Otherworld Barbara
Otherworld Barbara |
Cover of the first volume of Otherworld Barbara featuring Kirya Kitakata |
バルバラ異界 (Barubara Ikai) |
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Genre |
Science fiction |
Manga |
Written by |
Moto Hagio |
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Published by |
Shogakukan |
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English publisher |
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Demographic |
Josei |
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Magazine |
Flowers |
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Original run |
September 2002 – August 2005 |
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Volumes |
4 |
Otherworld Barbara (バルバラ異界, Barubara Ikai) is a science fiction manga by Moto Hagio. It is set in a near-future Japan, and begins with a girl, Jyujo Aoba, who has been in a coma since she was nine years old, who was discovered next to her parents' bodies, with their hearts inside her stomach.[1] To discover why she killed her parents, a specialist enters her coma dreams and finds that Jyujo is dreaming about and simultaneously creating the future.[2] Otherworld Barbara was serialised in Shogakukan's Flowers between September 2002 and August 2005 and is collected in 4 volumes. Otherworld Barbara won the 2006 Nihon SF Taisho Award,[3] and was the first manga in 23 years to have won this award.[4] It is published in Traditional Chinese by Sharp Point Press.[5] The series is licensed for release in the United States by Fantagraphics Books.[6]
Development
Hagio "wanted to do something about meat" when she created the story for Otherworld Barbara, and felt that the story "turned out kind of gross".[7] Thorn felt that Hagio also used her interest in the right and left brain, and the origin of language. She read Noam Chomsky's Noam Chomsky on The Generative Enterprise, A discussion with Riny Hyybregts and Henk van Riemsdijk., Vilayanur S. Ramachandran's Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind, and Andrew B. Newberg's Why God Won’t Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief.[8]
Volume list
No. | Release date | ISBN |
01 | 26 June, 2003[9] | ISBN 4-09-167041-5 |
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- 01. (世界の中心であるわたし)
- 02. (眠り姫は眠る血とバラの中)
- 03. (公園で剣舞を舞ってはならない)
- 04. (彼の名は絶望 彼女の名は希望)
- 05. (エズラはどこへ消えた?)
- 06. (六本木で会いましょう)
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02 | 26 March, 2004[10] | ISBN 4-09-167042-3 |
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- 07. (きみに肩車してあげた)
- 08. (冷蔵庫の中のわたしを食べて)
- 09. (火星の海で泳いでいた)
- 10. (お父さんお帰りなさい)
- 11. (お誕生日は同じ10月1日)
- 12. (東池袋カササギのパン屋)
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03 | 20 December, 2004[11] | ISBN 4-09-167043-1 |
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- 13. (長い長い遺伝子(ゲノム)の物語)
- 14. (大人にだってわからない)
- 15. (遠軽への遠い道)
- 16. (ひとつになりましょう)
- 17. (誰もあなたの名前を知らない)
- 18. (はじめてのことだから)
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04 | 26 September, 2005[12] | ISBN 4-09-167044-X |
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- 19. (ずっとあなたを愛していた)
- 20. (死者からのメッセージ)
- 21. (バルバラ崩壊)
- 22. (花小金井ヒコバエ保育園)
- 23. (ぼくのキリヤをかえしてくれ)
- 24. (遠い昨日から遠い明日へ)
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Reception
Paste Magazine praised Hagio's sense of pacing.[13]
References
External links