Set in a near future where humans have developed artificial gills nacuN opens with our protagonist Ishii Mitsunari looking at a video that ran for 2 hours and 51 minutes exclusively showing footage of a pod of dolphins wandering around the ocean with some random closeups here and there. Recorded by the worldrenowned mathematician Francis Dullam the video doesnt show anything eyecatching until an idea struck Ishiis head one thatll make him king of the world. Elated by this discovery Ishii forgoes living in America and instead sets his sights on working on this project in the northernmost point of the Komiya archipelago. It is here that hell be faced with a new lifestyle thatll bring many new challenges with it such as some of the islands bizarre traditions working together with a local fisherman named Gen as well as meeting a mysterious mute girl whos interfering with his dolphin research. But perhaps this trouble seems minor in comparison to some of the darker points nacuN manages to reach. https://i.ur.com/dwKer4u.png Ill have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this work especially after reading one of the authors other works Mushinuyun. The characters in this manga as well as their mindsets evolved unlike the former the concepts were given room to breathe and werent obfuscated by content that leaned more on the shocking and explicit side of things. The world of this manga expands with each passing chapter until it presents a rather vast array of characters that each have an important role within the story. What begins as a mystery that concerns one specific island escalates into a race that concerns itself with finding God first through the use of a polymind procedure thatll allow humans to create a massive supercomputer which may initially sound like jumping too hard into another narrative altogether but its something the manga manages to land quite well. The journey Ishii traverses starts off with his goal of world domination seeming childish but once it shows the lengths he and other people go to apply Dullams knowledge the plan appears to be more dangerous. Id say its worth the read especially because of how many interesting questions about the understanding of matters such as religion God human cruelty and suffering it poses. All tied together with a wellrounded cast of characters where the main character can be absent in chapters without the story losing any steam. My only complaint lies in the storys conclusion many things felt like they were getting resolved far too quickly near the end of the story and the last chapter is weak in comparison to some of the better moments of the series. Unlike the other work I mentioned here the author managed to create a narrative that didnt implement comedy at the expense of unnaturally fitting in the existential themes here it doesnt take away from the experience far from it its the moments of levity a reader may appreciate after some of the more gutwrenching moments nacuN has to offer. https://i.ur.com/Oaz5N48.png https://i.ur.com/EpUdDyu.png To conclude Id say to pick up the series on the basis that it presents a livedin environment that is the island of Makei with its weird allfemale traditions wary of foreigners such as Ishii as well as the neighboring islands such as Erabu with its historical shipwreck parts displayed at the entrance to the island which plays a pivotal part in the storys second half. But the scope doesnt stop there the Vatican with its supervision of Dullams ideas which also has a conflict of interest between conservative and sciencedefender factions is also an important participant considering one of the cardinals in line ot be the next Pope Zephias is a strong advocate of finding God via the polymind method. One of Dullams students Zelda becomes a major player in the story and the times her subplot intersects with Ishii give way to some of the key moments in nacuN. Its wellfleshed out with impactful visuals complex characters and will give you many themes to reflect upon. https://i.ur.com/e7CbjKH.png