Kanata kara (From Far Away) Noriko and her friends are walking home from school when an explosion suddenly throws Noriko into a fantasy world, right in the middle of a nest of dangerous creatures. Seconds later, token mysterious hot guy Izark rescues her. Little does Noriko know that an ancient prophecy says that she is to awaken the Sky Demon which will destroy the world. Now, everyone is out to kill Noriko (to prevent the prophecy from happening) or capture her (to take control of the prophecy) while Izark becomes her unlikely ally. Whisked away to another world is a trope Japan just seems to love. Add in that a hot guy is always on hand immediately after the jump to protect them and you appear to have a winning formula (is that why Japan's so obsessed with Alice in Wonderland?) But of all the series that use this formula, I have to give props to From Far Away as possibly the best of them. It really lies within the characters first and foremost. Most "ordinary high school girls" in these series have some sort of special ability (typically precognition), but Noriko really does not. What she does have is a positive and infectious attitude and a willingness to adapt to her surroundings. Unlike many other world hopping series, the people of this new world do not speak Japanese. After Noriko fails to be useful once (due to not knowing the word for "water"), she decides that she doesn't want to feel that way again and begins to learn the new language of this world. Over the course of volumes, the translation does great job of having her dialogue become less choppy and more fluid as she gets used to the language. And despite being an easy kidnapping target, she doesn't get kidnapped constantly, making an endless stream of Izark rescues. I believe she only gets kidnapped one time, a pretty good record. Sometimes, all you need is a genuinely nice character to be around without any fancy powers or smarts to get in the way. And the other main character is Izark, who starts off being an ice king. Lots of series like having ice kings for the main to pine after while ignoring nicer guys. While there's really no nicer guy to go after here, his background is actually explained for why he does the ice king behavior. Since that's hardly an excuse, once the background has been revealed, he actually decides that he's going to change his ways and begins slowly but organically opening up to Noriko. By the end of the series, the obvious couple status is believable, and all because Izark actually changes in a believable way. There's a reason that you're rooting for these characters to beat the prophecy and that's because the author does such a good job of making you care. Add in a lot of badass side characters, an epic journey, political power struggles, and some really good sword fight scenes, and you have a winning series that really does deserve more attention. And it has a really nice art book too!  Read: Here ---- This month's pick was from FallnKnightFakir. If you have a a series you would like to be the pick of the month please send me a write up and a few pictures and yours can be next! |
| I love Kanata Kara! I'm a few volumes away from finishing it! (I just need volumes 7, 8, 9, and 13) I really like it. The characters are all very likeable, the artwork is luscious, the fantasy world is very intriguing, and the story is riveting. |
| Amazing story, It's one of my top favorites ^_^ |
| Will try reading Kanata Kara. Sounds interesting. |
More topics from this board
Poll: » Vote for the Hidden Gem of Manga - May 2024Brand - Apr 21 |
0 |
by Brand
»»
Apr 21, 4:32 PM |
|
Sticky: » Suggest a Hidden Gem of the Month! ( 1 2 3 4 )Brand - May 2, 2017 |
181 |
by Mr_Libra
»»
Apr 8, 10:06 AM |
|
» April 2024 - BelieversBrand - Apr 3 |
0 |
by Brand
»»
Apr 3, 6:22 PM |
|
Poll: » Vote for the Hidden Gem of Manga - April 2024Brand - Mar 17 |
0 |
by Brand
»»
Mar 17, 7:24 AM |
|
» March 2024 - Isabella Bird in Wonderland: Unbeaten Tracks in JapanBrand - Mar 2 |
0 |
by Brand
»»
Mar 2, 2:30 PM |