Kowloon Generic Romance Volume 9 Review
Warning: Spoilers Ahead!
“Reiko Kujirai’s fake. Won’t you kill her for me?” Yulong to Xiaohei (Volume 8)
Reiko Kujirai has found Kujirai B’s glasses in her apartment – and when she puts them on, she sees scenes through the lenses that she has never seen before – and people she knows all too well: Gwen, bartending, and Kudou. Terrified, she rushes round to Maomay’s apartment for reassurance and advice.
Yet when Maomay (armed with a frying pan) and Reiko bravely decide to go to seek out one of the locations Reiko’s seen through the glasses, they find themselves in the risky, rundown Northern area of Kowloon, identifiable by the good luck stickers plastered all over the walls. When Reiko peels one off, it says ‘403 Forbidden’ on the reverse. An error code in computing. Strange, too, that they run into Mr. Xiaohei there who tells them he’s there for his work, testing fire alarms. Confused, they seek out Gwen and tell him that Reiko can see Kujirai B’s memories through the glasses. This leads to some unexpected plain-talking about Kujirai B and Kudou from Gwen which reinforces Reiko’s instinct that her presence is only hurting Kudou (who is proving elusive and skipping work).
So is Reiko’s very existence in danger? The chilling command given to Xiaohei (the male version) by Dr. Hebinuma’s sketchy IT expert Yulong (at the end of Volume 8) resonates throughout their ongoing conversation. Male Xiaohei (who goes by ‘Fake Strawberry’ when he spies on Reiko and reports back to Hebinuma Senior) is able to see and enter Generic Kowloon (or G-Kowloon) but Yulong is still puzzled by the fact that he is unable to do so. He’s trying to work out why others like Gwen, Maomay and Miyuki Hebinuma are able to move between the ‘real’ world of Hong Kong and the phantom city – what’s their secret? And why is that if their ‘real’ self enters Generic Kowloon, their ‘other’ self vanishes – or should do? Xiaohei’s not been entirely honest with Hebinuma Senior in revealing that in his case, he can see his petite female ‘Lolita’ self merrily going about her daily life in G-Kowloon, so he/they is someone who seems to be able to exist in both realities. And Yulong is happy to use Xiaohei’s desire to return to his original form to persuade him to destroy Reiko, telling him, “It’d be like deleting yer internet cache. She’s different from a flesh-an’-blood human. See, she’s a Generic. A being that shouldn’t exist.”
Reiko and Maomay decide to share their discoveries with Gwen. And Reiko continues to collect stickers, checking to see if they have different messages on the reverse side. Many are blank… but then she finds some with the Error Code 202 meaning ‘The request has been accepted but the processing has yet to be completed.’ This eventually leads to a startling third message…
There’s no denying that much of Kowloon Generic Romance’s mystery and appeal is bound up in the existence of the walled city itself. Some of the most haunting and chilling moments are the glimpses we get to see of the differing versions of the city that the characters are experiencing, from desolate wasteland to overcrowded narrow streets, crammed with eateries and shops. But Jun Mayuzuki’s true skill is in involving us in her characters’ lives and the way she expertly weaves the threads of their stories together.
The conversations between Yulong and Xiaohei reveal fascinating details about what’s really going on: the true purpose of Generic Terra floating high above the city; Hebinuma’s plan to create Zirconians and what drives him. A later encounter between Yulong and Miyuki Hebinuma reveals a great deal more of their shared past and Miyuki’s complicated and tragic family situation. Yulong is trying to work out what deep emotion leads other people to see G-Kowloon… until he hails a cab in Hong Kong and sets out for the demolition site, determined to see if he can find a way to experience it for himself.
With the anime TV series about to start in a few weeks’ time, it’s been a challenge to write a review of this wonderfully complex and involving manga without spoiling certain aspects, no matter how hard I try! In just a few months’ time, many people who haven’t followed the manga through since 2019 will have watched the anime and, hopefully, been drawn in to its seductive and atmospheric web of intrigue – and we’ll all know how the anime version comes to an end. As for the manga… well, Volume 10 is already out in Japan (no US Yen Press date as yet) and mangaka Jun Mayuzuki has said that the end is in sight. So… one major question needs to be answered and that is: to what extent does the reader’s enjoyment of Kowloon Generic Romance depend on finding out how the plot is resolved? When we reach the conclusion, will we look back and feel that it’s been a rich and rewarding journey?
As in After the Rain, Jun Mayuzuki’s gift (apart from drawing the world of Kowloon in her unique and intricate way) is for creating memorable characters. Even complex, twisted personalities like Yulong are shown to have many layers of motivation. Kowloon Generic Romance is the true embodiment of a graphic novel – and it differs in this respect from so many manga versions of light novels which become weighed down in lengthy dialogue and exposition. Jun Mayuzuki cleverly manages to build her story as a novelist does but uses the graphic elements at her disposal to convey characterization, atmosphere and recurrent symbolism (such as the sunflowers) by utilizing page turns before revelatory images, full-page close-ups for maximum impact and showing what characters ‘see’ rather than telling us.
The excellent translation for Yen Press is (as before) by Amanda Haley, with another essential page of translation notes, all conveyed expertly by a wide range of appropriate letterings by Abigail Blackman, fully facilitating the reader’s enjoyment of the story. This volume ends (as #8) with extracts from foreign editions: Trad. Chinese, Italian, French and Korean – and a brief Afterword from the mangaka and an amusing yonkoma relating to Yulong and Miyuki in Chapter 39. There’s a colour page at the beginning and the volume is rated Mature.
Come for the bustling atmosphere and mystery of Generic Kowloon Walled City – but stay to find out more about the characters whose stories will draw you in. The denouement is in sight – but this manga has been very much about the journey and the people we’ve come to know along the way. Highly recommended.
