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Description
The story A, A' raises a troubling question: How would you feel if your lover died - and was replaced by a clone? Could you recreate your relationship with someone who was physically exactly the same but didn't share any memories of your life together?
In 4/4, teenaged Mori flunks out of an ESP training program. But when he meets Trill, a beautiful Unicorn, his latent abilities begin to blossom...
In X+Y, Hagio uses science fiction to explore questions of gender and sexual identity. Time has passed, and once again, Mori finds himself inexorably attracted to a member of the unicorn race - but this unicorn is male... and so is Mori.
Note: X+Y won Seiun Award in manga category in 1985.
i really love this futuristic story, i am a fan of sci-fi and this superbly done manga is a balm to my soul. the focus here of course is romance and the characters feelings feel genuine and true. i love the art, it is airy and light, conveying the emotions artfully. all in all, very recommended.
What I loved most about this is the vibe of old-school shoujo, and the appreciation of one of the earliest shounen-ai manga. The art especially has the nostalgic shoujo look; maybe not "gorgeous" by modern standards, but beautiful in its own right. As usual, HAGIO Moto's works enter a unique realm with the plots, taking place in an alternative, more highly-developed space-traveling society.
As for the individual stories, the last was definetly my favorite, and the first was my least favorite. I loved the concept of "unicorns" in all the stories, though.
For anyone who was wondering, the "shounen-ai" part of the collection is not "true" shounen-ai. As this is one of the first explorations of the shounen-ai genre, it's extremely light, with one of the males not being truly male.
Although the topics Hagio explores within this volume - cloning, bio-engineered humans, people that naturally transition between male and female - are far removed from any issues we everyday readers have to deal with, she manages to instill her characters with enough realistic human emotion to make it difficult not to sympathize with them. This is masterly science fiction drama at the level of Ray Bradbury of Kurt Vonnegut (both authors Hagio claims she was inspired by, coincidentally). And as the only full volume by Hagio ever published in English, it's a necessary addition to the library of any fan of hers.
This one-volume collection of short, but interrelated, stories is characteristic of Hagio Moto's brand of shoujo with her unique spin on science fiction. Each of the stories revolve around the relationships between humans and a genetically-engineered species called "Unicorns". Hagio uses this creative background to address an array of troubling issues ranging from cloning to gender and sexual identity.
The first story, dealing with the troubling question of how would you feel if your dead lover was cloned and brought back to life, is a stand-alone and provides a nice introduction to the setting in which the stories take place. I found the second story, about a boy whose latent telekinesis powers awakens when he meets a Unicorn, to be the weakest in terms of storytelling and pacing. But stories 3 and 4 were absolutely wonderful. I'm always a sucker for stories that deal with gender identity and sexuality, plus it reintroduces a favourite character of mine from the second story.
This manga would be a lovely addition to the collection of anyone who is a Hagio Moto fan. I would also recommend this manga to anyone who enjoys a short sci-fi story mixed with romance.
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