Akaku-saku-koe
Title: Akaku Saku Koye/koe (Voice That Blooms In Red)
Author: MIDORIKAWA, Yuki (Yuki Midorikawa)
My Evaluation: B (Very Good)
I like this work better than the more famous ”Natsume Yujin-cho” of the same author. The combination of the simple and warm art and the simple theme brings a breath of fresh air into my heart. Closing my eyes, it seems as if I could see petals of a red flower ( lycoris, according to my image) on that air.
I only wish the art was a little easier for readers to understand the story, for the movements of the characters and the background look rather clumsy, though it does not damage the concept.
Story:
This is a series of small episodes about a high school boy Karashima and his classmate girl Kokubu.
Karashima has a peculiar voice that no one ever can resist his order spoken in the resonant tone. Thus, while Karashima seldom utters a word in front of his classmates, he cooperates with the police to capture fugitives using his voice. The cooperation to policemen gives Karashima a sort of relationship with other people which he cannot get at school, but at the same time, he also notices the contacts with criminals may give ill effect to his own fragile personality. The episodes repeatedly reveal Karashima’s fear and lonliness, but as his relationship with Kokubu slowly deepens, there turns out dim hopes to the future.
Data: First appeared in LaLa (Hakusen-sha) in 1999. Now available in Hakusensha-Bunko.
