Reviews

Oct 21, 2008
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is one of those works that just comes along and doesn't manage to gather a huge fanbase, but the cult following it does gather will remember this story for a lifetime. It's simply outstanding, and manages to carry a story larger than its obstensibly slice-of-life tone with just enough subtle hints to carry it into the realm of mystery and science fiction.

Story: 10 (Outstanding)

The story is about Alpha Hatsusueno, an unusual young woman living in the outskirts of Yokohama, Japan. After a brief conversation with Ojisan, her closest neighbor, we quickly discover that this sometime-in-the-future Yokohama has been wiped out by rising water levels, and we also discover just what makes Alpha so unusual - she's actually an A7M1 android (or rather gynoid, to be gender-correct), a practically perfect mechanical representation of a young woman constructed for purposes not even she is aware of, other than to serve as a prototype for mass-produced others like her during some forgotten time. She spends her days looking over a cafe waiting for her never-seen owner, until one day a package arrives delivered by another young woman named Kokone, who just happens to be a robot herself. Their mutual loneliness gravitates them towards each other, and Alpha learns to venture further away from Yokohama on a voyager of self-discovery while learning more about the few people left in her life.

A fantastic story indeed, heavy on character and storytelling visuals, we get a true sense of what this world is like and what these characters are experiencing.

Art: 10 (Outstanding)

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is masterfully illustrated in both its character designs and landscapes, something most closely matched by the grand works of Myazaki. Alpha and her fellow female robots are downright gorgeous (admittedly a major part of the appeal of this work for the author :) and the scenery is breathtaking. What really elevates this work to a masterpiece is the magic integrated into the art - the surreal imagery of streetlights glowing underwater and having an out-of-body experience in midair is something that has to be seen, especially when it's done so well on the static page.

Character: 10 (Outstanding)

Alpha Hatsusueno is a very well-done character who has everything to offer to the reader - a gorgeous young woman who learns to have a love of life through the friends that surround for her and love her. I realize what I just wrote may make her sound out to be the ultimate Mary Sue but this characterization is carried off very well. Her character is an interesting mix of various things, ranging from childish naivety to piercing wisdom and insight, serving to illustrate the contradictions of living as a young woman who is in fact older than most people left alive. The other characters around her are just as richly told, with Kokone displaying many of the same degrees of naivety-to-wisdom but in a different manner, reflecting her different interests, motivations and aspirations; the humans serve to reflect off the robots, and to reminds us that these robots are reflections of ourselves.

Enjoyment: 10 (Outstanding)

All of these factors come together to make Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou an absolute triumph of storytelling. Truly, it is a deep experience that one is not likely to forget and reminding the reader as to why it may just about be perfect.

Giving Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou a final score of:

10: Outstanding
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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