PART 39 of 52 ONESHOTS in 52 WEEKS
川口まどか×星新一の『宿命』 “Shukumei” by KAWAGUCHI Madoka & HOSHI Shinichi
Shinichi Hoshi was a famous science fiction author, well known for his ‘short-short’ stories, which would often span just three or four pages. He wrote over a thousand in his lifetime, which would go on to provide the basis for a long-running oneshot manga anthology.
Beginning in 2001, publisher Akita Shoten debuted the first of what is now over thirty short manga adaptations of Shinichi Hoshi stories. Featuring initially in the magazine Mystery Bonita, the oneshots were thereafter compiled as a series under the title Comic☆Hoshi Shinichi, which is currently comprised of four individual volumes.
This week, I am taking a look at the oneshot Shukumei, which is illustrated by author Madoka Kawaguchi, who is known in Japan for her shoujo horror manga, notably the series Death, Her and I, which was adapted into a successful television drama. Shukumei (known in English as ‘Fate’) was included in the second volume of Comic☆Hoshi Shinichi, after featuring in Mystery Bonita in 2004.
A commune of humanoid robots, all branded with the number 91-0053, inhabit an otherwise deserted planet. They work tirelessly to assemble more in their image, eventually reaching a sizeable population. Not knowing where they came from or what awaits them, the robots begin to construct a space craft in the hopes of leaving the planet to find purpose. Once in space, the chosen pilot is struck by an overriding impulse to locate planet Earth.
The plot is a comical play on the notion of fate, and is imaginative and winsome in the way it represents the fulfilment of destiny as intrepid but unavailing. Depicting the rigid but enterprising society of the AI robots alongside humanity’s sportive compulsions, it also works artfully as societal commentary, although Hoshi’s flash fiction, with a foremost focus on concepts and scenarios, delights more in its ideation and ingenuity rather than in character or broader narrative.
Madoka Kawaguchi adapts the story well, illustrating the plot across 24 pages. The artist’s bold style here is quite different to her usual artwork, which is typically drawn with finer lines and less tone, though it is no less appealing. The robots’ design is particularly notable; their nonchalant demeanours and attentive eyes help characterise them as quietly inquisitive figures, who seem stuck somewhere between focused and preoccupied. These personable characteristics help drive home the final panels, which bookend the oneshot with a residual bittersweet quality.
Madoka Kawaguchi is one of only a few authors to have featured multiple times in Comic☆Hoshi Shinichi, adapting an eerie story titled Golden Pin in 2001, which featured in the very first volume of the omnibus. Her own written oneshots possess a similar quality to her adapted Hoshi stories; Kawaguchi’s anthology When the Girl Breaks is stocked with spirited horror-drama tales, often with a darkly humourous angle.
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Morning, Roo 