Manga Review: Gekkou no Arcadia

^{PART 29 of 52 ONESHOTS in 52 WEEKS
八木教広の『月光のアルカディア』 “Gekkou no Arcadia” by YAGI Norihiro}

Norihiro Yagi is a mangaka famous for his series Claymore, which ran from 2001 until 2014. Published in a variety of shounen magazines throughout his long career, the author works mostly within fantasy genres, often crafting stories with young male protagonists, whose meeting with a female counterpart sets them both on a turbulent adventure. His most recent manga, Ariadne in the Blue Sky, concluded last year after spanning over 200 chapters.

Like many of his peers, author Yagi debuted with a oneshot. Undeadman, a comedy story about modified humans, won the 32nd Akatsuka Prize in 1990 and was included in an anthology with other award-winning works. Undeadman went on to receive a sequel, but Norihiro Yagi would not author another oneshot until 2017’s Gekkou no Arcadia, which was published in Weekly Shounen Jump.

Arcadia of the Moonlight, as it is known in English, mixes fantasy and sci-fi, opening on a young boy named Rashil, who lives in a remote mountain cabin on an unspecified planet with a giant moon looming overhead. Instructed to go out and check on wildlife traps by his guardian, Rashil dons some rocket boots and jets off, only to encounter a space ship which crash lands nearby. Upon investigation, Rashil finds Leana, a girl from the moon who is being pursued by the military.

The oneshot’s setting is great fun; it quickly establishes an interesting scenario that teases many fascinating details, including interplanetary wars, a civilisation on the moon, humans able to harness energy as weapons, and more. Unfortunately, all of this exposition, rather than work to frame an engaging story, feels as though it exists to set-up something else off-stage. The plot sees Rashil rescue Leana, who it turns out doesn’t need rescuing as she’s remotely piloting an android replica of herself, and ends as the two set out on their voyage to reclaim the Lunar throne from an attempted coup d’état.

Arcadia of the Moonlight is one of the most unfortunate cases of a oneshot rather feeling like a first chapter, with very little in the way of a stand-alone plot. To draw a comparison, it’s as if The Hobbit had ended after Bilbo left the Shire. The world the author teases is fascinating, but it’s all sizzle and no steak, with even the enemies remaining under lock and key, concealed by nondescript space suits. The narrative feels very overburdened, with set-up and exposition so incessant that there’s never really a moment to stop and enjoy what’s happening, with the author’s focus seemingly on the bigger picture. Yagi ended up reusing and reframing several concepts from the oneshot in his later series Ariadne in the Blue Sky, revealing its purpose as somewhat of a pilot.

What Arcadia of the Moonlight does offer, beyond an intriguing premise, is some exemplary artwork. Spanning almost 50 pages, each panel of the oneshot is full of energy, with an excitable main lead whose brisk movement inspires a lot of dynamic action, illustrated with a liberal use of motion lines. The author is well known for his inventive creature illustrations in Claymore, and exhibits various artistic sci-fi concepts here, with a unique-looking space craft and some curious designs teased in the weapons and tech. Some of the finer textures on the ground and in wider landscape drawings are difficult to discern, blending into a wobbly composite, but overall it’s a largely crisp and even picturesque manga.

With that said, there is unfortunately still little to recommend, with all the best parts of the oneshot refitted to greater effect and with a much better focus in Ariadne in the Blue Sky. When it comes to Norihiro Yagi’s oneshots, his comedy offering Undeadman is far and away the best.

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