Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Genre: Manga
People who should read this: If you love old school Manga with a fantasy twist, love, and a colorful cast.
Whelp….
The band-aide has been ripped off. I’m no longer a manga virgin. I’ve finished my first entire series even though it only took me like seven weeks. At this rate, I’ll be up to my ears in manga for the foreseeable future, because you can’t stop me now. Nope. Nope. Can’t stop me. Can’t stop me. Hey. Hey. Hey.
I’m hooked.
How corny can I possibly get in my blogs, because I think I’m starting to push the mark?
From Far Away is an old school classic that my friend wanted me to read. What she really wanted was someone to do all the ships with her and talk all the talk. Sadly, the series wasn’t entirely my cup of tea, but it was entertaining. It got me into the genre.
I mean, first off, the style is dated. Look at Izark’s hair alone. It’s not an entire turnoff, though I’m getting bad flashbacks of my parents from that day and age - a picture says a thousand words - but the hairstyle dates the book. The dialogue is where the real damage comes in. Can I say corny much? Those one liners are a killer, as in you can’t breathe from the shock of it all.
So I didn’t stay for the style. I didn’t stay for the dialogue. I stayed for the story. Again my friends, girls love to be the one to save their guy, and From Far Away is no exception. Essentially, Noriko will either be the one to make or break Izark. Why are we suckers for this? I guess we all have a small level of hero complex. But this very reason, and just like with After, I stayed for all the books. The heart strings were most definitely pulled. The more a book has that troup, the higher it’s going to be rated by me. So be warned, this review is very biased.
For how complex the story felt, how great the world was built, the ending fell flat. In one book the bad guy was beaten, and all because of a single moment. The stakes were set too low. It could be due to the fact that we knew how strong Izark is. He’s the Sky Demon… who could possibly stand against that? I was hoping the guy that created him, but I guess not. Izark was winning too easily and in the one moment that he struggled, there was an easy save the day moment that came too quickly.
Still, my hands are weirdly itching to reread the series. I guess I just want more Noriko and Izark. Which really shows why I read the series. If you give From Far Away a try, stay for a few books. The series takes a bit to get into.
Rewinding…
I want to go back to the world building. In some ways, Hikawa created a world for her characters to really live in. It felt deeper than what she was showing. On the other hand, it was also confusing. There were a lot of politics that I didn’t understand. The pair traveled a lot to different areas which made it even more confusing. Maybe that’s where manga struggles - world building. The expositional moments are missing. Manga is like a movie. You have to show everything. There’s no narrator explaining it out for the reader/viewer to understand. We must all learn along the way.
So does that mean that Manga has a limit? I don’t know. Let me read a little bit more. But I don’t think the next Lord of the Rings will be coming in a manga style.
Happy Reading
Love Kait
Reading Challenge: 59/175