Adabana

When I picture immortality, I see it as a painful existence with no end. That, to me, seems like the closest reality to immortality I can think of. So then, when a work of fiction follows that path, I can't help but be intrigued. Especially when it actually turns out rather well. Adabana is a oneshot manga and winner of the 14th Square Enix Manga Prize. I can tell you that it deserved that award. It is far from perfect, but as I've read some truly average manga lately, this one was a nice surprise. There are are some plot points that weren't needed. Namely, thelittle girl character. It just added moe to a story that didn't need it. The actual premise itself is pretty interesting, if a bit vague. Perhaps had it been turned into a full length manga it would have fixed the plot holes, but as this was created to be a oneshot, the holes it had were entirely too large. The main character is the only character worth mentioning, and he actually reminded me a lot of Kenshin from Rouroni Kenshin. I wouldn't say he had development at all, and this seemed like a rather insignificant piece of his story in the grand scheme of things. What the author did do right was the trope of a character hiding his pain. It's obvious this character isn't as happy go lucky as he acts. Yet, the manga never forces it into your face that he isn't. It shows rather than tells, and does it subtly enough to be effective. The art is what I rated the highest though. It looks gorgeous in places, and when it doesn't it still manages to look good. I'm not talking AAA quality, but it's certainly easy on the eyes. If you don't mind oneshots that obviously hoped for a full length manga, then you could do a lot worse than this. It's a rather short and enjoyable story about immortality that never goes very deep, but still delivers enough to not make it feel like a waste of time.