Creative Staff
Story/Art: Leiji Matsumoto
Translation/Adaptation: Zack Davisson
What They Say
Emeraldas, known throughout the galaxy as the Pirate Queen, travels through space on her heavily-armed ship, searching for a secret. Hiroshi Umino is a young boy who escaped the bounds of Earth only by building his own spaceship. He crashes on Mars, where he encounters Emeraldas, who sees a little of herself in the reckless young man.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Leiji Matsumoto is a legend, but his sci-fi classic Queen Emeraldas is my first real exposure to his work. I’m always a bit intimidated by sci-fi and space stories in particular, as they’re sometimes littered with unexplained terminology and epicly long storylines. Despite my hesitations, this first Queen Emeraldas is not only accessible and beautiful production-wise, but it might just be one of my top reads of the year.
The story alternates been the young Hiroshi Umino, a boy with dreams of building his own spaceship, and Emeraldas, a mysterious woman who wanders space in search of something — something that carries a distinct feeling of loss. The two are inexplicably bound when they meet during Hiroshi’s youth; Even then, Emeraldas seems sure she’ll meet Hiroshi again, giving Hiroshi the burning drive to meet the mysterious woman someday again in space.
It’s this relationship that drives the story as both Hiroshi and Emeraldas explore various places and planets — each with their own landscapes and social problems — in search of one another. Emeraldas always seems one step ahead of her opposite though, hinting later in the volume that Hiroshi may not like the truth of their eventually destined meeting. Even with Emeraldas’ elusiveness Hiroshi finds help along the way; many of the men he meets seem taken with his dream of building a spaceship, seemingly reminding them of their own youth. At the same time Hiroshi’s adventures are weaved in-between very slow reveals of Emeraldas past, and she almost feels like less of a person and more a representation of something — though time will tell what that is, if anything. In many ways, with her name known through the galaxy, Emeraldas is exactly who Hiroshi is seeking to become.
Both the inside and the outside of the book are worth noting as well. Inside, the sprawling art matches the epic space story. Matsumoto has an older style, and it’s a beautiful one; outer space is dark, vast, but detailed, spaceships feel real, and locales feel distinct and different. Production-wise Queen Emeraldas comes in hardcover, with out of the ordinary glossy pages throughout. Everything about the book’s presentation reflects care for the material.
In Summary
Don’t miss Queen Emeraldas. There’s a push and pull between Emeraldas melancholy and Hiroshi’s boyish dreams, and the story remains genuinely compelling throughout this first volume’s 400+ page run. Seriously, don’t miss this. It will touch you.
Content Grade: A+
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A+
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Kodansha Comics
Release Date: July 26th, 2016
MSRP: $24.99