Mikai no Hoshi

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Mikai no Wakusei, Savage Planet

Japanese: 未開の惑星〈ほし〉

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Type: Manga

Volumes: 2

Chapters: 11

Status: Finished

Published: Dec 20, 2003

Genres: Drama, Sci-Fi

Theme: Psychological

Serialization: Manga Erotics F

Authors: Matsumoto, Jiro (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 7.00¹ (scored by 1,724 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #8849²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #3726

Members: 5,521

Favorites: 76

7.00

Ranked #8849Popularity #3726Members 5,521

MangaManga Erotics FMatsumoto, Jiro (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /2

Chapters: /11

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Synopsis

From the author of Freesia comes a story of three childhood friends - Nicolo, Cookie and Naomi - who grew up in a sleepy backwater town on an uncivilized planet. They struggle to get by while holding on to their dreams of leaving town and finding a better life... but can their friendship endure the tests of time? Can it withstand invading armies, broken dreams, conflicting ambitions, divided loyalties, jealousy and even betrayal?

(Source: Omanga)

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Characters

Main

Naomi

Main

Colo

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Naruhachi

Supporting

Reviews

Jul 12, 2013

Polyphemus

Recommended

Mikai Hoshi (meaning Uncivilized Planet) is not a sci fi manga, although it does take place in a futuristic world. It seems to take place in the ghetto of this world; the characters have less technology and modern conveniences than you or I, and the sci fi aspect of the plot mostly serves to give the characters false hope. It is an essentially human story, devoid of gimmicks, raw, and powerful.

Mikai Hoshi, like most Matsumoto Jiro manga, is much more than it appears to be at first glance and is far greater than it would appear to be on a surface level. It actually ... tends to be underrated even among fans of Matsumoto Jiro's manga, for supposedly being more conventional and simple; the truth is that it is absolutely unique, even among his extraordinarily strange manga, and it is utterly fascinating. The art is sketchy and unrestrained, in this mangaka's characteristic style, and could even look slightly amateurish to the untrained eye, but it is astoundingly atmospheric and closer examination will show that it is in fact chaotic, but it is an expertly calculated and purposeful chaos. The plot seems simple and short, but there is far more to it than it would initially seem. For instance, on my first read through I made the fatal mistake of assuming the sex was meant to be erotic (it is absolutely not) and that it was inserted into the plot for the sole purpose of fanservice, but I soon realized that sexual desire, objectification, and corruption is one of the core motifs of this manga, and is important in how it parallels modern society. Mikai Hoshi is a heart-wrenching and tragic tale, but in a very unconventional way that is entirely atypical in classical storytelling. Most of the characters lash out uncontrollably as a result of their suffering, making them intentionally difficult to empathize with. The cast seems doomed from the very beginning, and it's clear to us that there will be no complete happiness or truly happy ending, making this manga more of an affirmation of nihilism than an argument for it. The readers witness a snapshot of several characters' lives, eerily similar to our own, yet exaggeratedly horrible. There is no epic plot, there is no fall from grace, and there is no nobility. There is no grand war, but there is an oppressive, yet cowardly, military force. There is nothing pure, nothing sacred, and all becomes corrupted soon enough. There is no happy present, just an unreachable past plus a seemingly unreachable future. There is nothing but a cesspool, on rock-bottom, populated by dreamers, exploiters, and the exploited; all of them getting by however they can, and the distinction between these three categories being often indiscernible, never clear cut, and constantly overlapping as the plot progresses. Despite this constant and unshakable misery, this sorrowful tale is brought to a compelling and unpredictable conclusion, and it somehow manages to remain an emotional roller-coaster throughout.

The characterization is arguably the strongest aspect, although there are only three central characters. This is one of the best and most intriguing love triangles I have ever read, if their relationship can be considered simple enough to be classified like that at all. The two women in the main character's life go through much development as we learn more about them, as they commit acts of desperation, and as the plot progresses. In the beginning of this manga it seems as if one of the girls is "good" and the other is "bad," but this is quickly changed as the audience's perceptions and ideas of what these words mean are challenged. They both show displays of compassion and malevolence realistically and understandably. You will most likely end up feeling equal parts fascination, sympathy, and animosity towards the pair of them. The main character is a sympathetically meek and artistic space-case (pun unintended) who just wants to live his life, but is never really allowed to. He spends his time and money on people who never appreciate him and who treat him, literally, like dirt. People use him and treat him like an object, rather than an artist or a person. Everyone around him pushes him around and generally makes him miserable, forcing him to take refuge in his daydreams about a small cast of surreal space-adventurers. These bits of fictional comic relief, that took place in his head, contrasted and paralleled with the main plot in a masterful way that actually enhanced the bitterness of the atmosphere rather than clumsily injecting sweetness or humor into such a bleak plot. The main character slowly comes down from this fantasy world, and they eventually connect, as he suffers more and more, and he slowly becomes one of the more self-aware characters in the manga, although that may not be saying much considering the consistently delusional nature exhibited by most of the cast. Character development is universal and every character serves a purpose.

Mikai Hoshi is saturated with symbolism and demands much attention (perhaps a couple readings as well) for full appreciation, even during the disturbing, depressing, and difficult to look at scenes that this manga is so full of. It has just about everything that I look for in a manga, and it is easily Matsumoto Jiro's strongest non-one-shot work. It takes most of the best ideas that are explored in his one shots and expands on them, thematically and atmospherically; it does this in a somber way and, as mentioned earlier, all humor only serves to make the plot darker. It contains more profound and intelligent, if simpler, societal commentary than all 82 chapters of Freesia, while never losing focus, and it feels a lot less aimless than Netsutai no Citron. Mikai Hoshi is a multifaceted, cynical, and supremely nihilistic story that just about anybody who isn't overly sensitive to sexual themes or tragic plots will most likely appreciate in some way or another.

