Beautiful art, coupled with a meandering, but thought-provoking narrative about a person's place in the world, the importance of memory, and a de-anthropocentric ideology that decentres people as the centre of the world. In years to come, rocks and soil will probably outlive the human race. I loved Memories of Emanon, and Sasurai Emanon continues this lineage with a more personal take to this theme and tone (albiet repeating itself a few times). We no longer see our mysterious main character, Emanon through the eyes of another, but she is now our protagonist. Her thoughts, emotions are all privy to us. There's also an over-arching narrative about espers and the like.
However, you'll find that contrary to Memories, the writing is not as focused as Memories of Emanon, most likely attributed to the non-linear structure. Plot points come and go, some stories aren't even finished, only hinted at, foreboded but never told. I think the idea is intriguing, especially poignant thematically, but its execution feels haphazard, especially when these are stories that have a narrative thrust. What's up with the espers? What's going to happen to her brother? The man who wants to wed her? With narrative threads that intriguing, you can't just end on the note of - I've yet to discover them, they are the in the future...
Still, the tonality of the story, and the art is fantastic.
It's just such a shame that the story ended in such an inconclusive, and unfinished way. Perhaps the reason why Emanon captures the spirit of wandering so well is because the mangaka has the same aimless spirit, constantly wandering to the next project and only revisiting when inspiration strikes. Ok, but jokes aside, it's a shame that the publisher dropped the project. Even if I could understand that it was ongoing for a tad too long. Still, considering what we have right now, even if I think the story won't hit the same highs as the end of Memories of Emanon, it would've been nice to see Emanon's story of wandering through.
I sure hope that another publisher picks this up, or it continues as a Doujinshi.
