This is a solo Anime Secret Santa review for Space Adventure Cobra: The Movie. You can see all the Anime Secret Santa reviews for 2023 here on the Taiiku Podcast.
Anime Secret Santa – Space Adventure Cobra: The Movie
Category: Science Fiction
Manga of the Month: Heavenly Delusion
Heavenly Delusion by Masakazu Ishiguro
Heavenly Delusion introduces us to a devastated Japan. After “The Collapse,” modern civilization as we know it was destroyed and much of the population perished. I was pulled in by the intriguing, mysterious dystopian landscape which they let wash over you instead of trying to frontload the story with a lot of explanation.
Tokio and other kids are part of a facility that completely encloses them from the hellish outside world. One day she gets a strange message and her friend makes a prediction that someone with Tokio’s face will come to rescue her. The children in this facility come off as ordinary teens going to school, joking around, and awakening to new feelings. But other things are odd, there are secrets here; off limits areas, a lack of information, and you get the distinct feeling that some of them know more than others.
In a parallel story, Kiruko and Maru are wanderers of the dystopian wasteland seeking two people Kiruko carries photos of and the nebulous “heaven,” the final words of a friend. Kiruko is supposed to be Maru’s bodyguard on this journey but their rapport is more of that of friends or siblings, and Maru does his fair share of defending against threats. Their easy manner contrasts nicely as they encounter survivors, monsters, and their own internal struggles along their perilous journey.
What has happened to the world? Who is Kiruko? Why do Maru and Tokio have the same face? Where did the monsters come from? When will this rescue occur? How does Maru know how to fight the monsters? Heavenly Delusion leaves me contemplating so many questions after each chapter I read. The story has layers upon layers, both in terms of the plot and the interior lives of the characters that keeps me turning the pages.
Heavenly Delusion feels like a classic sci-fi story with the added bonus of Ishiguro’s off-kilter characters.
-Kate
Manga of the Month: Kowloon Generic Romance
Kowloon Generic Romance by Jun Mayuzuki
While the story of Kowloon Generic Romance does take place in Hong Kong’s Kowloon Walled City, it is anything but generic.
Real estate agents Kujirai and Kudou work side-by-side day in and day out at Wong Loi Realty Co. dealing with eccentric residents and maintaining the properties around the neighborhood. There’s more than a little sexual tension brimming between the two but Kujirai isn’t quite sure what to make of Kudou or her feelings for him.
Kowloon Walled City is a character itself. Based on the real area which was demolished in 1993, Mayuzuki brings the walled city back to life in vivid detail using a nostalgic 1980s art style. An immensely crowded place filled with shops, restaurants, apartments, vice, crime, and maze-like corridors, it is a place that has inspired endless curiosity. In the KGR version, the neighborhood is also dealing with two corporations trying to exert their influence on it. The walled city is a place where the past, present, and future collide.
From the start you’ll figure out that the title is a bit tongue-in-cheek as little details about the setting are just off. And by the end of volume one the story really starts to reveal itself. Honestly, I hope I have you intrigued because I don’t want to give away too much. As soon as I finished the first book, I wanted to read it again with the new information.
Part romance, part comedy, part science-fiction, part mystery, Kowloon Generic Romance blends so many things that it becomes hard to define but it all intertwines mirroring the walled city’s mesmerizing existence.
-Kate
Reverse Thieves 