Feb 26, 2021
Earth Recording 0001 is a story about friendship, a story about what it truly means to be human.
The one-shot revolves around Soichi Mawatori, who lost his mother at a young age and has been ostracized his entire life for his burnt face. Despite his predicament, Mawatori refuses to give up hope and aspires to be an astronaut. After many years of hard work and determination, his dream finally comes true. Upon being sent on a mission to the Moon, he discovers a rather mysterious human-like creature there, whom he later names "Io". Following the fateful encounter, Mawatori and Io start to converse, learning more about
...
each other and becoming friends along the way.
0001 makes it clear right from the first page that it's going to be covering some heavy subject matters, and thankfully, they are handled with a lot of maturity. Within only 60 pages, it tells a simple and understandable story with well-handled and mature themes. There isn't anything revolutionary about the themes themselves, but they are indeed thought-provoking and beautifully executed.
In essence, 0001 is built on the ingenuous relationship formed between Mawatari and Io. Despite belonging to two completely different species with little to no similarities, an unbreakable and sincere bond is created between them from the start, and the manga does a great job at making this apparent. Mawatori and Io have always been lonely because of their own circumstances, but they find solace in each other's company. Their conversations are short yet engaging, being some of the most genuine and heartfelt conversations I have seen in such a manga.
Mawatori is actually a well-written and realistic character; he isn't simply created to draw sympathy out of the readers. A glimpse of his past and the reason behind him wanting to become an astronaut is shown subtly, which makes it easier to find him relatable. On the other hand, not much is known about Io and who/what she actually is, but this mystery surrounding her, in fact, makes her a more interesting character. Both Mawatori and Io receive a fair amount of development and go through some change by the end of the manga, and the development is very deserving and subtle.
Being a one-shot, 0001 does have some obvious downsides. If you exclude the main cast, there's almost nothing interesting to say about the characters. It feels like the concept also could've been expanded upon a bit further, but it just wasn't possible due to the rather short length. Because of that exact reason, some parts felt a bit rushed near the end. It should also be noted that the Sci-Fi aspects of the manga aren't very strong and might prove disappointing to Sci-Fi enthusiasts (or simply fans). But again, it's only a one-shot, so it wouldn't be a crime to overlook these minor issues.
The art of the manga is distinct and solid for the most part. Assuming this is the author's first work, it's noteworthy how good it looks. The background designs are fairly limited due to the setting being mostly constrained to the Moon, and there are times when the faces can be a bit off, but on the whole, the manga is quite well-drawn.
As someone who likes reading one-shots a lot, I found Earth Recording 0001 to be particularly remarkable and heartwarming. People who dislike melancholic or bittersweet stories should probably avoid it since it deals with a few heavy issues, but just saying, you would be missing out on an amazing one-shot if you do that.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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