PART 14 of 52 ONESHOTS in 52 WEEKS
紅木春の『片腕のエイミー』 “Kataude no Amy” by AKAGI Shun
Shun Akagi is a freelance illustrator engaged in a wide range of activities, including book and video game illustrations, cover art for magazines and albums, technical books on character design and expression, artwork for products and exhibits, manga and much more. Featured exclusively in shounen magazine Jump Plus, the author has published three oneshots in total, and debuted her first manga series last week, titled Witch Enforcer, which is published simultaneously in Japanese and English via MANGA Plus.
The author’s most widely publicised oneshot is a story titled Kataude no Amy, which translates to One-Armed Amy. It was published in 2020 and tells of an obsessive dollmaker who creates a doll in his daughters likeness, after his wife leaves him and takes their daughter with her. Miraculously, the doll comes alive, much to the dollmakers delight. Amy the doll becomes a substitute for Amy the daughter, but the doll feels, deep down, that she will never be able to live up to the real thing.
The story is told from the doll’s perspective, who still acts and talks like a child, despite already being decades old as the manga begins. One-Armed Amy is a little hesitant on the finer details, hurrying along instead with an emotional fable that spans just over 30 pages. Preaching self-love and trust, the oneshot may be too mawkish for some, but its fairy tale quality—sharing aspects with stories such as Pinocchio and Sítio do Picapau Amarelo—is a familiar and appealing hallmark.
Amy, quizzical and curious, draped in a yellow raincoat with a big button adorning her hair, stands firmly on the better side of childlike, maintaining a charming company and never verging into annoying territory. Although her puzzlement is itself a bit puzzling given her actual age, her peculiarity works well as a catalyst for the story and for her emotional arc. Despite some holes, it quickly whisks readers aboard, with author Akagi breathing a lot of life into the unusual doll in only a short space of time. While it does suffer from some predictability, the (likely foreseen) ending is nonetheless a touching reveal.
The oneshot lacks any truly eye-catching spreads in the artwork and the backgrounds aren’t always prominent, but it is easy to see why Shun Akagi is an authority on design and expression; her illustrations do most of the work in making Amy as lively, emotive and lovable as she is. The quality across the oneshot is consistent and strong, with bold lines and a smooth, easy to follow arrangement.
Despite some shortcomings, One-Armed Amy is a story which continues to grow on me. As Amy is seemingly immortal (so long as she has a craftsman able to repair her wear), the oneshot has a bit of a lasting quality in that it’s easy to envisage Amy exploring and learning throughout generations. I would happily read any follow-ups.
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Morning, Roo 