From Far Away, Volume 1

Welcome to volume 1 of Kanata Kara or as it's known in English, From Far Away. This is another manga I picked up because of an article in Animerica Extra, but the added bonus is I love Hikawa-san's other works (notably Chotto Friday and Chizumi & Fujomi). This is a straight out the boat fantasy (despite Noriko saying it's a cool scifi story), which Hikawa-san doesn't have many of.

Cast!
Noriko, a high school student--I believe first year (10th grade) making her about 15?--who dreams of a fantastic world filled with beautiful sights. Thanks to a terrorist bombing (and destiny) she finds herself in another dimension at the center of an age old prophecy naming her The Awakening. Will she bring ruin and destruction to this land or could the show more prophecy be wrong and short sighted?

Izark, a mysterious fellow of few words who saves Noriko after she lands in his world. His favorite saying is currently "I don't understand what you are saying" since Noriko initially can't speak his language (nor he hers). He's superhuman in speed, fighting ability and leaping tall mountains in a single bound. Sadly if Noriko does turn out to be the The Awakening of the prophecy he has to kill her. Its sad because he kind of expected The Awakening to be less...nice.

Keimos, basically a violence happy merc that loves blood, dying men screaming and killing. Not always in that order tho. He's joined a search party looking for the prophesied one (aka the Awakening) and is rather put out that someone potentially stronger beat him to it. He's so put out that he kills a man for pointing out that its must have been hard for that mysterious other man to do such a thing. Keimos is then FURTHER put out because Agol is like "dude stop killing the peons".

Lord Rachef, young, polite defacto leader of the free city of Rienka, he has a keen interest in Keimos and the Awakening (mostly in that order) and knowing the future. Geena Haas gets a creepy vibe from him (which Agol just assumes is because he's such a powerful figure), but look he has this sinister little smile on his face the entire time. And he's only interested in Keimos AFTER Agol says he's a crazy homicidal brute.

Agol, father to the brilliant Geena Haas, he became a merc for hire to earn money to cure Geena Haas' blindness but regrets that it means she's lonely often. Probably a much better guy then his current occupation would imply though. Currently in service to Lord Rachef (more or less).

Geena Haas, extremely young (she's like 5) but powerful seer who happens to be blind (I would draw the conclusion that because she's blind she can "see" so powerfully, but I really think her blindness was a device of the story so that Agol would work for Rachef). Tends to act older than her age, and is devoted to her father Agol. Bit of a serious sort and shy.

Part of what I love about this manga, and is something I rarely see, is that Noriko takes the time to learn the language. We see her struggle through a few volumes before becoming fluent enough to converse easily and throughout the rest of the series she still speaks in a much simpler, stilted manner than the others. Having read more portal fantasies (or Scifi portal books) then I can name, its aggravating when its hand waved away somehow. (The Touchstone trilogy by Andrea K Host also features this to an even more detailed degree). Plus Noriko does this when she realizes that if she learns the language to some degree she can be less of a burden on Izark and helpful. Potentially also figure out how to get home.

There is also the fact Noriko is a practical sort. She freaks out, that's to be expected, but recognizes that she needs to be less of a burden on Izark. She works hard to be useful, even as limited as her abilities currently are, which only confuses poor Izark more because really who expects the ruination of their world to be cheerful and friendly?

Izark for his part doesn't get upset with Noriko or irritated. He's occasionally exasperated (she wakes up at one point and would have run blindly into a stone wall if he hadn't protected her head), but overall he treats her kindly despite his conflicting emotions about the fact if she turns out to be The Awakening she has to die a real dead death (his hardline about why is explained later on).

As a whole the series is a much more thoughtful and quiet manga, unlike Red River which was releasing at the same time (in America at least) and is a soap opera roller coaster (plus smutty, From Far Away does not feature the smut). There is action, but it largely contents itself with soft beautiful illustrations, quirky characters living their lives and an examination of what a foolhardy endeavour it can be to trust prophecy. show less

This first installment of Kyoka Hikawa's fourteen-volume From Far Away series, which came highly recommended by a friend with a great deal of experience in the genre, is my first foray into the world of Japanese manga. I had previously read one manga-style comic from Australia (Queenie Chan's The Dreaming), but never anything from Japan itself, so I was curious to see what I would make of it. Apparently it is a "shōjo" manga, which wikipedia informs me is a sub-set of the genre aimed at young women and girls, featuring human relationships, and the emotional lives of the characters. All in all I was pleased - thanks, Jeannette! - and, despite having a little difficulty adjusting to the storytelling style and layout (more on this anon), show more plan to continue with the series.

