Uso no Kodomo (hereafter "False Child") is really the first manga in which Kawamura breaks ground, stripping away most gimmicks and tropes to present an original idea amongst the increasingly saturated world of manga themed around childcare and executing it with cleverness, sincerity and an instantly recognizable art style. What's more, the way author deals with the themes presented, namely grief and surrogacy, is very keen and humane as far as manga goes and can only come from someone who has been paying attention.
Here be spoilers. Yes, even the first chapter can be spoiled, which the synopsis might have inadvertently done so already, so get on with reading it. It's worth the time.
The plot revolves around a married couple trying to come to terms with the death of their only child and their subsequent decision to adopt the manga's namesake, and intelligent shapeshifting animal which, having vowed to take revenge on humanity for being mistreated, has taken the form of the couple's deceased daughter.
Intriguing or not, whatever conflicts might arise from this setup are secondary. It is through the little interactions between the false child and humanity that the manga really shines.
The work is filled with such moments, whether they're the husband bursting into tears the first night the false child joins them for dinner as he realizes that the amount of food his wife was used to cooking, an habit which she had carried over from the time their actual child was still alive, was perfectly suited for a family of tree, or maybe the false child realizing at last who exactly the girl she disguised as was, or perhaps, and specially so, the chapter's focusing on the girl's neighbor, which will be left to the readers to see for themselves. Apart from being touching, whenever Kawamura writes these scenes, he manages to keep them believable and deeply human. In fact, these moments showcase a perceptiveness that completely contrasts with the obtuseness that was so pervasive in author's previous works, so much so that, was it not for his signature art style, one could almost doubt they were done by the same person.
Touching on the subject of the art style for the unfamiliar, it is minimalist and geometric, but also captivating. Nevertheless, it also leads to a minor problem with the manga: while effective during the more humorous sections, the cutesy art style may, for some readers, dampen the punch of the more emotional moments. The reason why this is a minor problem is that the weight of the more emotional scenes originates from the context and from the author's newfound acuity, not so much from the art itself. If you can find in these highly stylized forms the semblance of a human, you're more than set to enjoy it.
I first wrote this review when the manga was still being published, and in the older review I mentioned how I feared Kawamura would stretch this work until it lost all effectiveness. But the manga is finished now, divided in 20 short chapters, and it's a relief to say that it was a great manga until the very end. I can't tell what headspace Kawamura was in when he first got this manga going, but he should definitely tap into it more often.
