The Girl From the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún, Volume 1: Once Upon A Time...

I went into this hoping it would be similar to Ancient Magus's Bride and while the bare bones is somewhat aligned, it's a whole different ball game.

The Stark artwork here - with the shadows telling more than the actual words at times - set the scene quite well. It's almost a fable at first. A young girl lives with a monster awaiting her Aunt's return at the edge of an abandoned village. The woods are haunted, the monster is under a curse the girl lives mostly in obliviousness.

The tale grows darker as the book goes on however. Deeper. More menancing as others see the girl and decide she's a threat.

I can't wait to read the next volume.

I was drawn to the cover of this manga at the bookstore and delighted by the description and the illustration throughout. This is described as a “quiet fairy tale” and that is a wonderful description of this book. I really enjoyed this a lot; it’s mysterious and very different from other manga I have read.

The illustration is detailed and beautiful and I loved the scenes between Shiva and the demon, Teacher, that takes care of her. The scenes between them are sweet and humorous all at once, and I enjoyed the father-daughter relationship they have developed. Teacher takes care of Shiva with what seems to be a some puzzled bemusement as he learns to navigate her desire for tea parties and storytelling. Shiva’s childish enthusiasm show more was sweet and contagious and fun to read about.

The whole story is shrouded in mystery. Some of the mythology behind how the Outside and the Inside became separate is given; however there is a lot of mystery around this Curse. Supposedly if an Outsider touches an Insider then the Insider is cursed to change into an evil demonic beast. This has caused the Insiders to hate and hunt the Outsiders.

The book ends on a cliffhanger which has me dying to know what happens to Shiva next. I loved how this story flowed and how sweet, mysterious, and humorous it was. This was a very unique manga and I definitely plan on continuing the series.

Overall this is an amazing manga that is very different from other fantasy mangas I have read. This manga builds a unique world around the quiet and fairy-tale-like life of two creatures that aren’t meant to live in the same world. The illustration is beautiful and easy to follow and I enjoyed it a lot. I would recommend to those who enjoy fantasy manga and those to whom the description of “a quiet fairy-tale” manga appeals. show less

How can something so dark be so wholesome? I absolutely loved this! The Girl from the Other Side is a dark fairy tale about a cursed creature and a little girl.

The minimalist, sketch-like artwork is simply stunning, with sharp black-and-white lines that amplify the eerie, mysterious vibe. I noticed the use of heavy black ink in rendering the cursed creature, which creates a stark contrast with the more delicate, soft lines used to illustrate Shiva.

The story is a slow burn, but the constant tension—especially the rule that Teacher can never touch Shiva—keeps you hooked. Teacher is gentle and protective, but the restraint he has to practice around Shiva adds depth to his character. Shiva, on the other hand, is a bright, innocent light show more in his dark world, making their interactions heartwarming.

The manga doesn’t rush to explain everything, letting the mystery unfold naturally. The sparse dialogue and use of silence add to the haunting atmosphere. If you like introspective, melancholic stories with a touch of magic and mystery, this one’s a must-read! I definitely plan to read the rest of the volumes (there are 11, I believe)! show less

In a world of those cursed who live outside the wall and those who live inside the wall in fear of being cursed, The Girl From the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún is a quiet fairy tale about a young girl, Shiva, who was abandoned in the forest by her aunt and raised by one of the Outsiders (those who are cursed) who she calls Teacher. Teacher goes to great lengths to protect Shiva from both other Outsiders and himself (all it takes is one touch from an Outsider to become cursed), and Shiva spends her days waiting for her Auntie to come take her home. Teacher knows that there is very little chance that Shiva's aunt will ever come to bring her home, so he tries his best to fill Shiva's days with lessons and fun.

When a mysterious Outsider show more invades their home and touches Shiva, Teacher and Shiva embark on a journey to discover the source and possible cure of the curse. Unbeknownst to either, Shiva may be at the center of a prophecy of the church of those on the Inside, and Teacher may have to go extremes he didn't know possible to protect Shiva. But is Shiva a child of the Inside or the Outside, and is her role in the balance of darkness and light beyond Teacher's control?

I absolutely love this series. The art is beautiful and the story is paced perfectly, a nice balance of quiet tranquil storytelling and the urgency that Teacher feels in keeping Shiva safe. The mystery surrounding Shiva and her role in the battle between the darkness and the light is intriguing. I will definitely be picking up subsequent volumes in this series. show less

My vacation is coming up, which means it's almost time for me to read massive amounts of manga and then write short, spoiler-filled takes for each volume. One of the series I requested is The Girl from the Other Side, despite my suspicion that I'd enjoy it enough to wish I'd just bought the whole thing instead of reading it via the library. A few of the later volumes have come in, but volume 1 is still checked out by somebody, so I decided to read my personal copy prior to going on my trip. (I don't own any of the volumes after this one.)

In this first volume we meet Shiva, a little girl, and the being she calls Teacher. Any day now, Shiva expects her aunt to come pick her up and Teacher, unwilling to make her sad, doesn't tell her show more that she was abandoned. Her aunt will never come for her and is possibly already dead.

According to humans, Outsiders are cursed beings belonging to the God of Darkness, and anyone who lives outside their walls must, by definition, be an Outsider. Teacher, an Outsider, tells Shiva that she must never touch beings like him (?). If she does, she'll become cursed and will turn into a hideous beast.

