Kagen no Tsuki (下弦の月) by Ai Yazawa

最近、"下弦の月"というマンガを読みました。このマンガは短いですが、とても面白いです。そして、意味が深いです。絵もとてもきれいです。私は"下弦の月"が大好きです。えと…私は日本語で書きません！でも、このマンガを読んでください。さあ、英語で書きましょう！

I first saw this in my school's AV room, since it's been made into a movie. I was really intrigued by the blurb so I decided that the fastest way was to simply read the manga. And wow, it's really great! Plus, it feels good to finish a series! The three I'm currently reading are still on-going (not that I'm complaining)

Hmm, how should I summarise the book without giving anything away? Well, let's see, the protagonist of the book is Hotaru, who meets an amnesiac ghost and developes a friendship with her. Well, after that, the book is mainly about the girls trying to help the ghost they dub Eve. All Eve remembers is that she's going to meet her boyfriend Adam (see why they chose that name?). What happens is a well-written detective story, although the reader knows from the start who Eve really is.

What I loved about the book was, simply put, the story. It's simple but captivating. It also explores the notion of identity, although I suppose you could say that since it's Eve has amnesia, they can't avoid the issue. But there is this plot device, that made me wonder - what makes us us? Is it our memories, or is it what we dub our personality?

The characters were also while done. While I'm still a bit sceptical about why a bunch of school children (like Primary School age) were having romances (but it was very slight!), I think that they were well characterised. All of them were distinctive, and their individual quirks didn't appear forced on them. The "older" characters were also well done, although I would have liked to see more of Tomoki. I didn't really see how he was suited to Eve. There was a very sweet flashback, but still, I really wanted more backstory.

On the other hand, the romance between Adam and Eve was quite sweet if slightly sad. I don't know if Adam is meant to be the "bad guy" but I thought this story was very sad. Actually, thinking about it, I think we're supposed to feel sympathy for Adam. The last chapter made it very clear, because it was the one chapter where we're shown his point of view.

All in all, this is a very short but good manga. I managed to finish it in 2 days and the only reason why I took so long was because I could only read it in school (and I can't read during my lessons....)