Children of the Sea Chapter 1

Written by Daisuke Igarashi
Illustrated by Daisuke Igarashi
Viz

I mentioned this earlier today and figured I'd give it a try. The problem with shojo manga is that it takes time to build up to its stride, often taking two volumes or more. That's why reading it one chapter at a time is not necessarily the best.

It's almost certainly the case here, as the story takes a very long time to get rolling, feeling like it has to go through two different prefaces to get to the main event.

Our heroine is an aggressive outcast who finds herself separated from the one thing she loves--her sports. Deciding to go to Tokyo because too many know her and hate her, by the end of this chapter, she meets a strange boy who may have ties to the other prefaces at the start of the chapter.

The artwork is strong and partially in color--it's nifty to see manga fish with colors and the use of pointillism to show the majesty of the sea is pretty cool. The problem is that the pacing feels glacial, and no amount of pretty art can change that.

I can't say I was really drawn into this one--the pacing is slow and confusing to read as just one chapter. But hey, it's free, so I'm in for Chapter two. Now that the characters are in place, it should start moving more quickly. And if not, it's not like I've lost anything, and neither have you if you give it a try.

You can read Children of the Sea Chapter One online here.