally, this involves dealing with various alien plants and animals, ranging from hilarious to terrifying. And learning a bit about each other along the way.

The cast is not particularly original here, ranging from the overenthusiastic hero and heroine to the stoic smart guy to the haughty rich girl who secretly just wants to have friends. If Shonen Jump ever had a casting call for a generic shonen series, these are the people who would turn up. That said, they bounce well off each other, and none of them (not even the haughty girl) are overly irritating. There are also a number of amusing moments, despite the rather serious-sounding plot. You can tell the author is more experienced with comedy, particularly tsukkomi – a number of scenes are along the lines of “character says something dumb, the others respond with retorts”. The drama is also done well, though, with tragic pasts deployed at just the right moment to be relevant, and not overstaying their welcome.

This is the very definition of a good, solid Jump title. It’s the sort of thing you’d probably drop if it ran on over 20 volumes, but since it’s not going to I’m happy to see what happens next. And who knows, if it sells well maybe we’ll get Sket Dance too.

Re: ZERO -Starting Life in Another World – Ex, Vol. 1

1 Reply

By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

We’ve already seen DanMachi get a side story novel series licensed, but much as Aiz is theoretically the star of the novels, Bell Cranel is always lurking just around the corner. This side series for Re: ZERO is a different kettle of fish, taking place before Subaru’s arrival in Lugnica, with each volume (there are only two to date) focusing on a different side character with no chance of Subaru appearing. Given that my main issue with Re: ZERO is Subaru himself, I welcome this development with open arms. Instead we get the backstory for Crusch and Ferris, showing how they grew up together, along with a third member of their group who had just as big an impact – Fourier, a Prince of the Kingdom who has a crush on Crusch that is clearly visible from space, but hasn’t actually done about it. Of course, Re: ZERO readers know what happened to the entire royal family from the main series. Uh oh.

That said, the first half of this novel is relaxing and fun. Fourier reminds me a lot of Tamaki from Ouran High School Host Club, both in appearance and personality, and he makes a perfect third in the friendship with the emotionally reserved Crusch and the snarky tease Ferris. Also like Tamaki from Ouran, we see that when he gets serious he can move mountains, which helps immensely as the book eventually does turn deadly serious. The narrative implies that he has a special power that comes out in a crisis; unfortunately, as the entire Royal Family ends the novel dead (this can’t really be a spoiler, right? We already know it from the main series), we will likely never know what that power is. The final scenes of the novel are still heartbreaking even if you do know it’s coming, with excellent writing and one of the most tear-jerking “out of context” color pages I’ve ever seen.

Of course, Crusch and Ferris are the characters we know from the main series, and they’re good too. Ferris gets an abusive childhood that makes sense in terms of the plot but is still wretched, and his father is really a nasty piece of work. There’s also a plot twist I won’t spoil, which if nothing else shows you how abusers can justify their abuse even when covering up its true intentions. Crusch is, unsurprisingly, badass throughout, but the ability to see her inner monologue at times is very helpful, and obviously we now know what’s really driving her in her campaign for the Kingdom. There’s also some good development here for Julius, the knight mostly known in the main series for getting into nasty fights with Subaru. Here we see him get a sense of what being a Royal Knight really means, as well as seeing how clever people can sometimes hide behind “acting the fool” in order to not attract attention.

Basically, this is a must-read for any Re: ZERO fan. The second volume will feature Wilhelm and his own tragic past, and I cannot wait.