Review: VOICES OF A DISTANT STAR

A romance set against the backdrop of space sounds epic, but stories like this prove that it can be intimate and longing as well.

VOICES OF A DISTANT STAR (Hoshi no Koe), based on the film by Makoto Shinkai with art by Mizu Sahara.  First published in 2004 and first published in North America in 2006.

PLOT:

Mikako and Noburo are middle-school sweethearts whose budding relationship is interrupted when Mikako is chosen to join a special space exploration force.  Her job will be to pursue a group of aliens on a chase through the solar system and beyond.  Now the two are literally separated by time and space; the further Mikako gets away from Earth, the longer it takes her messages to reach Noburo.  As time on Earth passes, Noburo has to come to terms with what Mikako means to him and how to move on in a world without her.

Review: SATURN APARTMENTS

 Of course, not every sci-fi work is so old, so storied, so action-packed.  Sometimes it's more about just trying to live your life while living in the future.

SATURN APARTMENTS (Dosei Mansion), by Hisae Iwaoka.  First published in 2005 and first published in North America in 2010.

PLOT:

At some point in the future, humanity abandoned Earth so it could become a planet-wide wildlife refuge.  Now humans are confined to a massive space station drifting through the upper atmosphere and the lower on the socio-economic scale you are, the less sunlight you get to see.  Those precious windows are expensive to wash, and it's done by people like Mitsu.

Mitsu is an apprentice window-washer straight out of school.  His father was also a window-washer, but he died mysteriously on the job.  It's up to cranky old man Jin to teach him, as Mitsu learns to appreciate all the details of his work and the people he meets.

Review: ASTRO BOY

 This month we're going to look at some science fiction manga, and if we're going to do that we might as well start with the sci-fi manga that changed everything.

ASTRO BOY (Tetsuwan Atomu), by Osamu Tezuka.  First published in 1952 and first published in North America in 2002.

PLOT:

In the not-too-distant future, humanity and robots live and work alongside one another, if not always in peace and harmony.  The most advanced robot of them all is Astro, built by a genius scientist to replace his dead grandson but abandoned in a fit of pique.  Taken in by the kindly Dr. Ochanomizu, Astro uses his power to help those in need, be they human or robot.