Tsuki no Sango

"Tsugi no Sango"(Moon Coral) is one of the early works of all-too-famous Nasu Kinoko, who is known for his story to "Tsukihime" and various "Fate" series. It can probably be described as "Tsukihime Prototype"(similar to "Fate/Prototype"), as here the Moon plays an important role in the story as well. However, it shares more similaries universe-wise with another short story by Nasu - "Notes" Now some words about the plot. Here we have a post-apocalyptic(Or sort of) world set in a year 3000 or so. The humanity has long reached it's peak of existence and slowly began to deteriorate, "loosing its will to live on". The maincharacter(from the first sight) is Kataribe - "the storyteller girl". Some characters also refer to he as the "princess". The main story begins when she encounters a strange tiny man in a spacesuit(Kobito) and tells him a story which her grandmother used to tell her. However, further on we see how the story actually played out from its character's point of view. A funny thing is that the story told by the girl differs from the actual turn of events, her own interpritation being the reason to it. The main idea of the plot, in my opinion, is finding the meaning of "love" and being able to "love" certain individuals or humanity in general. Each character in this story has their own opinion on "love": Chikyuu(the moon guy) discards his love for humanity and leaves for the Moon to live in solitude, Kataribe doesn't know the true meaning of loving someone and etc. Overall, the story is very beautiful and dramatic. Most characters are very developed and have distinguished backgrounds. However, I wish they told us more about the main protagonist - Kataribe herself, such as her childhood, how she came to be the princess and so on. "Tsuki no Sango" is a short, yet very dramatic story which definetely deserves more attention than it has now. So, if you're into such plots and stories or just want to pass the evening reading something "light", then you definetely should read this manga. Trust me, it'll be worth it.