From Far Away Opinion

From Far Away (Kanata Kara) Manga Opinion Review

From far away is a really great manga. My opinion of it is extremely high for a shoujo. Apparently its one many people think highly of as well since it has won awards. It's a romance. However, unlike most romances, the action and adventure do not get a back seat to the romance. Though the main characters become extremely close there is no smutty scenes. The romance is about on par with Samurai Deeper Kyo just a bit more clingy and sweet.

The art is pretty good. Izark is drawn great but Noriko, looks not even 1/2 as good most times. I think it may have been the desire of the mangaka to make her looks average for a young teen, but they made her look weird sometimes. I personally think they could have done a bit of a better job with her. The biggest issue I had was when she closed her eyes. I dislike the way they drew that. However, I have seen manga drawings like this before and they are by far not the worst I have seen. It doesn't make me want to put down he book or anything. I am just saying my own gripes. Izark is extremely handsome and you could tell, even as he changes into the sky demon form, the author spent a lot of time making him. There were many ugly people in this book. Like they were drawn to be that way. There were pretty girls as well. However the extremely pretty ones were on the bad side and had horrible personalities. I wonder if that is the mangaka's take on pretty girls.

The story line was excellent. That is the best thing about this manga. It was a extremely well thought out and creative world too. The different creatures and plants in this manga were all very interesting. The mangaka even made a map of what the world the Awakening came to looked like. Some the world of this manga kinda reminded me of a series of american books I liked as a teen. Not the story line but the way the world was and the creatures. They were about a place called Pern. The author was Anne McCaffrey. In that same way, because the world that they were in was so well thought out, it was my hope the mangaka would perhaps do other stories of adventures of these and other connecting characters. It's too bad. I think it would work well. But it doesn't look like that will be the case.

I really developed feelings for the bad guy near the end. Lord Rachef, It was too bad that he did not live. He was empty. He had a horrible childhood. He became evil through that. Though Izark didn't have a rosy childhood either and hated people in the beginning because of it, he was different cause he didn't want to cause pain. Peoples trauma manifests in different ways. Rachef didn't want to kill Noriko though, I think he hoped for a relationship like what Izark had. A relationship where he felt fulfilled and truly cared for, not because of ambition or because of something else. I think he had potential to change his ways. However, there was no side character that was perfect for him. Tazasheena was evil and ambitious and full of herself. He didn't like her. He was also those things, but she was perfectly fine with being the way she was she was not looking to change at all or be fulfilled by anything other than her own evil ambition. I know Izark and Noriko felt for him too in the end. That is why they did what they did. However, it's still too bad.

Overall I really enjoyed this one. It was long but not extremely long and it never made me want to quit 1/2 way though it. There were a few things I didn't exactly love but there was nothing about the story that I took a strong dislike to. I thought it was excellently written and the award the manga received was well deserved. If you have not read this manga. You should give it a try. The romance is light and the action and adventure is really great. This manga is good for all ages.