Sayonara Eri
Goodbye, Eri

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People come and go, but their memories stay with us, and it's our duty to keep them alive.

It's one thing to have a masterpiece under your belt at any age. It's another thing to have multiple, and it's ANOTHER thing to have four of them back to back before you've even hit 30. I may be biased, but I really do think that Fujimoto-sensei has already set the gold standard for mangaka moving forward, and this oneshot is the perfect guide on how he does it.

What I assumed was just Fujimoto talking about a dead relative turned into a story showcasing his obvious love of ... film, and then turned into a manual on how to move past loss and regret. Sprinkle some deadpan comedy into it and you have the perfect formula to get you attached to Yuta, Eri, and Yuta's dad.

Ever since his old one-shots, he's always geared towards normal, human stories with "a pinch of fantasy", and not only has he doubled down on it, he perfected the formula. The story comes to a close with a confusing-- for lack of a better term, parallel to the in-universe film that Yuta shoots. This just ties everything together so much more. This is without a doubt his most "complete" work. Even Look Back could've used a couple more pages to explore the character relationships. The formula seems to be nailed in here, though. 200 pages for a one-shot is insane, especially when you take into account how most tankobons fall just under that number even with the added extras.

The artwork is fantastic, by the way. The perspectives and use of a motion blur when the story is in "camera mode" helps get the message across very well, and the limited paneling does wonders as well. Fujimoto has always loved his empty space and repetitive, quiet panels, but it's never been as apparent as it has been here. There's a scene where two characters are shown eating at the table, and a couple pages are just dedicated to seeing their eating mannerisms. These may be characters on paper, but moments like that really help get the author's points across. It's the little things, yknow?

Fujimoto is here to stay, and we're all just along for the ride. I can only wonder what the hell he has in store for Chainsaw Man part 2, and whatever else comes after that.

Probably a lot of film talk... and explosions.

We got another Fujimoto one shot and there are still no news on Chainsaw Man Part 2, but I don't even care. This man does everything good.

The following review will be me fanboying Fujimoto. And it will contain a bit of spoilers.

Goodbye Eri. 10/10 imo

You read the tittle and think it would be a cliché one shot when one of the characters die, and you would be right. At least for the first 100 pages. But when you read halfway through, story changes a bit. Now you don't know if something is happening or just acting, it honestly blew and fascinated me. As well the ... documentary & commentary feels very refreshing and helps you relate more to the main character.

Another thing this one shot have is its unpredictability. I couldn't tell what was going to happen next and that kept invested through the read. Also it helps that Fujimoto makes you connect to the story with his immersive paneling. (Like when 3 constant pages are full black). Its an amazing and quick read that you can enjoy in like 5-10 minutes. If you have read Fujimoto's work you will like it. Also let me know your thoughts about the ending, do you guys think it was all a movie? Lol, peace out.

I believe that for a manga of this length, it is overly complicated so much so that the topics the autors tries to tacle become almost a parody of their real life counterparts. In the end you are almost left to decide whether everything or nothing really burdened the life of our protagonist and thus the story looses all of its weight because you can't base the story on any concrete truth. For some this might be great but for me it's keeping the story so vague that you might find deeper meaning where there is none to find.

And I can't really agree with statements ... about the quality of writing as the characters folow a linear path with none diverting from the roles they are given. And the dialog is rather average.

My final thoughts are that the manga does have a unique feel but it's nothing memorable.

If you are interested in reading it, it's about a 30 minute read so it's not going to take much of your time.