A touching and beautiful tale of a young girl’s dream.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Kou Yaginuma
What They Say
In a Tokyo in the not too distant future a young girl studies deligently with ambitions of soon attending space academy. If things work out just right, her future may very well be among the stars as well. And yet, everytime she looks up to the stars with tremendous hope for the future, there is a sense of melancholy in her heart. A sadness surrounds Asumi, as the very concept of space exploration has profoundly changed her life for as long as she can remember.
But she is not alone…A young man wearing a lion’s mask is always beside her. He speaks of the constellations and galaxies as if they were like home. He knows what it is like to love the stars–slightly bitter and yet always so warm and inviting. The truth is he has gone through much of Asumi is just experiencing. And now in spirit, he will forever be with Asumi guiding her on her path to space where she hopes to be reunited with the spirits of not only her space traveler friend, but the mother she lost more than ten years ago.
Technical:
The front cover here is a simple one of Asumi standing in front of a somewhat crude background with constellations in the sky and the twin Spica stars glowing in her hands. It works well enough, but the background here feels a tad cheap and leaves this as probably one of the weaker images portrayed here. The back cover, however, fares much better, showing a nice image of Asumi, Kei, Marika, and Mr. Lion, as a Japanese rocket over a night’s sky filled with fireworks. The paper used here is a tad thin but still feels solid. Honorifics are unfortunately absent in this release, but sound effects are left in their original form and subtitled, and everything reads smoothly.
The art in this book is fantastic, done in a simple yet charming style. Not a lot of detail is used, but none is wasted and emotion is portrayed beautifully here. Backgrounds are also basic but effective, appearing when needed.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Asumi Kamogawa is a young girl doing her best to get into Tokyo Space School. However, her mother passed away in an accident related to the crash of Japan’s first space shuttle when she was only 1-year-old. As such, Asumi has been left alone with only her father (and her mysterious friend Mr. Lion, who always wears a lion head) to look out for her. She tries to hide her application from her father, fearing he will be upset with her due to what happened to her mother. However, when her father snaps at her for trying to hide her application to the school, it turns out his anger was due to her trying to hide her dreams.
Having settled things with her father, Asumi departs for the qualifying tests for the space school. There, she learns the test will be held in an isolation room with two partners and take one whole week. The testing proves intense and is clearly designed to force the partners at one another’s throats. It works and nearly drives Asumi’s group apart, but against all odds they manage to make it through.
The rest of the book is spent on bonus chapters detailing the backgrounds of Mr. Lion, Asumi, and Asumi’s mother.
In Summary
Twin Spica is a touching and heartfelt tale that chronicles Asumi’s attempt to fulfill her childhood dream. She’s a simple and pure character who’s really easy to root for, and she interfaces well with the other characters around her. While her partners in the test are always at odds, she does her best to just get along. The supporting character of Mr. Lion also works very well, floating in and out of scenes and making you wonder just what his role really is. Hopefully, the story will really pick up pace come the next volume (as it seems it might) as this series certainly has potential.
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Vertical
Release Date: May 4th, 2010
MSRP: $10.95
