May 9, 2021
There are 15 out of 21 volumes physically released in English. As of right now I have completed the 7th volume and will likely update it when I'm either on the 15th one or finished with the series entirely.
A brief thought of my feelings on it: It's absolutely mesmerizing, I think anyone who has the opportunity to read it should read this beautiful piece at least once. The captivating artwork is the closest thing to angelic as you could possibly get. Watching Masumi climb to the top when she is lacking even down to fundamental points is so enthralling, every volume has me wanting
...
more.
Now onto my fuller feelings.
I wasn't necessarily sure what to expect when I first saw Swan. I randomly searched up the name on the database out of curiosity and clicked on it. Seeing as the physical copies can be a bit harder to get and that the online scans only went up to a bit of volume four; I decided to get the first volume just to try it out. To my surprise, even the first volume had me in awe, desperately wanting to know what would happen next. Hijiri Masumi a 16-year-old ballet student is shown a whole new world of ballet than known before. Previously Japan in comparison to the other countries during this time period has a great disadvantage to ballet (according to the manga) since it is generations newer to Japan.
Some of the characters like Kyogoku aspire to create a whole new world of ballet for Japan internationally. Whereas Masumi tends to just be dancing as it is her passion to.
Masumi has a great number of self-doubts but still attempts to push forward despite even her own body pulling her back at times. With the characters Kyogoku, Masumi, and Masumi's instructor Sergieve there is visibly an achieving amount of character depth and it builds an interesting dynamic between each relationship.
All in all, I would not like to give too much away but would like to vocalize how incredible I believe this manga is. I'm just as surprised that I'd be this drawn into a manga about classical ballet as I feel the next person could be once they start this title. Ariyoshi Kyouko is truly brilliant for this piece and I hold high respect to her, not only for how majestic the performing scenes are but for the brilliant dialogue that goes into it as well. It's very clear that Kyouko fully comprehends or at least has done an extensive amount of research on ballet performances as well as the dances and techniques in order to write about them in this manner.
Because the publisher went defunct and there is no copyright for this manga I will be physically scanning my copies and putting them online. If you are interested in where they will be privately contact me, as I would rather not publically spread it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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