She’s alienated from her peers, viewed as “unfriendly” by neighborhood adults, and clearly just very lonely. She feels abandoned by her father, and disgusted by her mother. Her relationship with each of her parents is obviously strained. In some ways, however, the bigger mystery is Ruka. Their senses appear to have evolved differently as well–Umi comments that Ruka “smells” like she’s seen the same things they have–though Umi’s intuitive abilities seem to be his alone, at least at this point. Since their skin and eyes dry out easily if they remain on land, they must seek out water regularly and are more at home in the ocean than they are outside of it. Though human, their bodies adapted themselves to the ocean over time in ways that make it impossible for them to truly live like other humans. Additionally, it has become a fascinating, well-plotted mystery story, far exceeding my original expectations.Īt the center of the story’s mystery are Umi and Sora. Though the color pages have so far been limited to the first chapter, the overall feel of the series has not shifted at all since the beginning, maintaining the same preternatural quality that mesmerized me from the start. Having initially encountered this series at Viz’s new website IKKI (where you can now read almost the entire first volume for free), I was struck first by its gorgeous, watercolor-like artwork and otherworldly tone. As she spends time with the boys, Ruka finds out that they have experienced the same strange sight she did as a young child–a fish that turned into light and disappeared before her eyes–something they call the “ghost of the sea.” Drawn to these boys and to the mysterious world of the sea, Ruka’s long, strange summer truly begins. Though she tells her mother she is still attending handball practice, Ruka continues to return to the aquarium to see the boy, Umi, and eventually her father gives her the job of entertaining Umi (and his less friendly brother, Sora) as “punishment” for her behavior. When the boy turns up later at the aquarium where her father works, she discovers that he was one of two young boys found swimming with a herd of dugongs, by whom they had most likely been raised. Taking the train to Tokyo on a whim, she encounters a young boy at the ocean who seems to intuitively understand her thoughts. Though summer has just begun, Ruka’s temper has gotten her kicked off her handball team, leaving her with nothing to do.
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