It's short and sweet. It's a sci-fi novel, but in manga form. Definitely recommend!

... Last updated on January 7th, 2021, 8:42pm

The greatest refutation of the Great Man theory of history since Marx's historical materialism. The story of life in the planet is condensed in one single person, and that person goes through the planet much like everyone else. She smokes, she falls in love, she wonders what it's all for. And then she passes it on.

In the Emanon fragments we get a strange combination of terrific drawing, a strong sense of mystery, and beautiful nudity. Items 1 and 3 are brought to us by the artist half of this manga-making team, TSURUTA Kenji. A look around at his other manga shows that this artist glories in drawing nudes and complex scenes and settings, and he's great at both. I feel that he shows to a very high degree something that artists have that most people don't--a true love of the look of the world, which gives rise to a patient willingness to do the hard labor necessary to fully render his favorite aspects of it. Because the Emanon fragments are so visually gorgeous and so conceptually full of wonder, I recommend concentrating on these aspects of them, and not being too hard on the storytelling member of this creative team, or the scanlators, or whoever, for creating a setting that is full of wonder but which never comes to fruition in an absorbing plot. Those of us who read manga translated for free so far from Japan should be used by now, after all, to the phenomenon of the incredibly promising tale which we never get to see completed.

... Last updated on January 7th, 2014, 7:49pm

I very much enjoyed this as a light read. I like the idea of a person being an embodiment of history. Sure, the sciencey explanations he offered weren't realistic, but they weren't meant to be. And Emanon never validated those as a science. Emanon is Emanon, and that's fine. As a short story it's light and sweet and thought provoking. I like that the mothers live and simply pass the memories, which makes the memories more like an inheritance than a genetic disorder, as the prime-instance of Emanon suggests.

I also like those last few word-less art pages that feature the man aging while she watches on. It's very sweet. This wasn't mind blowing by any stretch, nor was it the most beautiful art I've ever seen, but it was good, and that's what matters.

By the end of the story I thought that was chapter one, honestly. That's how fast this reads. Good thing there's a sequel. Try not to think about the story outlines *too* much. I loved this little story and highly recommend it.

... Last updated on May 12th, 2012, 11:32am

I couldn't give this manga a 10 or even a 9 because Try to overlook these incongruities and only "feel" the story, then you would be pleased and deeply touched by Emanon.

... Last updated on October 20th, 2011, 7:49am

i dont know for you people if you saw it this way... but you can view the whole simplicity of the story and art as well, as an allegory for "the humbling of one's self when one acquire's vast knowledge".

just look at emanon, she isn't portrayed as mind-numbing smart ass even though she is described as the cradle of knowledge, but instead as modest-looking girl who loves to smoke, hang around which shows an exact opposite of an intellectual elitist.

the story is not in the deepest, i believe the author instrinsictly didnt intended to

...I delved into this little volume with the wrong expectations at heart. All in all, I was rather disappointed by the execution of what could have been a very unique tale. Unlike most of the people who've commented here, I saw no depth or any particular beauty in the way the story was laid out. Being a chronicling of the experiences of a being with a memory as old as life itself, I expected something a lot more profound; a few small snippets of thought-provoking conversation and perhaps a meaningful look into the various kinds of relationships she'd had with different people through the ages. But there was none of those -- simply something like a conversation between two lovers-to-be (both of whom happen to have rather quirky personalities and interests)...only in this case, they didn't actually end up together. And I really disliked the implication that the only pleasant and memorable relationships in a person's life are the ones s/he has with potential love interests. It's sweet and romantic the first 1000 or so stories you read, but it does get old eventually.

The ending, however, was the redeeming factor. The "life goes on regardless of what we expect from it" feeling was strongly emphasized, and fit in better with the overall theme of the manga than anything that had happened in the preceding chapters did. I also found the art to be very lovely.

Omoide Emanon is certainly not a bad piece of writing -- but the impression that it could have been so much better left me with a sense of dissatisfaction I could not quite shake off; hence the rating.

... Last updated on July 24th, 2011, 10:14pm

beautiful. gloomy. disappointing but understandable. light, but leave depth.
in this manga you will compare humanely desire up against something that much bigger. we are put at humanely side, but we are forced to realize how petty we are. disappointing yes, but very much understandable.

the story is about a young girl who 17 that meets with a guy who is 20 years old. the manga interprets the way the offer sees life and memories come through ancestor and ssuch.
depending on how you see the story and understand it, you may life or dislike it depending on your beliefs.

this story has no action or any real plot if you expecting so, just a short story explaining life.

i woud have given an 8 because the art style is not really detailed for that style, but again the point of the story was just to give a message to readers through images.

good book
piece out !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!