Comments on: Island manga: an isolated town enclosed by huge, unscalable walls…

By: okiru14

okiru14 — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 04:09:56 +0000

Yes, nice one shot. Thanks again for the rec.

By: okiru14

okiru14 — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 03:47:58 +0000

Thanks for the recommendation (and link). Looks good.

By: bateszi

bateszi — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:32:13 +0000

@coburn

It seems Naoshi Komi has a few short stories to his name; they aren’t all as highly rated as Island, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy them.

RE: Double Arts: it’s always depressing to read about manga cancellations, especially when it’s all down to a lack of popularity, as if that’s a good way to judge the quality of the work. I wonder if he might return soon? I remember reading that the Bleach mangaka had his first Shonen Jump series cancelled too, and they obviously persevered with him, so there’s hope for Komi yet.

@gaguri

Fair enough, I loved ‘Children of Men’ too. I suppose Island is all about faith, not in a religious sense, but about having the guts to believe in an impossible dream and to chase it across the horizon, while Children of Men has a much more scientific, Lovecraftian take on our place in the general scheme of things i.e. that life is an insignificant fluke without an ounce of sympathy, yet that is why beautiful things feel so precious, that they exist at all is a miracle?

@Martin

No time like the present!

@Johny

It’s cool that you liked it. And in a way, I agree with you. Island certainly isn’t perfect and I was going to say as much in the review, yet in this case, I think it’s the general sentiment that’s important.

By: Johny

Johny — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:30:20 +0000

I just read Island this morning. It certainly was interesting, though it kinda bothers me how the people could’ve been so stupid not to notice something as obvious for 400 years… Still, thanks for mentioning this manga

By: Martin

Martin — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:37:04 +0000

Wow, cheers for pointing this one out! The metaphors and symbolism sound so powerful…and that artwork looks positively delicious. I think I’d like it.

By: gaguri

gaguri — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:46:22 +0000

It was an incredibly short read but I liked it. I didn’t cry, but it did move me (and reminded me of my last post on FLCL…). Although for me, I would have preferred if the ending wasn’t so optimistic, I like it more ambiguous. Although the ‘happy ending’ is not spelled out for us, there is a clear sense of optimism andtruimphant of hope over despair (acceptance of reality), wheras in movies like Children of Men, there is no clear sign of hope (in fact, more brooding pessimism than optimisim of the humanity’s fate), but that’s just me.

By: coburn

coburn — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 20:05:57 +0000

Thanks. Somehow, despite having been a fan of Naoshi Komi’s sadly culled Double Arts, I’d managed to not read this. Right now at least it feels like the perfect case study in his merits.

That ending somehow reminds me of Double Arts’ rushed conclusion, in that we the readers are left with this mangaka whose romantic escape fantasies are only available in a sort of incipient stage. That kind of adds to the melancholy in this one-shot, but it’s somehow unsatisfying to think of the author forever in the stage where he declares for youth and joy, having been stopped dead by public indifference when trying to move that sentiment on into a bigger story.

But hell, this was just damn good.