This was, for the most part, a gentle and lovely first volume with an edge of darkness and bittersweetness that reminded me of Natsume's Book of Friends. The setup and Teacher's design reminded me of The Ancient Magus' Bride as well, although Teacher and Shiva's relationship was unambiguously that of an adoptive parent and child. Teacher tried to get Shiva to obey rules that were designed to keep her safe from things she didn't even know she needed to fear, and Shiva wanted to have tea parties and make flower crowns while waiting for her aunt. Teacher's manner and clothing made him seem like an awkward and adorable bachelor who wanted to do well at this parenting thing but wasn't always sure what to do. In that respect, I was reminded of Bunny Drop (the anime - let's forget the later parts of the manga ever happened).

Their relationship was sweet, even as I fretted over what might happen if Shiva found out the truth about her aunt or accidentally touched Teacher. As far as the touching went, I suspected that, rather than transforming Shiva, it would kill her. The "curse" seemed to result in an awful lot of dead bodies, like some sort of plague.

I ended the volume with lots of questions about Teacher and who and what he was. If what he said to Shiva was true, he was once human, turned into his current form by the curse. It's also possible that he's just a supernatural being with a soft spot for children. There's evidence that his memory is faulty - when Shiva told him that he'd introduced himself to her as Teacher, he couldn't recall that moment. Then again, Shiva could just have an active imagination.

I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this series, but I'm also worried that it's going to break my heart. Here's hoping that Shiva and Teacher both survive whatever this world throws at them.

Additional Comment:

I'm probably one of the few people who noticed this, but someone at Seven Seas messed up and misspelled Nagabe's name ("Nagame") on the last page of the volume. Oops.

Extras:

- Two four-panel comics starring Teacher and Shiva.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún by Nagabe was easily one of my most anticipated manga debuts of 2017. Nagabe is known as a creator of somewhat unusual or unorthodox manga, The Girl form the Other Side easily fitting into that category. (Nagabe's work was actually first brought to my attention thanks to a series of beautifully drawn boys' love doujinshi featuring birds.) The first volume of The Girl from the Other Side was originally published in Japan in 2016, while the English-language edition was released by Seven Seas early in 2017. The quality of the physical release is admittedly a little disappointing–the cover stock feels ephemeral and ink tends to smudge and transfer between pages (granted, this does at least seem show more to be thematically appropriate)–but I'm thrilled that The Girl from the Other Side is being translated at all. It's also worth noting that the manga does share some obvious parallels with another unusual series, Kore Yamazaki's The Ancient Magus' Bride, but even considering their similarities they are quite different from each another.

Once upon a time, two kingdoms existed in a world divided into the Outside and the Inside. Humans live on the Inside behind a wall intended to keep the monstrous Outsiders and the dark curse associated with them at bay. Coming into contact with an Outsider is to be avoided at all costs; to do otherwise means risking ones' life and humanity. But the darkness of the Outside is slowly encroaching upon the light of the Inside. Humans are succumbing to a cursed disease and are abandoning entire villages as they unsuccessfully try to flee from it. Out of fear and suspicion, people have started to turn against one another in a desperate effort to survive. In the midst of this turmoil is a young girl, Shiva. Unexpectedly left behind in an area which is now considered a part of the Outside, she is waiting to be reunited with her family. In a peculiar twist of fate, Shiva is being guarded and cared for by an inhuman Outsider who she simply calls "Teacher." The circumstances are unusual and dangerous for them both as Shiva's safety becoming more and more difficult to guarantee the longer she remains on the Outside, set apart from others.

The fact that Shiva's very life is in danger is clear from the beginning of The Girl from the Other Side. As a sort of prologue, the manga opens with her being warned of the curse brought by the touch of an Outsider while the first panel of the story-proper shows her lying listless on the stump of a tree. She has only fallen asleep, but the visual cues of the scene are closely reminiscent of death. An ominous feeling of uncertainty–is Shiva actually alive or is she dead, how much of her world is real and how much of it is a fairytale–pervades The Girl from the Other Side. Shiva is young enough that she doesn't completely understand everything that is happening to her and doesn't know enough to be afraid. But as she experiences more her awareness grows, even when Teacher tries to shield her from life's harsher realities. Likewise, readers gain more knowledge as the underlying truths of Shiva's situation are slowly revealed. However, they don't have Teacher to soften the blows for them. To some extent Shiva's innocence protects her from the tragedy and heartbreak inherent to The Girl from the Other Side which is so obvious from an outside perspective.

The Girl from the Other Side is incredibly atmospheric, a beautiful and surprisingly gentle and charming story which simultaneously manages to be disconcerting and unsettling. The series is very dark, in both theme and illustration. There is a tremendous amount of ink on the manga's pages–the oppressive shadow of death which haunts the story is reinforced visually, the darkness permeating the scenes. Shiva, with her light-colored hair and dressed in white, stands apart from the unwelcoming environment. She is obviously out of place, separate from what is around her. In contrast, Teacher is clothed in black and at times is barely discernible from the background. But although an Outsider and demonic in form, Teacher is Shiva's only hope, trying to safeguard her from anyone who would seek to do her harm. Their strange yet sweet and endearing relationship is core to The Girl on the Other Side. The life that they have, no matter how impermanent, carries great weight as they face an uncertain future together. The Girl from the Other Side is a gorgeous and striking work; I can't wait for the next volume to be released.

Experiments in Manga show less

Damn, that cliffhanger! 0.0

I'm absolutely in love with the art. It captures the sinister and dark and mysterious atmosphere so so well!! Also an incredible inspiration for Inktober right now.

Getting christian witch trials vibes from the kingdom – alas, a group of people with power sentencing other people to death because they think they might be cursed, but don't really have proof.
I know there will be lots of revelations later on, that most of the tales about the beasts are lies. Definitely.
Well, maybe also not, who knows, but it's very likely.

Other than that, the story is really interesting and the two main characters are lovely. Not much yet revealed about them, but they're already in my heart. I'm begging the author not to let show more them suffer too much. show less