“Walking home from school one day, Noriko is innocently caught up in a terrorist bombing. Rather than being blown to bits, she finds herself transported to another world; a world in which darkness seems on the rise, as its powers desperately search for a being known as the Awakening whom it is said will awaken the Sky Demon. She finds this new world to be dangerous and overwhelming, and Noriko has little choice but to throw her lot in with the mysteriously powerful man she encounters upon her arrival. The enigma of this world and her role in it will gradually unfold, but first things first: Noriko must learn their language!”
I thought I’d break away from the traditional book review, and write about the latest manga that I have just finished reading. I haven’t picked up a manga in a long time, but when I read what Kanata Kara was about, I couldn’t resist reading it. I can say I really don’t regret picking it up.
Review:
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a sucker for the time travelling genre. There is just something so eternal about a person travelling through time to meet their destiny. Throw in romance and I am completely sold.
Kanata Kara is about a young girl, Noriko, who gets transported to a fantasy world where she becomes known as The Awakening, a powerful creature who has come to awaken the Sky Demon and destroy the world. On her first day there she meets and is rescued by Izark, a citizen of the strange world who has a particular interest in Noriko.
Izark clearly doesn’t trust Noriko and does his best to distance himself from her, yet time and time again he finds himself falling for the young girl and rescuing her from the terrible things that are after the power of her Awakening. For her part Noriko quickly falls in love with Izark, being the only person whom she unconditionally trusts in the new strange world. The rest of the manga follows Izark, Noriko, and the allies they make, through their adventures to discover what exactly is The Awakening and the Sky Demon, and how they can stop them.
The best thing about the manga is definitely the romance between Noriko and Izark. She gives herself to him from the very beginning, trusting him blindly to take care of her and rescue her. As for Izark, it takes a little longer until he accepts his feelings towards Noriko, mostly because he is unsure of her powers as The Awakening, wondering if perhaps it wouldn’t be better to kill her in order to avoid the destruction of the world. However, when they both accepts their feelings for one another, their interactions become simply swooning. Their love transcends and you cannot help but cheer for them.
One of my favourite aspects of the manga is actually getting to see the growth of his feelings for her. At the beginning he is cold and keeps her at a distance, but once he accepts his feelings, his adoration and love for her become visible on very page.
From this point other parts of the manga just come together naturally. It always helps that each supporting character comes alive in their own right, making you feel and care for them, and actually see how important they are in the journey that Izark and Noriko must face.
Izark is everything I want my hero to be, let’s put it that way. Noriko on the other hand… She is lovely in every way, and she cares deeply for people and wants to help them as much as she can but, well, she can’t. She is definitely a damsel in distress and almost always Izark comes and saves her. This adds tons of emotion and growth to their relationship that’s for sure, I just would have liked it if she were to actually pick up a sword and kick some ass.
Ultimately, the emotion and depth doesn’t go beyond what is on the page, but what is on the page, I found it to be wonderful. I would still recommend it to anyone who is into romance manga, or just manga in general.
Rating: 8 (Excellent)
Book Snarks 