A manga is a Japanese graphic novel. It aims at a very vast audience and almost anyone can find a story that they love. It is a medium used to bends time and reality making incredibly difficult topics captivating. Challenging what is accepted and approved – it is freedom.
Full moon is one of the lighter mangas that deals with multiple concepts making them almost simple. It is set in an alternative universe where denizens of the dark rule the night and the majority of the humans are weak and pitiable. In short it is characterized under the genres of action, romance, supernatural and shounen (literally translates to boy, it deals with themes of violence and is tied with action and adventure).
It was written and drawn by Shiozawa Takatoshi. He is a recluse that wants to be known by and only through his work, hence there is very little available about his personal life. All that is known is that his birthday is on November 30th and hence he is a Sagittarius (the zodiac signs are almost always given importance), and that his other works include Final Fantasy Reishiki and Hyouken no Shinigami. He does however admit that one of his most treasured experience was working under Ohkubo Atsushi, the very well-known author of Soul Eater.
The world is divided into day, night and the land of the moon. Society lives their everyday lives during the day and the night is run by the creatures out of the worst nightmares. Hence since ancient times prominent families were recognized that could produce people that would live in the shadows to protect the light – gun wielding, sword swinging exorcists. The story follows two different plot lines. One traces the Daniel sisters Mei and Kai. Kai the younger one is a very powerful exorcist while Mei is a normal human. Yet the demons fearing Kai, curses them to never meet. Kai is expelled from the known world. Mei who has no discernable powers of her own except that of courage, love and loneliness searches perilously for ways to bring her sister back, while continuing to try and uphold the job that has been handed down for generations. When the clock strikes 12 the world of the moon is awakened. Kai is able to able temporarily possess Mei’s body in order to help out. The other story is about Sliep Yellotte. A girl who is desperately trying to prove that she is worthy of the title of exorcist while constantly battling her fear. She meets a boy named Olda who has remained the same for years. He was forcefully turned into an immortal mechanical being. Together they set out to seek vengeance on the people who corrupted the boy. Between the sisters and them we meet a great many people. A vampire that desperately wants to die after watching his loved one slowly perish, power hungry humans that will do whatever it takes to live forever, demons wishing to possess the moon and little girls that use the moon to create haven for themselves among many more. Throughout the whole story the one constant is the moon. At different instances it is used to symbolize power, immortality, memories and dreams. The Moon is shown as the only light in the dark night sky. In life too everyone desperately tries to possess and kill for the light to somehow escape the darkness. The mangaka uses the moon as the symbol of an object of extreme desire. He ultimately wishes to show that the only difference between the ‘monsters’ and the humans is that at least the creatures of the night are honest about their lust.
Divya Elizabeth Chandy
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Thought Circus 