scifi-golden-era

[scifi-golden-era]

'11 nin iru!' translating to 'and they were 11' is a 1970s manga by the queen of sci-fi Shoujo herself Moto Hagio.

As a final test 10 cadets are isolated on a spaceship with the premise that they will pass if they can survive without outside help. All good but there seem to be 11 cadets. Someone is lying and might even be dangerous. Asking the examiners could mean they fail.

STARS: 🌕🌕🌕🌘🌑 (concept deserves a 5/5 but it's a bit rushed for me)

TRIGGER WARNINGS: typical era misogyny (the author has apologised and changed some of the language for the re-release, but some is too ingrained) p.d: author is a woman

PERSONAL OPINION: this was a total page turner and can totally understand why they call this author the queen of sci-fi. It was addictive and left me wanting way more of this. The end was a bit abrupt which makes me believe it would be amazing if it just got left a big more space to breathe.

ACCESSIBILITY: While not mainstream, this manga and author is an absolute pillar of manga history, which means there are several translations to almost every language and even collectors editions. Due to the shortness of the story it might be found in a collection of Mangas of this author.

[scifi-golden-era]

'7seeds' is a 2000s manga by the acclaimed Yumi Tamura.

It is a post apocalyptic story in which 7 teenagers and a handler wake up from a cryogenic sleep into a destroyed Japan.

STARS: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 (MAXIMUM STARS THIS IS MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE MANGA)

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Rape

PERSONAL OPINION: My favourite manga so far and I've read more than a thousand manga if my reading list is to be believed. The cast is incredible with each character adding a layer to which to explore what it is to live and be human. Even those with little page time are shown to have a life of their own even when unrelated to the main plot. Making the world feel alive and humane.Everyone here is the main character of their own story.

SPOILER TERRITORY -> My only ripe is that that rape scene was unnecessary to the story. Like it would have made more sense for his character to try to kill her instead.

ACCESSIBILITY: There's an awful anime adaptation by Netflix that will actually make your enjoyment of this story worse if you watch it. The manga has online translations but no official editions outside of Japan (from what I've researched). Also good luck finding merch or fanart for this masterpiece...

[scifi-golden-era]

'Please save my earth' is a Sci-Fi Shoujo manga written by Sali Hiwatari in the 1980s.

The story goes about a group of kids that start having dreams about their past lives where they were austronauts of an alien planet stationed on the moon to study humanity only for a deadly virus ends up infecting the space station killing them all.

STARS: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Rape, homophobic language, pedophilic undertones.

PERSONAL OPINION: There's something about this story that becomes addicting and I can never put it down. There's always a mistery to be unveiled and something to learn.

The main character is a gentle soul that in any other manga I would hate, but her last reincarnation she had to be strong for everyone and her current self is probably all she ever wanted to be and I can't but feel happy for her to achieve peace after all.

The story also has a running theme of letting go of the past and looking forward. All characters but the main character get trapped on who they used to be while the main character can appreciate what this new life has to offer and guides them. It is quite a beautiful message and so elegantly delivered.

There's some interesting stuff used with the memories of the characters which are mixed with their emotions so none of them know the truth.

ACCESSIBILITY: There are English fan translations online. It has an anime adaptation and it has been published on most Latin European countries with Spain obtaining a new edition this year (after being out of print for forever). Also there's a spin off of this manga which I do not recommend you read.