Holiday Review: EMANON

There were some interesting and thoughtful manga out there for those willing to seek it out, such as Dark Horse's latest offering from Kenji Tsuruta.

EMANON (Omoide Emanon), based on the story by Shinji Kajio with art by Kenji Tsuruta.  First published in 2006 and first published in North America in 2019.

PLOT:

On a long ferry trip, a young man meets a lovely, lithe young woman who calls herself Emanon.  They start talking about science fiction and current events, only for Emanon to drop a bombshell.  It seems that she carries the memories of all her ancestors, going back all the way to the primordeal soup of life.  The young man isn't sure what to think of Emanon at the time, but their encounter haunts him for years to come.

STORY:

Emanon, much like the young woman it takes its name from, is unique and haunting.  It doesn't surprise me to learn that this is based on a short story series.  There's just something about the way it's structured and the way that people speak that simply feels like literature instead of everyday manga dialogue. Yet it's not overly pretentious or precious.  Indeed, its matter-of-fact tone helps to blur the line between reality and the sort of magical realism where the notion of mitochondrial DNA can turn into a young woman with a memory as long as life on Earth itself.

This is a series that's hard to describe (much less review) because it's not so much about the details but the mood and the experience of reading it.  Not a lot happens, but it's written so well that it manages to stick with you long after you put the book down.

ART:

There's only a couple of years between this series and Wandering Island, so some of what I said there still applies here.  There are some notable differences, though.  The linework is a little firmer here, and there's definitely a lot less fanservice.  A big part of that is that most of this volume takes place on a passenger ferry on a cold night.  Still, Tsuruda does do a lot of gazing at Emanon through our nameless protagonist as she wanders the ship, smokes, and stares off-panel wistfully.  Still, he brings a straightforward and graceful approach to the panels and pages alike that really helps to establish the dreamy tone and pace of the story.

PRESENTATION:

Not only are there some lengthy notes from both Kajio (about the original story's publication) as well as Tsuruda (about the process of making this manga).  There's also an essay from Carl Horn talking touching on the history of American sci-fi fiction and how it intersected with Japanese sci-fi literature and beyond (including but not limited to Robert Heinlein ending up at Go Nagai's wedding reception, meeting just about everyone who was writing or making sci-fi media at the time.)

He also notes the work put in by translator Dana Lewis and letterer Susan Lee - not just for their obvious roles, but for the perspectives they brought as seasoned veterans (and in Lewis's case, co-founder) of the old-school translation/licensing team Studio Proteus.

RATING:

Emanon takes a sci-fi classic and turns it into a beautiful, ephemeral experience.  I'll happily keep reading more of Kenji Tsuruta's work so long as Dark Horse is willing to bring it over.

This series is published by Dark Horse.  This series is ongoing in Japan with 3 volumes available.  2 volumes have been released and are currently in print.

Want a chance to win a $25 RightStuf gift certificate?  Then tell us about your favorite manga of 2019 to enter our annual Holiday Review Giveaway!