Manga Review: Fly Me to the Moon #1 by Kenjiro Hata
The Yuzakis named their son Nasa (“Starry Sky”) in hope of giving him a bright future. The constant teasing about it he got in his childhood gave Nasa the determination to excel in mind and body so that he could achieve greatness to the point people would think of him and not the National Aeronautics and Space Administration when they heard the name. This single-minded determination carried him up to just before he was scheduled to take the entrance exam for an elite high school. Then he met a girl.
Nasa was so entranced by her beauty that he walked in front of a truck to meet her. The girl saved his life, but Nasa was gravely injured. His determination not diminished by his wounds, he asked the girl to date him. She agreed, “but only if you marry me”, and Nasa said “Yes!” before passing out.
During his recovery, Nasa realized he didn’t know the girl’s name or how to contact her. Adrift, he dropped out of school and became a part-time worker, thriftily saving for a future he hadn’t planned for. On his eighteenth birthday, however, the girl reappeared, ready to get married!
This shounen (boys’) manga is by the same author as Hayate the Combat Butler, but despite some over the top moments, is much more on the romantic side of romantic comedy. After a frenetic first chapter, the action slows way down as our young couple goes to the ward office to file their marriage registration (we get a blank form so you can use it for all your fanfic needs), go shopping for a futon and other domestic supplies, get some sleep, and have breakfast.
There is a bit of mystery about Tsukasa (the wife); she seems far less injured after being hit by a truck than Nasa, and she is either telepathic or really good at reading Nasa’s thoughts. We don’t even get her original family name in this volume as she immediately adopts the “Yuzaki” name. Multiple images associate her with the moon, and she’s explicitly compared to Princess Kaguya. (Nasa wants to avert the sad ending of that tale.)
Having the main couple get married right away is both a strength and a weakness; it saves a lot of time on “will they or won’t they?” but also doesn’t give the reader a lot of investment in the relationship. These are two barely-legal teenagers who’ve spent less than two hours together and now they’re married. Tsukasa knows more about Nasa than vice versa, but it’s not much to build a lifetime on. Even holding hands is the furthest either of them has gone!
The rating is “older teen” but there’s not anything in this volume that junior high readers shouldn’t be able to handle, with perhaps some wise advice from an elder on why hasty marriages are normally a bad thing. There’s some bloody injuries played for comedy early on.
Recommended for those who like their romances sweet and with a minimum of conflict.
Oh, and there’s an anime!
One of my favorite recent manga series, and the anime seems to be capturing most of the magic. It also contains cameo appearances by Hayate characters and locations — the currently ongoing arc features a certain deserted mansion.