Mizushiro Setona - X-Day, vol. 01-02 (Eng. trans.)

[oyceter]

So far, I've liked all the Mizushiro Setona manga that I've read, and this is no different. Mizushiro seems to be particularly good at focusing on the small and the everyday, on the moments that make you think your world is ending, even if it's just your skanky boyfriend breaking up with you and immediately going out with another girl. Because as Buffy illustrated so well, those are world-ending moments. It's just not the world most people think of.

Rika's just been through aforementioned breakup; worse, she's had an injury that's taken her off the track team. She used to be the best high jumper in the school, but now the same girl her ex is now going out with seems to be taking her place there as well. One day, she meets three other disaffected people in a chat room and flippantly suggests that they blow up the school.

What follows isn't a description of how they plan to blow up the school, but rather, how four broken and hurt people can come together and find comfort in each other. Much like After School Nightmare, there are several elements in here that I should find extremely squicky, but I don't because of the atmosphere Mizushiro invokes (ex. the teacher/student relationship). I particularly like Rika and Mr. Money and how the both of them hide their pain behind smiles.

Although I was a bit iffy on the portrayal of one of the women in the series, who's shown as preying on one of the teachers, I like Rika and Polaris. If only the older women wouldn't be so consistently sketchy!

It's really hard to put down why I liked this so much, since it's very dependent on the pacing, the attention to detail, the over-the-top premise coupled with the grounding in emotional reality, the use of space and wordless panels.

The art style's closer to 1999nen than it is to After School Nightmare, but it's still more stylized than 1999nen.

Also, the series ends with a short story about human cows that rachelmanija found incredibly disturbing and creepy and I did not, possibly because I've now read several manga in which the ultimate expression of love is the offer to let the beloved consume your own flesh! Oh manga. I love you.

Anyway, definitely recommended to people who liked the two other Mizushiro works I've read, and generally recommended to people who like slow, slightly creepy, but still quiet manga.

Comments

[octopedingenue]

This is one of my favorite short manga (that I wish were longer). Randomly, I love the hamster so much!

[oyceter]

YES! The hamster! Although part of me was remembering that hamsters in reality are evil, nasty, bitey little creatures that hypnotize you into thinking they are nice with all their fluffy fur and then chomp down on your finger and how much nicer rats are even though they are more maligned.

... er, right, manga. Please ignore me and my rodent biases!

But yes, she so got the hamster right, and how attached people can be to pets, and I loved that it wasn't the usual dog or cat. And it could have been so stupid, but it wasn't, because you could tell he really cared about the hamster.

[marzipan-pig.livejournal.com]

I got a hamster and it was dumber than a rock and bit me.

The end.

Signed,

likes mice better (but has never had A RATTT)

[oyceter]

I am so with you! I used to have mice as a kid. I still love them, but the rats are definitely a ton smarter and waaaaay friendlier. Like, I can actually pet them!

/rat propaganda

[octopedingenue]

I joked that my flatemate's cute-but-bloodthirsty-and-escape-intent hamster was going to get loose and come for me, until this week she did escape and I learned this by finding her IN MY ROOM. (next to the computer, and if I discover she did gnaw something tech-y then tiny heads will roll)

Signed,

Keeping the doors closed now thanks

[oyceter]

I'm telling you... they are EVIL!

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

I was put off hamsters by the revelation from a wildlife TV show that (a) they are such psychopathically solitary creatures that they will fight to the death if they meet unless they're in heat, and (b) if they're in heat in the wild, the male literally has sex with the female until he dies of exhaustion.

[oyceter]

I can imagine it! They are grumpy little critters.