Title: Japan Sinks 2020 Ch. 1
Author: Kenichi Watanabe
Publisher: Comicsmart, Mangamo
Language: English
Format: Digital
Pages: 40
Genre: Sci-Fi, Drama, Seinen
The Story
Japan Sinks 2020 (Nihon Chinbotsu) is the manga adaptation of the original 1973 novel Japan Sinks. I had the opportunity to take a peek at the first chapter as the series is now available on the Mangamo app!
The chapter opens up with Japan already underwater as observed from space. Once we establish the disaster has already taken place, we head back eight days prior to the events where we meet our main character Ayumu. Her dream is to carry the flag of Japan on her back as a track star. We also get to meet her brother Go who seems to be a gamer who stays in their room all day long.
After a submarine discovers an anomaly in the Japan Trench, they send out a warning. Soon after, a powerful earthquake rocks the region and even goes as far as to interrupt Ayumu’s track practice for the day. As they are getting ready to leave, an even stronger quake hits and levels everything as far as the eye can see.
Ayumu sets out in search of survivors as our first chapter comes to a close.
Characters
Even though this was only the first chapter, you can definitely tell a lot about the personalities of the characters introduced thus far.
Ayumu seems very positive and full of energy. She has an optimistic view on things and is willing to work hard to achieve her dreams. Just the mere fact that she wants to go out and look for survivors, even with a bum leg from the quake’s aftermath, just shows the kind of heart and compassion that she has! I’m already liking her positivity and her as a character.
Go just seems like a typical brother who loves his video games. He appears as if he was talking to someone while playing on his headset; however, we don’t really know who it is outside of the possibility of it just being a friend. Even though Go has very few lines in the first chapter, you can get a sense that he’s someone who prefers to be left alone and to his own devices. He doesn’t seem to care much about anything else than gaming and online communication. Not sure if he’s a complete and total shut-in but, so far, he has the makings of one.
Final Thoughts
What I was able to read, I definitely enjoyed! The opening of the chapter gives you a sense of scale as to what is happening. Starting off in space, you kind of get the idea of the events but you only get to see it on that grand scale. Going back eight days and seeing it all happen on the ground makes you connect the initial images. Even though you know what is going to happen, you get to experience it first-hand through the characters you are introduced to.
To me, that kind of reminds of watching a disaster on television in another part of the world and not thinking much of it because it happened so far away. Then, it happens to you and you get to experience what someone else went through. You get to feel what you couldn’t feel through a television set and because as such, you learn from that personal experience and how it could alter your thinking the next time you see something like that.
Viewing the disaster from space, it’s kind of like saying “wow, it sucks for them down there but I wouldn’t know because I’m safe up here in orbit.” As the reader, you basically feel that way through those astronauts. Then, when you meet Ayumu and you see that very same disaster starts to unfold, it changes your perspective on it all because now you have an actual human connection to the events that are transpiring.
Being shown the results first gives you that scope and scale of what’s happening. You, as the reader, know what’s coming. The characters do not. Therefore, it enhances the effects and the emotions when you see the destruction and the devastation. You know what’s going to come next but you still wonder how the characters are going to deal with those inevitable events.
After just one chapter, you get an investment in Ayumu and the other characters and it definitely hooks you and makes you want to read more! That’s why I’m going to recommend that you check out this updated version of a classic story!
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This item was provided for review by Mangamo
