- Mangaka : Nagabe
- Publisher : Seven Seas Entertainment
- Genre : Fantasy, Josei, Mystery, Psychological, Slice of Life, Supernatural
- Published : July 2020
Love on the Other Side Introduction (No Spoilers)
This is a collection of six stories made by a masterful manga creator Nagabe that depicts how beautiful relationships can be. The story of a struggling girl accompanied by a magnificent bird; a vampire roams at night with a young lady; a blind girl lives with a creature who is more than a monster.
Contains Spoilers
Discussion Time
You read the title, you know the drill. Let’s talk about love. If you ever wonder what love is and you just can’t decide which manga to read and understand the definition with a short amount of time… maybe, well, look no further because this manga is one for you. We’re looking at companions and nostalgia like Beauty and the Beast and the Promised Neverland.
1. The Morale of the Stories
After reading six different sets of stories, some share the same morale while others have their own unique set of morale. What the author is trying to convey is that love doesn’t just apply between humans, but also applies to animals, monsters, and people who are seen as abnormal by the public. The relationships and memories built and appreciated by both parties and how their differences don’t even matter to one’s eyes or affect their decisions. Although the stories are relatively short, the conclusions are solid in a way that we make use of our imaginations to think of the ending we wanted for the characters. Meaning, we readers have our own unique or similar endings we envision.
2. Difficult to Predict
Just want to say that we got baited by Nagabe at least two chapters, and you know what? We’re not even mad about it because you got us good and we love it. Why? It is fun reading something that allows us to guess the ending easily. So far, two titles threw us off, but we’re not going to tell you readers about it as everyone has their own opinion.
3. Perspectives
The beauty of writing and drawing a different set of stories in one manga is that you bought yourself a care package. Yes, each chapter can be short at some times, but they are compressed one-shots for a reason: getting to the point.
You will get to experience different characters, settings and the development they have toward each other and it can be confusing, in a good way, but understandable. You just can’t help but feeling supportive and cheer them on because of all of the despair thrown at them. The emotions they have are subtle, but their thoughts are what brings a lot of meaning to the story and it is so relatable to reality to certain situations.
The words written as sound effects in certain scenes are so accurate that just thinking about it feels gruesome and they help us immerse into their world. Fear, innocent, happiness, and love. So many emotions are building up with us in different pacing as we read along.
4. References
Surely, some of you readers would go isn’t this character look like that character from another manga series or similar story setting? Yes, there are a few in this manga, but let’s name a few of them.
The Emergency Rations & Bountiful Feasts is similar to The Promised Neverland. Imagine you’re the demon who acts as a babysitter who takes care of a human child and you see them as rations. The birdman accidentally found a girl in a dumpster and decides to let her stay at his place. He decides to name her Rations. He feeds and treats her properly so that she is at the top quality for a feast.
Midnight Waltz reminds us of Beauty and the Beast. To everyone who is a big fan of vampires. Sorry to say, it is not what you think. The vampire in question is a human-size bat. The name of the vampire is Gora and the human lady is Corey. Not Cory from Cory in the House, we have been through that. Best anime by the way.
As for Those Without Eyes, has anyone ever think of that monster as Steak from a manga series called Tegami Bachi (Letter Bee), but minus the beautiful mustache and the spade-shaped tail?
Final Thoughts
We find it enjoyable to read a manga filled with short stories. They may be short, but their message does reach across to our hearts. We get to experience a different set of unique characters with different circumstances and reach a similar conclusion they had in mind: love. Nagabe shows different forms of love in this manga and we applaud you for that. It is a beautiful piece or pieces if we’re looking at the six short stories and the nostalgia we have from other series we have seen or read are so good.
Overall, if you want to experience love in different manners or how love manifests, give this manga a go. Who knows, maybe it will lead you to a realization that you have developed feelings toward someone special in your life.
Author: Nobodies17
Recommended Post