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Jan 7, 2009

Beatnik

Recommended

This is a pretty interesting tale by Jiro Matsumoto, containing all of his trademark style and ambition yet lacking a little in the art, story and humour department compared to his other works. Yet the story is what makes the manga most interesting, even though it is a composite of conventional narrative beats, it's still a strange animal of its own and remains unique compared to other manga.

Contrary to appearances this is not a sci-fi tale, but it is interestingly set during a vague war that Matusomoto continually returns to in nearly all of his manga, even throwing in a cameo appearance of two ... of his best characters from his previous published manga. The backdrop in Uncivilized Planet looks a mix of middle-eastern and east European. Architecture and clothing styles look mildly Arabian at times and random extras populating the story look like gypsies, but fear not as there is no hackneyed allusion to modern day warfare in those regions, instead the war aspects remain universal in nature.

The sci-fi aspect shows itself through continuous fantasies dreamt up by the main character to mirror his current mental state in the real world. It plays out like a humorous manga version of old American TV sci-fi, like Lost In Space. It gives the manga an extra spark that makes it stand out from the crowd, and it needs it because the entire manga at heart is a pretty simple and conventional tale of wanting to get the hell out of a backwater town.

Uncivilized Planet lives up to its name. It's a dark depressing existence full of desperation and misery. The populace focused on in this tale live under occupation and resort to violence and sex to get through each day. It is under these circumstances we are dropped into the lives of Colo, Naomi, and Cookie. Three childhood friends who are actually a triangle with very sharp edges, as the two females detest each other and the witless indecisive meek artist Colo remains between them bearing the brunt like an amazing car test dummy.

Although all three characters may not earn your sympathy or respect during the two volumes, what's interesting is how Naomi and Cookie in some ways begin the tale on opposite sides of a personality scale and throughout the story slide into the middle then onto the other side again. Their arcs ensure that even if you don't like their characters, you'll be fascinated by their development and find yourself feeling mixed emotions as to what you're meant to be feeling for them. At the end of the day, they're human beings under pressure of war and seeing them squirm and struggle against something greater than them is compelling, however depressing it is. Or perverted.

Matsumoto's tales always have time to think up new ways to insert things into women, and this is no different. His previous manga handle sex much better than this through imaginative ways to move the story or affect the reader, but this time it feels more conventional (as conventional as Matsumoto can get considering the crazy sex here) and as a result it feels a bit tired and overdone. At least he remains able to create these scenes without it feeling too exploitative, in that he doesn't revel in the abuse of women but has these scenes as a ridiculously heightened way to convey utter despair, unflinching desire, and survival instinct.

Uncivilized Planet is a decent coming-of-age tale that despite some shortcomings still emerges victorious in the end thanks to Matsumoto's ability to wrestle a satisfyingly emotional resolution out of all the sex and violence. The victory is so good you should hopefully feel a pang in your chest in the final chapters as each character's arc nears its end, proving that even when reigning in to convention, Matsumoto brings the goods when it comes to character, story and art.

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Oct 25, 2022

KitsuFrost

Not Recommended

Mikai no Hoshi is the DUMBEST, CRINGIEST and most MEDIOCRE manga I've ever read. To be honest, I didn't know what to expect of it at first sight, but considering its recommendations and synopsis, I could figure out it was one of those "niche" mangas. Written by Jiro Matsumoto, it tells the story of three childhood friends, called Nicolo, Cookie and Naomi. They live in an "uncivilized planet", where its natives are constantly at war, and guess what? They are just like humans! There you can see that this is just a metaphor for how humans are evil, and all those kind of stuff you ... read and watched in thousands of different medias. Nothing new here.

The story starts with Cookie dancing to strangers for some money, with Nicolo as a musical support (also as a slave, since she abuses him). But turns out that she does more than that to survive, which is selling her body in those kinds of ways you already know. Naomi, the third character, sells bread to make a living. However, when a opportunity of earning more was given by the army in power, she grabbed it with both hands. But turns out that the "work" was doing the same thing Cookie does. Not only that, but the general in charge of the military is a cringey pervert who likes harming the thousands of women there. The plot then shows their tragic story, and how the views they had in their childhood are not reality, once they became adults.

There you can notice that this manga loves to show perverted h-scenes that add no purpose to the story, just for the sake of shocking and to make it seems like it has any deeper meaning. It is pretentious, pointless and annoying, and proves to be a waste of time, especially with its poor message wrapped in weak symbolism. You see, if this manga was honest with itself, and didn't try to be bigger than it actually is, then it would be something special. Another issue is its characters, which I mentioned previously. None of them ever stands out, and their novelty and few interesting traits wear off pretty fast. Add it to the fact that there is no such thing as a solid message, which makes the whole universe look loose and uninteresting as well.

The closing of the story was the only moment that grabbed me. I really liked the climax, Naomi's conclusion came somewhat unexpected and fair. And right after it, Nicolo decides to leave town, but Cookie tries to stop him. They have a tough fight, he almost strangles her, and after coming to terms, they make a promise to meet again. Promise that Nicolo himself knew would never be fulfilled. After a couple of years, Cookie get married and becomes a mother, and Nicolo leaves city to find his way out there.

The art is fine, it made the story atmosphere more depressing. It fulfills its job and works well in especific situations of the story. Sometimes the dark and gritty ideas make the plot immersive. But this doesn't mean much when the whole material isn't appealing.

In general, Mikai No Hoshi has a simple message, that could work if only the manga was honest with itself.

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Mikai no Hoshi
Uncivilized Planet
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