This is from the perspective of an English speaker (I can't read Japanese) who legally purchased the ebook versions of the two published chapters & a fan of Ido Gihou who has religiously read their other works.
It's been 5 years since this story started. Since then, Ido Gihou has become inactive on their twitter in Nov 2018 (which was never all that active anyways) and this story has been left unfinished. Considering that they actually got a decent amount of attention for their work, it's sad to see this piece left abandoned. They only made a small number of completed works, but speaking with the rare other people who have read their work, it's clear to see that their art and storytelling actually influenced some artists, including me.
Their unique and entrancing style created these organic and loose stories. I feel like the attention to atmosphere and intricate character features are something you can't really just find anywhere. You can show anyone the best panels from Ido's manga, and they'll agree on the uniqueness.
This story takes place in a remote fishing village, and you really get a sense of the serene and abundant nature there as the main character, a perky researcher, explores the area guided by the second character, a local boy. The local boy gets embarrassed somehow when he overhears some other locals talking about him and rejects the researcher trying to comfort him. Then later on they have lunch together and bond over some photos the researcher has. There's some more stuff in between but that's a very light summation of what happens in the beginning and end of what's published so far.
The nature is just so gorgeous in this manga. In Ido Gihou fashion, there's a lot of brush stroke variety which gives a chaotic, but flowing and organic feel to the wilderness in the town. Even not understanding the text, the art is just... so stunning. You get a mix of digital and traditional lineart. You get interesting compositions. You get slow, sweet character development.
I think even if Ido Gihou decides to go back into manga and art, they will probably not continue this project so I'm hoping that this can at least be a loving eulogy for a manga that feels so wonderous and tranquil to read, and so solemn and sad to think about.
(-25)
