Haruka Tooki Ie
A Home Far Away

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*A brief journey with a poetic end, where sinners hope to find their haven*

~~

Brief in length, heavy on pathos. A Home Far Away is an exceptionally appropriate title in encompassing the cognitive state of the spiritually and societally ostracized through the lens of religion and domestic misfortune. To escape from it all, those people need a home: a community of shared love and warmth.

I just have to say, the author really gets it. By that, I mean the indubitable highlight of the story, which is religious guilt. There lies a copious amount of stress shouldered daily by people who think they are the devil's spawn ... due to their realization that their heart's desires misalign with their bodies sculpted with the likeness of The Divine Entity. The fear of being cursed, intermingling with the hatred of one's nature, all stream into this woeful ocean of philosophy:

"If I were born differently, this love wouldn't have been a sin."

And at the very least, that newfound home could have been one without the gallows for a backyard; where greetings don't come as meted judgments; where they can be one with the neighborhood, warm cheers close in proximity as they all relish in the greatest gift given to man, the ability to wholeheartedly love.

Of course, contrarian scenarios all too well exist in real life, and the author resolved to capture its full tragedy. Sprinkle in some hope and joy to exacerbate the looming threat, give the characters some time with peace that should have been theirs to regularly taste to begin with, before finally pushing them off the edge once and for all.

How cruel is the truth that this world cannot save space for the people who need it most.

All this to say, A Home Far Away was sad to read. Despite the depressing frame, the hasty approach it took dried up the adhesive of a surefire emotional journey, thus preventing me from being too heavily invested enough for a heartbreak.

However, it had its powerful moments, such as when Alan shot through the crucified statue of Christ. That bit, yes, it broke me to pieces. That whole scene in the chapel subdued my capacity for optimism, because it was the last nail in the coffin. After being enclosed on all sides, even Jesus, whom Alan had faith for and prayed to even after all the pain His devout apostles (his parents and the priest, though he really shouldn't be included) gave him, had failed in Alan's eyes.

His entire life was practically dictated by people and things that didn't come from his essence. Simultaneously, there is a breathless feeling of denying who you are to escape the punishment of sin. Despite having Hayden, a runaway of memories, even that was fleeting in the end too. It is poetic that their end was met at the palms of the ocean, the primordial source of life and the material used to relinquish sin in the hopes of a resurrected one without it.

I express all this, but the genuine emotional movement I had could only be attributed to the approach the story took and the execution to traverse the plot. Were it to be more fleshed out, were more avenues to have been explored, were it to have been more than a trauma dump and a flash-to-pathos, maybe I would have had sufficient room to move as the author's stringed puppet play. Nevertheless, it was a good experience overall, and I am not discounting its loyalty to its themes and the resolute gestures to paint a melancholic work.

"If I were a woman, loving you wouldn't be a sin."


Story:
This manga tackles some highly controversial and heavy topics, such as religion, abuse, neglect, vices and evil. But what's absolutely amazing about it is how much it manages to cover without feeling rushed in just a few chapters.
The story is well thought through and executed in such a way that it will make you a part of it; an onlooker unable to do anything, but exposed to every single emotion shown in it.
If I had to pick one, I'd say 'love' is the main theme; however, it takes on different shapes and directions, ... and gets mixed with sadness, grief, self-loathing, joy and freedom.
This is, in a way, a critique of the society as it is, pushed to the extreme, with all these double standards, injustice, selfishness, wickedness and darkness it incorporates. In a world that rejects your very existence, a fight for freedom and love is as hard as they come; and while you're gasping for air amidst all that tragedy, the guilt lingers.
This is a story about finding oneself, breaking the chains of trauma and hatred, escaping toxicity, healing and selflessness.

Art:
The art is stunning, absolutely beautiful and powerful. It fits extremely well with the story and further elevates the severity of it all. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then some of these panels speak volumes about the mindset, torment, dedication and salvation.

Characters:
The MCs in this particular manga have such a deep understanding of one another that, at times, it can make them seem a bit too alike, but that is only if you were to look at this story superficially. Should you try to dig deeper, you'll realize soon enough that they are totally different individuals with very compatible souls.
They don't feel one-dimensional at all, and both have a lot of personality and layers to them. It might be hard to relate to their individual stories, but it is extremely easy to relate to their rawness, especially during monologues.
The focus is purely on the main couple, with the rest simply being extras present to further emphasize their motives or help us understand where their feeling are coming from, what has shaped them and in what way.

Enjoyment:
If your life has been, in any way sad, or if you have felt alone and betrayed, this will resonate with you.
Anyone thinking about reading this, I suggest approaching it with no biases and no prejudice. Just because one does not want to admit something, it doesn't stop it from happening to someone, somewhere in this wide world. This being a 'boys love' story shouldn't define it's reality as impossible outside of the genre. This is fundamentally a slice-of-life, that could very well have been described through a shoujo, seinen or any other demographic.
Personally, I found this story rather sad, but beautiful at the same time. The message it carries is as important as it is a grim reminder to us of how unjust the world we have created has become.
This story is a very human one, and a very painful one. It goes to show just how much one person can hurt or break another, how much suffering one can cause and just how long-lasting the consequences are; but also how one person can become another one's salvation; a home, a safe place, a new world, freedom.

This is what this manga did to me through its chapters: it made me feel. I felt so bad, and happy, and glad and confused, and mainly I was invested in the story.

Haruka Tooki Ie is about 2 boys that went through a lot and decided to deal with it together.

The backstory of the characters itself isn't the most original thing, to be honest it, but i don't think the matter or the point is really the backstory, but how it's been told, how we can understand what the characters feel and empathize for them even if we didn't (or did) go through the ... same they did.

I finished this in a very little amount of time, and in this short time I've went through more emotions that I've felt while watching entire movies. Another great point is the art, it's relaxing, it's beautiful, it's warm. It's so important for me to see what I'm reading, that's why I like comics and mangas in general, they make me go through way more feelings when I can SEE the information I'm absorbing (even though I'm pretty invested in books and novels as well).

As far as i'm not a professional into making critics and availing things, I realized there are no reviews of Haruka Tooki Ie, which makes more difficult for people to find interest on reading it, so I simply decided to make a review of my own of this short, dramatic and emotional piece of work, with what I feel from the bottom of my heart after reading it.

After all this useless speech I made, i think I should do a final review at least.

Story: 8
As I said before, some things are far from being original, but it's not like it was a problem at all, because it brings up unfortunately rather common problems that people could have gone through life, and it's developed in such a sad, dramatic and kinda beautiful way.

Art: 9
I dont have nothing to complain about it, the artstyle used to duo with the story of this manga is beyond beautiful.

Characters: 9
I think the main thing to be availed is the characters. The world goes around them, the story is about them and how people see them. I don't think there was really anything left to be added, there were few chapters but it was enough to show us the main characters and make us understand everything we needed about them, make us feel sorry about them, care for them.

Overall: 10
It might be just according to my very personal feelings, but for such a short story, the message it gave was way too big and it did the work that many similar on going pieces of work couldn't. Haruka Tooki Ie is definitely not for everyone, but I would recommend it to anyone interested on reflecting all of their life decisions and ideals, and crying for fiction that is mixed with reality.