Omoide Emanon

Description

In the winter of 1967, a 20-year-old man returns home from his travels aboard a ferry, where a chance encounter forever alters his perception of the world around him. While relaxing in the cabin, he is approached by a beautiful yet enigmatic girl who introduces herself as Emanon; later that evening, the pair accompany each other to dinner.

After seeing the man read a science fiction novel, Emanon offers to tell him her life story, saying that he doesn't have to believe it unless he wants to. And much to the man's surprise, she proceeds to inform him that her memory dates back over three billion years, to the very moment when life first appeared on Earth.

Omoide Emanon tells the extraordinary tale of a girl who serves as the planet's witness—an inheritor of genetic memory that has been passed down her maternal line since the beginning of life itself.

Type

Manga

Related Series

Sasurai Emanon (Sequel)

Associated Names

Emanon's Memories

Memories of Emanon

Wspomnienia Emanon

Воспоминания Эманон

Спогади Еманон

おもいでエマノン

回憶愛瑪儂

Groups Scanlating

Kotonoha

Latest Release(s)

v.1 c.Part 2 (End) by Kotonoha 16 years ago

v.1 c.Part 1 by Kotonoha 16 years ago

Search for all releases of this series

Status in Country of Origin

1 Volume (Complete)

Completely Scanlated?

Yes

Anime Start/End Chapter

N/A

User Reviews

N/A

Forum

0 topics, 0 posts

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User Rating

Average: 8.2 / 10.0 (797 votes)

Bayesian Average: 8.13 / 10.0

17%

24%

34%

16%

Last Updated

October 27th, 2025 3:49pm PDT - 2 days ago

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Genre

Drama Historical Psychological Sci-fi Seinen Slice of Life Supernatural
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Categories

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Category Recommendations

I Became the Squirrel That Saves the Villain

Sasurai Emanon

Dearest Fiancé, I Know You Despise Me

The Esper's Game

Teito Monogatari (FUJIWARA Kamui)

Recommendations

Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan

Mushishi

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou

Author(s)

Artist(s)

Year

Original Publisher

Tokuma Shoten

Serialized In (magazine)

Comic Ryu (Tokuma Shoten)

Licensed (in English)

Yes

English Publisher

Dark Horse (1 vol - complete | print & digital)

Activity Stats (vs. other series)

Weekly Pos #791

(-5)

Monthly Pos #1621

(-341)

3 Month Pos #3394

(-205)

6 Month Pos #4661

(-109)

Year Pos #5715

(+439)

List Stats

On 445 reading lists

On 877 wish lists

On 1960 completed lists

On 21 unfinished lists

On 377 custom lists

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User Comments [ Order by usefulness ]

To minimize the vast world we live in

by Yin_no
11 months ago

Rating: 9.8 / 10.0

Omoide Emanon explores the idea of a human bearing the entire history of the world by herself, yet given this vast setting, Kajio Shinji decides to tell a story of such a short moment, simply a fleeting moment for both of them, which seems to me is a way to symbolize the moments in life we go through that seem to slow everything down, free us from our worries, and mark a memorable memory, within the countless memories we hold, one that will stay engraved to our mind, following us till the day we part.

Also, just personal taste, but Tsuruta Kenji’s art style is probably my favorite of all I’ve come across so far.. It’s not the cleanest, nor the most elegant, but it to me seems unique, and most importantly, the illustration of the character and the personality, perspective, story it is tied to seems to fit perfectly, completely capturing the essence of the character itself.

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A good read

by Noburo
5 years ago

Rating: 6.0 / 10.0

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

... Last updated 5 years ago

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One of my absolute favorites

by discoshark
8 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

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.

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Arresting and lovely

by cecropiamoth
12 years ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

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 12 years ago

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Simple Art, simple story

by arouraleona
13 years ago

Rating: 7.0 / 10.0

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.

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Wonderful

by Verix
13 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

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 13 years ago

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Why she...?

by Kamugin
14 years ago

Rating: 8.3 / 10.0

I couldn't give this manga a 10 or even a 9 because

the author gives a weak pseudo scientific explanation to Emanon phenomena when she can only be explained as magic or miracle. Thinking a bit about it: none of her billions of ancestors ever died before giving birth to a descendant? The probability is so low that it can only be explained as a result of magic or deliberate interference of a superior being. And why she loses all her memories as soon as she gives birth? The mother looses all the memories of her present life too? This is the only explanation to she (the mother) forgetting her previous encounter with the protagonist, so is it instant amnesia righ after giving birth? The gene is still inside her cells isn't it? And she can't gives birth to another female child after the first one? What would occur if she have a second (or more) daughter? She wouldn't be another Emanon phenomena? The mother should die right after delivering her daughter, this would also increase the overall feeling of sorrow of the story. And Emanon could talk more about what she experienced in the past, this also could improve the story. Try to overlook these incongruities and only "feel" the story, then you would be pleased and deeply touched by Emanon.

... Last updated 14 years ago

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a little response

by iamwhoam
14 years ago

Rating: N/A

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 😛

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Perhaps...

by calstine
14 years ago

Rating: 4.0 / 10.0

...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 14 years ago

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in non-sentenced words

by yuno19
14 years ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

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.

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