A work of fantasy, From Far Away opens as high-school girl Noriko Tachiki, on her way home from school, is caught up in a terrorist blast, awakening to find herself in an alternate dimension, where her coming has long been foretold. Known as "The Awakening" in this other world, Noriko's presence is prophesied to awaken the terrible Sky Demon, a monster of great power, and so the various countries and powers, although ignorant of her form (or, indeed, that she is a girl at all) seek her, hoping to gain that power for themselves. Fortunately (or not - although I have my own suspicions), a wandering warrior named Izark - mysterious, solitary, and endowed with super-human skills - finds her in the Sea of Trees, and comes to her aid, disguising her, and guiding her to the nearby city of Calco, where this opening episode concludes...

It was a little difficult for me to acclimate to the storytelling style here - I found the ubiquity of sound words quite distracting: way too much "ffttp!" and "zazaza!" for my taste - and although I quickly adapted to reading from right to left, sometimes the sequence of panels, within a given page, wasn't clear to me. Generally speaking, it seemed as if the artwork was divided into three lines, or strata, on the page, and when the panels consistently followed these three levels, I had no trouble following along. But when panels would alternate from incorporating two levels at once, and then back to two divided panels (not sure if that makes sense), I would stumble. I think this must be a case of needing to read more in the genre, and that it will come to feel more natural to me, as I gain more experience with the layout of manga.

In any case, all that said, I did enjoy this, and although the premise - a girl with a hidden destiny, in some other world - was hardly unique, the story was engaging, and I wanted to know what happened next. Noriko sometimes felt a little too innocent and unworldly to me - even a little submissive at times - but then again, she was thrust into a completely alien world, so her complete dependence on Izark made sense. She's a realistic girl, I think, rather than a Robin McKinley or Tamora Pierce style heroine (not that I don't love that kind of heroine!), and that has its place. I appreciated the fact that, after an initial period of panic, and of almost-immobilizing fear of the unknown, Noriko decides to try to adapt, by learning the language. Which brings me to: I really liked the fact that Noriko and Izark don't understand each other - it was really quite funny, as Noriko would constantly start on these long speeches to him, and his response (in his own language) would invariably be: I have no idea what you/she just said! - and appreciated the gradual process whereby that starts to change.

In sum: this was an engaging first reading experience, both with Hikawa's series, and with manga in general, and, the book having concluded with a cliff-hanger (naturally), I will be seeking out subsequent volumes! show less

Holy moly, "regular schoolgirl gets transported to an ancient society where she is destined to fulfill a prophecy and fall in love with a handsome bishounen along the way" is such a specific trope, but it sure did have a Moment™ in early 90s shojo manga (}Fushigi Yugi, Ao no Fuin, Red River, From Far Away, probably more I don't know about yet). It's a great premise for a story though, so I'm not complaining.

I really liked that the author here chose to acknowledge the language barrier the main character would have instead of explaining it away with magic or something. Not being able to communicate with... anyone at all threw an interesting conflict into the mix and showed some nice growth from Noriko deciding to try to learn the show more unfamiliar language. I hope I'm able to find more volumes of this series because I'm definitely intrigued. show less

Review for series as a whole:

First, hello Anime Industry, why is this not animated???

Concerning the story, this was an interesting read with a few twists. It is one of the better "teenager transported to another world (isekai for manga reader)" plots.

Misery abounds! With an ever-present feeling of dread after every two pages of happiness and two cracked eggs and milk, the readers are due to trouble. The Murphy Law is fully in effect here, and nothing stays perfect for long.

The ending was really lackluster, but I enjoyed the journey and finished the series in two days. I think it was decent fun, not delirious but decent.

Halfway Spoiler:
There aren't any weddings or babies, so the ending could disappoint some.

Characters:
Noriko is the show more main character, and she's only working with 3 facial expressions at most. Some of this might be attributed to the art style. I liked that language learning is a part of her character arc. In this new world, she didn't speak the language. I've always admired bilingual characters/characters forced to learn a language.

In volume nine, she finally showed some spunk in her character and took the initiative to do something dangerous. I think that is truly her only shining moment since every single scene in this entire manga is her wanting Izark, her crying, and her having a fish-out-of-water expression. I understand the situations present were very horrific for her, but, if that blank '80-'90s anime face doesn't get you, her Studio Ghibli tears will. This chick could have replenished any drought and most definitely has SCS (Shoujo Crying Syndrome).

Izark was my favorite character though not many others got developed in this series. I enjoyed the development of his character and powers. He had a lot of angsty brooding moments and kept pushing Noriko away too often. He reminded me of a gentleman white knight character, who got dealt a bad hand, which was being the spawn (descendant?) of Satan. His devil heritage gives him Superman-like powers and Wolverine's quick healing ability, but he constantly has inner turmoil about using these devil powers. Instead, he prefers swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat.

