Luciole Has a Dream Volume 1 Review
For as long as I could remember… I was in the dark.
Young Luciole is awakened from the darkness by Claude and is dazzled by the daylight. Claude tells him he is a magician and very old, although he doesn’t look it and seems to vary in his recall of exactly how old he is. They are the only humans in the ruins of a civilisation long gone. Luciole has been in coldsleep, in a specially designed pod – and perhaps there are other humans still sleeping, waiting to be discovered and awakened. The two go travelling together in the hope – perhaps vain – of finding these other humans. Surely Luciole can’t be the only one to have survived whatever happened in the past? He’s lost his memories; he doesn’t even remember his original name so is content to have been named by Claude but wonders from time to time how he would feel if he could remember who he really is. And so they travel slowly through this perilous world in a little boat which Luciole poles (like a punt) while Claude sleeps. From time to time, Luciole finds rusty, battered tins of food which he tries to open (they’re living on fish and berries) in the vain hope that the contents won’t be spoiled. He discovers remnants of vanished lives in ruined houses which set him dreaming of what it would be like to have a family.
But then Luciole comes upon an unopened, undisturbed coldsleep pod. Claude opens it – and the sleeper inside is revealed to be a bearded man. It takes a while for him to regain consciousness and when he does, he speaks a language that Luciole doesn’t understand. The awakened sleeper is understandably bewildered but Luciole is determined to try to learn his language. As he gains the ability to communicate with the man, he learns that he’s called Bruno and that he was a designer of coldsleep pods. Bruno’s only desire since he was awakened is to find the pod in which his pregnant wife is sleeping. But what if the pod has ceased to function…?
The exquisite soft blues of the eye-catching cover of Luciole Has a Dream, Yuu Morikawa’s latest manga to be translated into English, more than fulfils its promise when you turn the pages. The story of Luciole and the ruined world taken over by nature that he finds himself in is brought to vivid life by the mangaka’s intricately detailed black-and-white drawings. Nevertheless, there is also a deep unspoken sadness underlying every panel that sometimes rises to the surface, especially when Luciole finds the coldsleep pod and Claude awakens the man sleeping inside. And yet, Luciole’s determination not to be defeated by the bleakness of his situation – and his pleasure in little discoveries and practical approach to survival lift the story from being yet another apocalyptic dystopia. Claude is as much of a mystery to the reader as he is to Luciole. He speaks very little, seems to have forgotten much of his long life but is tormented by the shades of nameless, featureless people at nighttime. There are also mysterious pages outlined with black, the manga shorthand for flashbacks, showing a young man with a single plait like Claude’s yet with Luciole’s features. Is this a glimpse of Luciole’s future? Or is this reality and everything else has been a dream, experienced by Luciole in the coldsleep pod? After all, the title is Luciole Has a Dream…
Taylor Engel’s translation for Yen Press captures just the right tone of voice for inquisitive child Luciole and taciturn, mysterious Claude. Chiho Christie’s lettering really helps to bring Luciole’s thoughts to life, as well as Claude’s oblique observations that annoy his young companion so much.
This volume ends on not one but two cliffhangers – agonisingly so as, according to Baka-Updates Manga, the manga is currently on hiatus. Yuu Morikawa has been busy with Mr. Villain’s Day Off but one hopes that they will return to Luciole Has a Dream to unravel some of the mysteries introduced in this enigmatic and beautiful dystopian tale.
Our review copy was supplied by Yen Press.
