Redeem: Only One Forever Volume 1 Review

One moment, Chiaki and his older boyfriend, veterinarian Kuon, are walking through the wintry dark, planning where to eat dinner together – the next, a car comes toward them on the pedestrian crossing. Kuon shoves Chiaki out of the way but is hit and dies. Traumatized, Chiaki loses consciousness but when he wakes up, he’s eleven years old again; he’s gone back ten years in time! All his memories are intact, so he sets out (in his pyjamas, even though it’s snowing) to the veterinary hospital to try to warn Kuon – but this younger Kuon (28) wants nothing to do with him. Why would he pay attention to a child who insists that he’s his future lover, sent back to the past to warn him that he’s going to die in a road accident?

But next day, Chiaki comes across an injured kitten – and hurries back to ask Kuon to check it out. Kuon reluctantly agrees, although he suggests cynically that Chiaki might have caused the injury to get an excuse to see him again. Chiaki is (not surprisingly) furious at the suggestion and is greatly relieved when Kuon tells him that the kitten is not badly hurt and will recover in about a week.

However, waiting at home for Chiaki is his big brother, student Kaname (their parents are working abroad) and he’s not at all pleased that Chiaki has been ignoring his texts and missing out on lessons. He reluctantly agrees to allow Chiaki to bring the kitten home while wondering what his younger brother has been up to. And now Kuon has to go to school (fifth grade) and tries to come to terms with  having to endure ten years of education again. He can’t remember the names of the other children in his class but manages to chat with Himeno (a keen reader of romances) and ask her the best way to approach someone you love and admire from afar.

Kuon, however, is not in a good place because his own beloved cat who is elderly and ill, quietly dies when he leaves the clinic to get a hot drink. Does Chiaki sense that all is not well? He turns up to find Kuon trying to drown his sorrows and remembers ‘his’ future Kuon telling him about how desolate he felt when the cat died, even though he knew this was likely to happen. Unable to leave Kuon in such a depressed state, Chiaki stays with him all night – but in the morning, his brother is waiting for him at home and he’s angry and suspicious. How is Chiaki going to explain where he’s been?

Scarlet Beriko has been one of the most popular BL mangaka of the last decade, delivering distinctly adult Mature-rated manga such as Jealousy and Jackass! (SuBLime). Recently, though, she’s explored stories with a less explicit agenda and wider readership such as the charming Nagahama to Be or Not to Be (Seven Seas). Now Yen Press are bringing us Redeem: Only One Forever, an interesting venture into webcomics (SMARTOON in this case) which means everything’s in colour (the mangaka is working with NEXT LEVEL Studio) and the story is very much ongoing.

First reactions are that the manga/webcomic looks great; Yen Press have used high quality paper and the use of colour is subtle and attractive. The panelling works really well (the transition to page from vertical scroll for some webcomics doesn’t always flow but this one does). And because Scarlet Beriko’s drawings are so accomplished and good to look at and her graphic storytelling skills (and sense of humour) are top-notch, this first volume is a real page-turner. Characters being sent back in time to have a second chance to put things right is a very common trope these days but the mangaka ensures that nothing feels stale or clichéd. Chiaki is a sympathetic, bewildered protagonist and the contrast between ‘his’ Kuon and the younger, cynical and cold Kuon is very believably done. (And there are cats!) So far so good… But the elephant in this particular room for some readers is the fact that Chiaki is now a child. Any hint of any kind of inappropriate behaviour between him and Kuon is a no-go area. I’ve only read this volume and there’s nothing inappropriate here so I’m hoping the series will continue in this vein.

Translation for Yen Press is by Jennifer Ward and delivers a good reading experience, aided by Kai Kyou’s lettering. One fact to note is that the lettering occasionally fades into different colours (it’s not always clear why) although it’s mostly traditional black – and sometimes, for emphasis/atmosphere, the speech bubbles or thoughts have coloured backgrounds. The only extra is a page of common honorifics. Volume 2 is due out in October and the collected episode volumes are already up to #4 in digital in Japan.

Read a free preview on the Yen Press website here.

Our review copy was supplied by the publisher Yen Press.