A good point with Kanta Kara is Izark, arguably the strongest character alive isn't a Gary-stu, and I think his being at war with his powers kept his character anchored, made me feel honest sympathy for him, and gave him room to evolve. However, I just couldn't stand watching him push Noriko away constantly though when that stopped I couldn't find any other qualms with him. Also, it's so cute how he cried at the end when he got frustrated. His learning to get in touch with his emotions was a major stepping stone for him too.

Gaya would have been the stereotypical ugly woman in any other manga, scratch that any other media, but in Kanata Kara she is treated like an actual character. Gasp! She is a great warrior, mother figure, and shrewd businesswoman. Since she never shunned Izark, who had been rejected and shunned way too many times, I instantly took a liking to her and it never left.

Rabamadan was almost like a one-note character. He was there when the plot needed to move along, but not in much else. I thank him immensely for being the catalyst to knock some sense into Izark.

So yay for love rivals, who you already know are going to lose from their first appearance!

Barago and Doros are two ugly guys that were more than their looks. Garabog, a once bloodthirsty gambling warrior, finds purpose after encountering Noriko and Izark, and Doros finds peace from a simple gesture. I loved these two! I honestly felt sympathy for more characters than just the main couple.

Agol and Geena were two I wished could have had more backstory. Although more backstory is not something the manga needed for them, I personally wanted to know more. Who was Geena's mother?

I liked the black-haired girl and her mother too, who were both so beautiful, but not very memorable. The people of the last town were hilarious and imaginative!

Art:
Izark is handsome but in certain shots, his mullet looks unflattering and his pointed Dorito chip nose did not help. In other shots, he's the heartthrob the manga intended him to be. I like seeing him in motion during his numerous fight scenes and his agility on display.

Noriko, like before stated, had very few expressions that were repeated often, but she looked beyond gorgeous whenever Izark would pick her up when she was sleeping. Noriko's side views sometimes looked like her forehead would sink in and her eyes would be two inches above her mouth, which was not a look I like. Keep that for chibis.

The backgrounds were diverse and the clothing (a mixture of Japanese and Middle Eastern) was very appealing. I liked the nice collars, stylish boots, and long jackets!

The monsters were gruesome just like you would expect too!

Overall:

I am glad I read this, and I want to find another manga in this vein. I love those “girl gets teleported to another world” shoujo stories. Still, I wish Kanata Kara could have been a bit more romantic. There were like three kisses in total, and they were less than pecks! Maybe the timeframe of this manga made it super chaste, but come on I like a nice shoujo kiss with or without cherry blossoms in the background.

But yes, definitely read this! show less

Review for series as a whole:

First, hello Anime Industry, why is this not animated???

Concerning the story, this was an interesting read with a few twists. It is one of the better "teenager transported to another world (isekai for manga reader)" plots.

Misery abounds! With an ever-present feeling of dread after every two pages of happiness and two cracked eggs and milk, the readers are due to trouble. The Murphy Law is fully in effect here, and nothing stays perfect for long.

The ending was really lackluster, but I enjoyed the journey and finished the series in two days. I think it was decent fun, not delirious but decent.

Halfway Spoiler:
There aren't any weddings or babies, so the ending could disappoint some.

Characters:
Noriko is the show more main character, and she's only working with 3 facial expressions at most. Some of this might be attributed to the art style. I liked that language learning is a part of her character arc. In this new world, she didn't speak the language. I've always admired bilingual characters/characters forced to learn a language.

In volume nine, she finally showed some spunk in her character and took the initiative to do something dangerous. I think that is truly her only shining moment since every single scene in this entire manga is her wanting Izark, her crying, and her having a fish-out-of-water expression. I understand the situations present were very horrific for her, but, if that blank '80-'90s anime face doesn't get you, her Studio Ghibli tears will. This chick could have replenished any drought and most definitely has SCS (Shoujo Crying Syndrome).

Izark was my favorite character though not many others got developed in this series. I enjoyed the development of his character and powers. He had a lot of angsty brooding moments and kept pushing Noriko away too often. He reminded me of a gentleman white knight character, who got dealt a bad hand, which was being the spawn (descendant?) of Satan. His devil heritage gives him Superman-like powers and Wolverine's quick healing ability, but he constantly has inner turmoil about using these devil powers. Instead, he prefers swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat.

A good point with Kanta Kara is Izark, arguably the strongest character alive isn't a Gary-stu, and I think his being at war with his powers kept his character anchored, made me feel honest sympathy for him, and gave him room to evolve. However, I just couldn't stand watching him push Noriko away constantly though when that stopped I couldn't find any other qualms with him. Also, it's so cute how he cried at the end when he got frustrated. His learning to get in touch with his emotions was a major stepping stone for him too.

