By Nagisa Yuu
Copyright © Nagisa Yuu

Several weeks ago, I was discussing anime and manga with a Japanese friend when I made the mistake of confessing that, aside from mecha and Miyazaki and Madoka, I also had a weakness for shoujo manga. And the subject was not CLAMP or PLEASE SAVE MY EARTH, although I do love them, but the die-hard hearts and flowers, romantic with a tinge of tragic, sappy pink stuff. Yes, my friend took one look at ITSU MO TSUKI GA MITEITA and laughed his head off.
Normally this reaction would cause one a significant amount of distress and embarrassment, but since I really do enjoy these types of stories, I felt obliged to write an EX article instead. Most of the shoujo material to make it outside of Japan tends to lean towards sci-fi and fantasy, and, with the exception of Marmalade Boy, leaves out what in Japan counts as prime sales to the early teenage demographic. The bulk of these manga are not long series, but one-shot stories carried in the various phone-book size magazine comics that abound. ITSU MO TSUKI GA MITEITA, by Nagisa Yuu, follows in this tradition. Two stories have been collected into this one-volume comic book.
The title story ITSU MO TSUKI GA MITEITA ("The moon has always looked over me") is about two cousins who first met five summers ago as children. In a twist, they find themselves falling in love, only to be forced apart by their circumstances. The outcome is, of course, never in doubt, but the story manages several surprises and a dramatic climax.
The other story is a two-part piece called ISHI TO DIAMOND ("A diamond and a stone") and SONO KODOU NI DAKARETAI ("I want to be embraced by that beat") and it is actually the more interesting despite the clichée naming. It begins with a young girl, Miki, who has come to Tokyo to meet a supermodel. She is turned away as just another fan, but it is clear her feelings are different when she rips up a poster in frustration and pronounces her hatred of this person. We find out Miki is this model's daughter, born out of wedlock and raised in secrecy. When the two finally meet, Miki asks her mother, "Why did you decide to give birth to me?" It turns out that Miki, too, might be pregnant...
My first encounter with Yuu's works was an earlier book called SUMMER NUDE. I picked it up on a whim because, in a sea of lackluster titles, it had gorgeous cover art. Yuu's style is typical shoujo—large eyes and tall, lanky bodies—but it is very well-drawn shoujo art. Overall, it is nicely detailed and very pleasantly readable in a visual sense. I very much enjoy her faces, which convey emotions such as anger and helplessness quite dramatically.
Another attractive feature of Yuu's manga is her ability to create strong female lead characters. They do look cute but, unlike those found in many shoujo works, they do not act dreadfully insecure and/or pitifully air-headed. Especially in ISHI TO DIAMOND, you have a character who holds a distinctive personality, a young teenager scared yet strong-willed.
One last thing that helps prevent me from tiring of Yuu's stories is that they are short; the two in this review are about a hundred pages each. Long serials have their own advantages, but those points can also become weaknesses when a solid plot is dragged out over fifteen or so volumes. One-shot stories have little room to work with and, as such, have to be well-executed. Yuu succeeds reasonably well on this level in part because she does not adhere to the same formulaic setup each time.
In essence, if you laugh at shoujo manga, then pass this by. (I am surprised you made it this far!) If you have a romantic bone or three and would like to try something new, ITSU MO TSUKI GA MITEITA is a good place to start. For the more daring, I also recommend SUMMER NUDE for its admirable brazenness in making an incestuous relationship seem to be a righteous example of true love.

Published by Kodansha
192 pages; b&w
ISBN4-06-341066-8
¥390
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