Behind a first cover picturing a cute young girl and an ominous being, Soukon no Shoujo to Sourei no Tabi tells a story about the cycle of life and death and the coexistence between nature and humans.
- Narrative
In this world, nature god-like entities, known as Spirits, are both revered and feared by humans. Alive, they provide bounties to the lands around them. Dead, their bodies release poisonous miasmas, spelling doom to the same lands and living beings they once blessed. At some point in time, Soul Senders appeared, humans seemingly gifted with special powers, able to send off deceased Spirits and to cleanse their bodies. However, there is a cost as they must suffer from the miasmas while doing so.
The initial worldbuilding above sets the conditions for interesting situations about the role of Spirits, Soul Senders and humans. For example, conflicts arise as some people think that Spirits should simply be exterminated to prevent any risk, while some others want to use Spirits and Soul Senders in order to pursue their own goals.
The story revolves around Alpi, a young girl who is journeying as a Soul Sender with her old butler-like servant and protector, Pelenai. Her primary goal is to find some clues about her parents, both of them Soul Senders as well, who have disappeared a few years before. During their travels, they face different situations requiring the intervention of a Soul Sender, obviously of a grim nature and each time taking its toll on Alpi. They also meet other Soul Senders, generally more experienced, and pass by temples for purification purposes, while improving the worldbuilding.
While there are revelations about the nature of Spirits and Soul Senders, most of them, especially the ones involving Alpi's parents, are made in the last volume. This makes unfortunately the last chapters an information dump. Even worse, some of the answers to Alpi's personal quest of looking for her parents are only briefly treated, making these less impactful than it should be.
- Characters
Alpi is a young girl who has lived most of her life in a temple and barely remembers her parents. As such, she is not exactly socially aware, and obviously sometimes acts like a child. However, she is completely devoted to her duties as a Soul Sender, always trying to mend the lands corrupted by dead Spirits, often at the expense of her own safety. She is a fervent believer in the coexistence between Spirits and humans, and is horrified by anyone harming a Spirit, even with good intentions.
Pelenai, on the other hand, is seemingly old, composed in most instances, well-mannered. He is Alpi's sworn protector, always acts with reverence toward her, but he is also affectionate and sometimes educates her, given her young age. Not much is actually known about his past and the story reveals some major secrets about him later on.
The two main characters work well together, Pelenai complementing Alpi's shortcomings. While the journey is a perfect opportunity for Alpi to grow, to learn the significance of being a Soul Sender and ultimately to make her own path, Pelenai is not outdone and also sees some welcome development toward the end, erasing any doubt on his mind and reaffirming his devotion to his protege.
- Art
The cover art design is what first drew me to the manga. It conveys the otherworldly and disquieting nature of the Spirits, beings that would be hard to describe accurately with words. To some extent, this is what can be seen throughout the pages inside, which also does not shy away from showing the ugliness of death through the tattered boy of Alpi while sending off Spirits.
While not being a great manga, Soukon no Shoujo to Sourei no Tabi is a nice journey in a unique fantasy world ruled by the harsh and transient aspect of nature, life and death, and meeting different people with their own lives, views and hardships.