Gaya would have been the stereotypical ugly woman in any other manga, scratch that any other media, but in Kanata Kara she is treated like an actual character. Gasp! She is a great warrior, mother figure, and shrewd businesswoman. Since she never shunned Izark, who had been rejected and shunned way too many times, I instantly took a liking to her and it never left.

Rabamadan was almost like a one-note character. He was there when the plot needed to move along, but not in much else. I thank him immensely for being the catalyst to knock some sense into Izark.

So yay for love rivals, who you already know are going to lose from their first appearance!

Barago and Doros are two ugly guys that were more than their looks. Garabog, a once bloodthirsty gambling warrior, finds purpose after encountering Noriko and Izark, and Doros finds peace from a simple gesture. I loved these two! I honestly felt sympathy for more characters than just the main couple.

Agol and Geena were two I wished could have had more backstory. Although more backstory is not something the manga needed for them, I personally wanted to know more. Who was Geena's mother?

I liked the black-haired girl and her mother too, who were both so beautiful, but not very memorable. The people of the last town were hilarious and imaginative!

Art:
Izark is handsome but in certain shots, his mullet looks unflattering and his pointed Dorito chip nose did not help. In other shots, he's the heartthrob the manga intended him to be. I like seeing him in motion during his numerous fight scenes and his agility on display.

Noriko, like before stated, had very few expressions that were repeated often, but she looked beyond gorgeous whenever Izark would pick her up when she was sleeping. Noriko's side views sometimes looked like her forehead would sink in and her eyes would be two inches above her mouth, which was not a look I like. Keep that for chibis.

The backgrounds were diverse and the clothing (a mixture of Japanese and Middle Eastern) was very appealing. I liked the nice collars, stylish boots, and long jackets!

The monsters were gruesome just like you would expect too!

Overall:

I am glad I read this, and I want to find another manga in this vein. I love those “girl gets teleported to another world” shoujo stories. Still, I wish Kanata Kara could have been a bit more romantic. There were like three kisses in total, and they were less than pecks! Maybe the timeframe of this manga made it super chaste, but come on I like a nice shoujo kiss with or without cherry blossoms in the background.

But yes, definitely read this! show less

The one thing I love about Japanese fantasy is that while it may contain a few of the familiar fantasy tropes we know and love there are still many surprises and unexpected twists that keep the story fresh, interesting, and enchanting. From Far Away has all of this and more as young Noriko falls victim to a terrorist attack, a bomb left in an unattended bag in the street goes off and sends her flying into a magical world far away. Many things are the same as our world and yet there is an eerie difference in the golden forest she finds herself in that manifests when she is set upon but huge flesh-eating worms! Luckily at that moment she is saved by a handsome but mysterious man named Izark. Who is this man? Who is this Awakening everyone show more is speaking of, in a language that Noriko can't understand? Most importantly, where is she and how is she ever going to get home?

From Far Away is a unique and engaging story about an ordinary girl thrust into a fantastical world where it turns out she might not be so ordinary. The world is beautiful and strange, there are flying dinosaurs and gigantic worms and enchanted forests, everyone speaks a strange language and the politics of the people who inhabit it are as complex as they are deadly. There is a blind sage child that can see the future, mighty warriors with super human strength, and poor Noriko a normal human teen in the middle of it all just trying to maintain sanity while she mourns all she has lost and deals with a new and frightening world she has gained.

The art is absolutely beautiful in this manga. The details are wonderful and the use of clouds and wind, stars and balls of light to convey a magical occurrence are wonderful to view. The story is fantastical and a joy to read and the premise has me excited to see what is going to happen to Noriko and Izark next. My only complaint is that sometimes the author jerks you out of the story to explain something to you. Like what single and double lines around speech bubbles mean and then inverts it part way through the story, and stops again to explain that too. I didn't like being pulled out of the story like that. Other than that one deviation from the storyline the rest was a great and exciting read and I look forward to proceeding with this (finished!) manga. show less

Noriko has always dreamed of a land far away. However, when a close encounter with a bomb actually thrusts her into another world it is neither as innocent or beautiful as she had imagined. Instead she is faced with horrors with only one mysterious warrior to help her. Hindered by a language barrier the warrior, Izark, finds Noriko frustrating but at the same time is compelled to protect her.

I'm definitely a big fan of fantasy manga so this one is really right up my alley. I've very much enjoyed the story so far and am looking forward to reading more. Although this volume had a cliffhanger ending it doesn't bother me in manga as much as it does in regular novels. I guess because the medium just works in a serialized manner. I think show more this manga would be appropriate for younger teens and up. show less