One thousand years ago, a priestess made a promise with a lightning spirit. She would give him her own spiritual energy, and in return the spirit, Kazuchi, would refrain from eating humans. Flash-forward to the present and we learn that Kazuchi has been stuck in a shrine for the last thousand years. Immediately upon breaking free, he looks up the current incarnation of the priestess--- our main character, Yuuto. Though I hesitate to call this a BL-Inuyasha knockoff, the parallels between the two are kind of glaring.
I really liked this story, but the first thing readers should know is that it’s incomplete. I didn’t see a “volume 1” anywhere, so I had assumed it was a complete oneshot. Not so--- the story leaves you hanging at a point you can just tell is right before the big, climactic battle! There's really no good way to say this: From Up Above has no resolution whatsoever. But, knowing that, I would still recommend From Up Above. As long as you know going into it that there's no real "ending," you can appreciate it for what it is: a very pretty supernatural story.
The art was definitely my favorite part of this manga. The normal character art is very pretty, the chibi art is always cute, and the two styles mesh perfectly! There’s one panel where Kazuchi jumps up to the second floor window--- he takes up the entire top half of the page, looking very impressive as he lands on the windowsill. The bottom half of the page is devoted to chibi-reactions of amazement from Yuuto’s classmates. But Yuuto? He’s just facepalming.
Another thing that I liked about the comic is Yuuto’s best friend, Takumi. I’m a sucker for wisecracking characters who only seem okay on the surface. He makes a good foil for Yuuto’s unfailingly honest personality. Though Yuuto’s adventures with Kazuchi take up most of the first half of the book, Takumi takes spotlight in the later half. Is it sad that I want Takumi and Yuuto to get together more than I want the clearly-favored Kazuchi/Yuuto? I mean, yeah, Kazuchi may have loved the priestess, but that was a thousand years ago! Let’s give the two best friends who clearly care about each other and support one another a chance!
Of course this is all a moot point, seeing as the series just sort of cuts off. I hope Sakuya Kurekoshi writes the next chapter, one day. And until then, I want to see more or her stories! Seriously, I’m a little in love with the artwork.
Digital review copy provided my publisher.
Digital review copy provided my publisher.
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