mizu no senritsu

I bought the manga Mizu no senritsu ~Genmatsu no uta~ volumes 1 and 2 at the local used manga store (while looking for something else that wasn't in stock after all) after skimming through them. Biggest draw? Pretty art. Turns out that the manga is based on a pair of games (unreleased in the US) which, per a rec on a forum I came across while looking for more info, is "an interactive novel -- literally a 'choose your own adventure' story without the limitations of the novel form -- in the dark fantasy genre (ie. urban fantasy with horror elements) and it is so fucking cool. It is also a romance game, as the endings depend on which guy you end up with."

There are two races of people who are descendants of a woman who had eaten the flesh of a mermaid and lived 800 years until she somehow managed to kill herself, who have been fighting for a long time. One race lives for a long time without growing old or sick until they reach the end of their natural lives. The other lives for a shorter time but has weapons that can kill the other race. The game focused on ordinary girls who get caught up in the war and have a bit of romance, but the manga focuses on one of the "Hunters" of the shorter lived race. A "Hunter" (WTF is up with these ancient traditions having English loanword titles in manga/anime/games? It just bothers me to no end because it's so illogical. These people had been around long before English was ever heard in Japan, they must have had Japanese names. I feel like they "rebranded" and adopted cool foreign words sometime in the 80's or something...) is a warrior chosen by the weapons capable of killing the other race.

The main character Shitara Suguru, featured on both covers of the manga, is a 14-year-old kid with issues. He was born into a family who advocated destroying the other race, and whose mother has gone crazy after her husband and father was killed in fighting (I think). She's been brainwashing him into becoming an unfeeling weapon to kill the other race, but the head of their race isn't so keen on that. He wants to peacefully coexist with the other race. Suguru is the Hunter of the head's oldest son, who is sickly and not the successor. The supposed successor is the second son, who attends school in another town with his Hunter in one of those relationships just ripe for slashing (though so not my cup of tea). The third Hunter directly serves the clan head. Suguru was, according to the Japanese Wiki article, a side character in the games--probably because he was too young to be a romantic interest for the high school girls? In any case, the second volume ends in a way that begs for a continuation, but I couldn't get a firm sense that there would be more. I hope there is because I would like to know what happens.

The actual story is supremely shallow and at times irritatingly inconsistent, but I think it's on par with many other stories that come out of things like games. I enjoyed the pretty art and the interactions between characters (particularly between the Hunters, as Suguru is a childish tsundere type--with issues, of course--, the one attached to the second son is one of those guys who make good butlers or valets, and the one attached to the head is a rough, happy-go-lucky type). Also the omake manga on the covers (under the jackets) and the front pages are HILARIOUS. I wanted to share some of the pretty art and fun omake manga.

( click here )

I'm not actually reccing this manga....I just wanted to share the pretty and the funny and things...got out of hand. ^^;