About.com's Deb Aoki writes, "There are some manga that are like Hollywood blockbuster movies, full of fast-paced action and rapid-fire humor. And then there's comics like Blue, which is more like a French art house film, where a quiet conversation and silent gestures move the plot along at a leisurely (some would say glacial) pace."
What it means to be blue is to adapt to a certain melancholy. Blue is beyond mere sadness, it evokes almost a tranquillity that emerges in the age between childhood and adulthood. I remember that age as a time where I wrote dismal poetry and languished over boys who did not know I was alive. I would spend hours in my room listening to depressing music, drawing, and writing. Hours passed by yet the days seemed to last forever. It would seem that I can really relate to the story in Blue. Which is why it surprised me that this is considered manga. Granted, I know as much about manga as I do the inside of a church which is to say, not at all.
Previous to researching this novel I thought that there was only one kind of manga and it was mainly about school age kids who have dragons for friends and they were all really hyper or some crap like that. Apparently the world of manga is much more diverse than that. There are different categories directed at boys, girls, women, and men as well as categories dealing with male/male or female/female relationships. And then there is "hentai," which focuses on things of a pornographic nature. Blue's category of manga is called "shojo-ai" which focuses on the spiritual or emotional aspects of a female/female relationship. There is some confusion associated with this term as it is a western adaptation. The term in Japan literally means "girl love" but refers to a relationship of a pedophilian nature. In any case, I understand a little bit more about manga than I did before.
So getting back to the idea of "blue," I want to share the opening text:
The sky that stretches out above the dark sea.
The school uniforms and our desperate awkwardness.
If those adornments of our youth
Held any color
It would have been deep blue.
This passage is so poignant and poetic. You can imagine the solitude of the girl contemplating her life while sitting on the beach. I love the terminology of "the adornments of our youth." Truly, this blueness is like a garment worn during that age. Something you can wrap yourself in, drape over your shoulders. Heavy and thick, very much like the story. I know it, I wore it well as a teenager. So forget what you know or don't know about manga. This story supersedes any category you want to put it in. Plainly, it is a beautiful and deeply resonating graphic novel.
