Sazan Comet Girl made me feel like a kid again. Like I was watching an adventure movie with more imagination than I had something I could then daydream about for years. It pulled me in the moment I started reading and kept me awake until I finished it. How can you not get immersed with art like that? Every page is rendered with vibrant colors and the author Akase Yuriko knows exactly how to use them. Not only is every panel full of beautiful contrasting tones but it uses the right highlights and shadows to complete the 80sstyle trippy vibes. The art works well for characters emotions and action but most of all it brings the setting to life. Its the kind of scifi thats more aesthetic than hard speculation but thats a good thing even if it makes it fantasy at its core. We arent worried about how the technology works or the nitty gritty of how this galactic cultures politics came to be. You can take it for granted that people here casually drop by Jupiter to visit a dive bar work as planetary construction artisans run away from space pirates captained by talking pigs and swerve between planets on a spacemotorbike. This works better in manga than in many other mediums. Rather than explain what exists it can simply show it to us and have us accept it. Many panels show space not as a dark void but a canvas colored in bright nebulas and gas clouds. At the start of the story our main character Sazan talks about how he doesnt mind his blue collar job because he gets to work in space. He understands that at least in this universe space isnt lonely. Its full of life and color. Sazan is a simple character. Hes content with his ordinary life but when he stumbles into something more he silences his doubt embraces it with all of his heart. So when by pure coincidence he runs into Mina a hotshot space biker willing to give him a ride home you understand exactly why he falls in love with her so fast. They both enjoy life. Of course its not that easy as they get chased by Kidd a space pirate captain and humanoid pig whos intent on capturing Mina not for whatever mysterious value she has but simply to prove himself as a great space pirate rather than a nobody. Thats the start of the plot but I think every reader can tell that its going to unfold into something greater. The surprise and entertainment comes not from the fact that it does but the way it does. Its a simple story at its core with simple characters. But they work. The narrative is paced like a movie and the characters have exactly as much as they need for that with arcs and development that coincide perfectly with the scope and pace of what this story is capable of. Some manga need deeper more nuanced characters in order to keep them interesting for hundreds of chapters. This one didnt and it understood that. But thats not to say they arent deep. Rather the depth is in the simplicity. Mina is dangerous and understands exactly why its not safe to let anyone be close to her. Sazan doesnt care. Hes willing to let her belong. Youve read stories like this before but that doesnt take away the value of this one. That sums up this manga. It feels like a cliche. Boy meets girl boy and girl fall in love girl has to run away because the entire galaxy is chasing her and boy refuses to give up on saving her. When I read something like this I feel like theres a thousand stories just like it. So cliche that there are countless variations on this right? And yet I cant think of a single one that Ive actually read at most its a little like Castle in the Sky and I think that comparison is favorable to both stories. And in a way I enjoy it for that classicfeeling simplicity that many stories try to avoid. Some stories are too concerned with being original and different and fail to understand that certain tropes are commonly used because they work. The narrative of Sazan Comet Girl isnt really cliche because its not derivative. It doesnt feel like its copying a thousand things youve seen before and has nothing interesting to say. Its saying something so fundamental to what we enjoy about stories that our brains mistake it for being cliche. The story has confidence in what it is. Rather than fear being cliche it makes the rarer move and commits to a simple and powerful story. The plot plays out with similar confidence. Thats where the simplicity is deceiving. Every step of the plot naturally leads into the next everyone does the only thing that makes sense for them to do in the situation theyre put in and it still builds to incredible climaxes. Every choice each character makes is consistent with their core motivations from the turning points to the little moments. Its harder than it looks to write like that. The act of making it look so easy is one of the trickiest things an author has to do. To speak nonspecifically in order to avoid spoiling the way the climax of the story is given an audience feels like it would be contrived if it didnt make perfect sense and it gives the ending the triumphant dramatic weight that it deserved. Plot details are reincorporated important twists are foreshadowed and characters change and grow because they really would when put in those positions not just because the plot structure obliged them to. It feels like a story done correctly. Sometimes thats not a good thing. Sometimes writing a story completely by the book leads to it missing passion. Sazan Comet Girl avoids this. It doesnt feel like the author followed a screenwriting guide to construct a technically perfect story. It feels like she had an idea she cared about and worked on it and edited it until it was ready. Its not a perfect manga. The action paneling is competent but lacks a certain punch and impact and action makes up a lot of the story. And in general as much as I praise it for what it did I believe it could have done more. When you have almost nothing but praise to heap on a manga its tricky to define what exactly is the difference between 8/10 good and 10/10 good. The best example I have is that this narrative in theory could have made me cry. And while it constantly made me smile it didnt get any tears out of me. Simply put it could hit even harder. Another issue like that is the ending. It ends well dont get me wrong but theres one decision I would have changed. Something that in my opinion would have hammered in the theme of Sazan accepting Mina for who she is even harder instead of making it a bit too easy. The fact that it could have been even better doesnt make it any less impressive for what it is. Im always happy when I find manga like this. They remind me that no matter how many things I read there are always interesting authors outside the mainstream doing things like Ive never quite seen before. In this case what it does is be an 80sstyle action adventure that commits to the nostalgia of that style so hard that it turns into something new. Something that could only come out of a presentday author looking back on what worked in the past and refining it. And she may become mainstream in the future. Akase Yurikos style is so digestible and fun that I think we need to keep an eye on her. A decade from now she might be at the top.