From Far Away

Summary
I young japanese girl in high school living an innocent and charming life stumbles upon a bomb planted by a terrorist just as it explodes. This girl with a wild imagination wakes up and finds herself in a far away land. Dazed and confused she is found by a mysterious warrior that reluctantly allows her to come along with him. He speaks a language she doesn't understand causing her to feel farther away from home and their travels to be more awkward. She finds the warrior heroic and amazing, and he finds her to be slightly off kilter and annoying at times. It isn't made clear as to where she ended up, but their is a rather large search for something called the awakening. Many men are searching for it and want to destroy, and Izark, the warrior, believes Noriko, the girl, to be it. On their journey, their destination unkonwn, Noriko matures and begins to pick up on Izark's language, bringing them closer.

History
The story begins and current day Japan, but when Noriko is transported to this unearthly world, it seems as if she travels back in time. The characters travel by foot or horse and buggy. They engage in face to face combat with swords and the environment looks primitive like a jungle. Their clothing consists of long tunics or wrap around dresses. Their shoes are made of leather and wrap up to the knee. Most of the characters including the men have long hair and all the men wear a belt with a scabbard.

Objective
This GN is written in an entertainment style. The pictures are black and white, but there are exciting fight scenes with flashy words to emphasize noises. The gutters are sporadic and range from large to non-existant. Some of the pages consist of only one picture bringing drama to that scene. The artistic style has a mystical feeling. The Clothing and background are well detailed but the faces are often partially covered by hair and in the shadows with only an outline. In places when the artist wanted to show a response the emotions are vivdly displayed so as not to misinterpret the character's reaction or opinion.

Subjective
This book certainly makes for an enjoyable read and was quite the page turner. No doubt I will be reading the next volume. The flashy art really grabbed my attention and the pictures are enticing. The writing to me does lack a little. I think it could be improved to help develop the characters, but the illustrations do make up for that.

Connections
Niroko is an average modern day high school student who is thrown into a face paced exotic foreign world and I think her reaction is similar to that of any strong girl these days. Among all three graphic novels I have each one has a strong portrayal of the culture with which it was written and illustrated. The 9/11 Report was bold and flashy with some rash accusations. Each character was dramatic and stood out, and I think often times that is the life style of Americans. Monsieur Lambert is simplistic and refined, and very male driven in it's dialogue. From Far Away is mystical and portrays the girl as being clueless, innocent and submissive.