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This is an adaptation of the anime of the same name, although I can't tell if Shinkai Makoto mostly came up with the original storyline for the anime and Sahara Mizu did the adaptation, or if Shinkai wrote it and she illustrated it.
I've been a fan of Sahara Mizu's art for a while (she also works as Yumeka Sumomo); she's particularly good at bittersweet wistfulness and empty spaces and words left unsaid. This adaptation is no different.
In the future, humans have discovered the existence of alien life in the form of the Tarsians. No one knows yet if they're hostile or not, although missions are already being sent out to fight the Tarsians and to find new worlds. Mikako, a middle-school student, has volunteered to be the pilot of one of the missions' mechas. Unfortunately, this means that she has to leave behind her good friend Noboru. They try to keep in touch via text messages, but as Mikako is sent further and further away, the messages take longer and longer to arrive, until they're over eight years apart.
Normally I'm not one for stories that posit someone's One True Love is found in middle school, but Sahara and Shinkai handle the material with such delicacy that I found myself rooting for Mikako and Noboru. It also helps that both Mikako and Noboru are unsure of each other as well; Mikako is torn by the knowledge that years are passing by on Earth while she remains the same age, and Noboru tries and tries to move on with his life and not wait for increasing infrequent text messages. But the lack of resolution keeps both of them from moving on.
I loved the overall tone of this manga, the uncertainty and doubt, the simple and sweet flashbacks to Mikako and Noboru riding bikes or hiding from the rain, all of which distinguish it from all the other giant robot series that have middle-school students battling aliens. While there is some action when it comes to the giant robots and the Tarsians, the bulk of the story is about Mikako and Noboru and how they're separated by time. And though the ending is somewhat unresolved, it worked for me. There's no guarantee that anything will turn out all right; in fact, I'm fairly certain there will be more pain to come, but that's what makes the story work for me.
I've been a fan of Sahara Mizu's art for a while (she also works as Yumeka Sumomo); she's particularly good at bittersweet wistfulness and empty spaces and words left unsaid. This adaptation is no different.
In the future, humans have discovered the existence of alien life in the form of the Tarsians. No one knows yet if they're hostile or not, although missions are already being sent out to fight the Tarsians and to find new worlds. Mikako, a middle-school student, has volunteered to be the pilot of one of the missions' mechas. Unfortunately, this means that she has to leave behind her good friend Noboru. They try to keep in touch via text messages, but as Mikako is sent further and further away, the messages take longer and longer to arrive, until they're over eight years apart.
Normally I'm not one for stories that posit someone's One True Love is found in middle school, but Sahara and Shinkai handle the material with such delicacy that I found myself rooting for Mikako and Noboru. It also helps that both Mikako and Noboru are unsure of each other as well; Mikako is torn by the knowledge that years are passing by on Earth while she remains the same age, and Noboru tries and tries to move on with his life and not wait for increasing infrequent text messages. But the lack of resolution keeps both of them from moving on.
I loved the overall tone of this manga, the uncertainty and doubt, the simple and sweet flashbacks to Mikako and Noboru riding bikes or hiding from the rain, all of which distinguish it from all the other giant robot series that have middle-school students battling aliens. While there is some action when it comes to the giant robots and the Tarsians, the bulk of the story is about Mikako and Noboru and how they're separated by time. And though the ending is somewhat unresolved, it worked for me. There's no guarantee that anything will turn out all right; in fact, I'm fairly certain there will be more pain to come, but that's what makes the story work for me.