I have to confess that I've only just recently read "Imuri." My wife became a huge fan 14 years ago, and every time a new volume was published, she would nag me about why I wouldn't read it. After "Imuri" ended in August after 26 volumes, I managed to read the entire series in two days.
It is a heavyweight sci-fi fantasy story about war and follows the peoples of Kama and Imuri. The people of Kama, to hasten their return to their home planet of Roon, are trying to annihilate the Imuri, Roon's native people. Roon is mostly frozen and covered in ice as a result of a fierce war that took place 4,000 years ago. Dulk, the protagonist, is a young student of Kama's elite religious school. Visiting Roon on a study trip, he becomes caught up in a military coup d'etat and finds himself thrown out alone into the wilderness. Dulk's parents are actually Imuri, and he eventually becomes the leader of the native inhabitants as a "legendary savior." While Dulk leads the Imuri, his twin brother Muba becomes a ruthless Commander of Kama, and the Kama and Imuri people fight each other in a bitter and terrible war.
The way the Native Americans and the Ainu people live is reflected in the lifestyle of the Imuri people, who coexist with nature. The manga series "Imuri" began in 2006, long before "Golden Kamuy" (2014). The story of "Imuri" as well as the mood is reminiscent of "Dune," a sci-fi masterpiece by Frank Herbert, and may cause many of you to feel nostalgic.
Kama's society is a class system under which people use a magical skill that allows them to control a person's mind called "shinpanjutsu" (the art of encroachment). When a person is under this spell, they are easily enslaved. This eerie power reminds me of the "tsubushiya" (crusher) characters working for the Chinese mafia in Ranjyo Miyake's previous work, "Pet." Miyake is able to vividly illustrate the relationship between the ruler and the ruled, the controller and the controlled, proving her originality. I would say Miyake expanded this relationship to the level of a planet-wide ethnic war in "Imuri." The bigger the scale, the more cruel and relentless the story becomes. At times, it became so depressingly dark and emotionally heavy that it was difficult to continue.
However, as dark and depressing it might be, I urge you to keep reading until the end. I genuinely admire the talent it takes to skillfully take a complicated ensemble cast and weave them into one beautiful work of art. But moreover, I am incredibly impressed and applaud how the story brilliantly portrays a grand and ironic ending, a paradox, where the evilest person presents the world with the greatest thing (without the person ever repenting!). What is it that drives people to become a slave? Can different ethnic groups truly coexist together? The questions posed by the story are all deeply moving.
In a time when it seems like everyone is clinging onto a sense of justice, on a national and personal level, it feels like some kind of revelation that "Imuri" has been completed. When it comes to manga, this year has been rich with numerous masterpieces and much-discussed works coming to an end, but the conclusion of "Imuri" seems to shine especially bright. I regret that I didn't read it earlier, and it will serve as a reminder to trust my wife's suggestions in the future.
-- Kanta Ishida, Yomiuri Shimbun Senior Writer
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