Stephanie Jane reviewed Perfect World 1 by Rie Aruga
My first graphic novel experience!
4 stars
Perfect World is my very first graphic novel! I was encouraged to give one a try by the Metaphors And Musings blog post Why I love Graphic Novels and Comics and surprised myself by actually enjoying the book. I spotted Perfect World on NetGalley shortly after reading Kristen's post and specifically chose to download it because it features Disability On The Cover - also a topic Kristen has discussed so it seemed like fate!
No sniggering from experienced GN readers please(!), but it did take me a few pages to understand exactly how to read this book. The dialogue mostly flows from right to left across the page and different speech bubble shapes differentiate between spoken words and thoughts. I was impressed by the software used. My review copy of Perfect World was created as a pdf which I could easily read on my Kindle Fire with no bizarre formatting. …
Perfect World is my very first graphic novel! I was encouraged to give one a try by the Metaphors And Musings blog post Why I love Graphic Novels and Comics and surprised myself by actually enjoying the book. I spotted Perfect World on NetGalley shortly after reading Kristen's post and specifically chose to download it because it features Disability On The Cover - also a topic Kristen has discussed so it seemed like fate!
No sniggering from experienced GN readers please(!), but it did take me a few pages to understand exactly how to read this book. The dialogue mostly flows from right to left across the page and different speech bubble shapes differentiate between spoken words and thoughts. I was impressed by the software used. My review copy of Perfect World was created as a pdf which I could easily read on my Kindle Fire with no bizarre formatting.
The story itself is lovely and not at all what I had expected from Manga. Aruga's doesn't shy away from the physical and emotional realities of living with a spinal cord injury and also shows how the uncomfortable reactions from other people can impact on sufferers and their companions. I liked that initially Kawana can't really see beyond Ayukawa's wheelchair and it takes a big effort for both to accept that a romantic relationship could be a possibility. Aruga conveys tremendous emotion through what are often quite stark pencil drawings. I loved the atmosphere she creates for these characters and the strong realities of their story.
This GN is the first of six volumes although the only one as yet to be translated into English. The rest do already exist in French, but I'm not sure my colloquial language skills are quite up to this yet so I shall eagerly await the English volume 2!