Shoujo/seinen manga have had a long history of combining psychological drama with romance, comedy and sometimes tragic elements. Maintaining a proper balance between these elements is crucial because if the tone is not right or if one of the elements is over-emphasized, the manga ends up devolve into introspective claptrap that feels weighty and profound but is actually the opposite. However, if the balance is maintained the results can be stunning. One of the manga-ka who did this balancing act best was Fuyumi Soryou in her short series – ES (Eternal Sabbath).

One of the first things about ES that makes it stand out is its art. While it is certainly “shoujo like”, it has sinister and psychedelic elements as if the artist had taken inspiration from a Junji Ito horror manga. For instance, in the first chapter the main character has a vision of a character who is plagued by guilt. His guilt takes the form of thorns that emerge from his spinal cord and impale our MC’s abdomen. His blood then splatters onto the ground from where barbed wires emerge and engulf the characters. The barbed hooks then transform into wasps that sting the MC before finally disintegrating into dust. It is ridiculously creepy and feels out of a horror manga. And yet, when not drawing such disturbing images – the art is very elegant. The characters looks less more Scandinavian or Italian than Japanese – tall, lean and ridiculously photogenic. Fuyumi uses such transitions from elegance to horror and then back again to tremendous advantage giving ES creating a sense of whiplash in the reader’s mind.

Beyond the art though, ES is an unusual manga in that it doesn’t rely on the standard shoujo/shounen tropes but feels more like a Hollywood thriller. One would imagine that a manga that has elements of genetic modification and mutants running loose in Tokyo would lead into epic battles in which the future of the world is at stake. However ES keeps it small, choosing instead to focus on how such mutants would survive in a world that is alien to them and how the world responds to them. Along the way, it explored the question of “nature vs. nurture” – can a mutant who has potential to do tremendous harm be nurtured to do become a good person? Or is it in its nature to be harmful? The series has tons of twists and several plot revelations that make it an absolutely gripping page-turner. And along the way, the series obliquely makes social critiques on parenting, child-development, modern-age relationships etc. It is all executed brilliantly until…

Until the final volume where it careens out of control. For obvious reasons, I won’t spoil what happens but the final 5-6 chapters finish the series off in what feels like a simple ‘predictable’ ending instead of a ‘grand’ finish. By no means can I call it a disaster, but it feels like a slight put down considering just how spectacular volumes 2-7 are.

All in all, ES is a fine piece of work. It is short – just 8 volumes long but it feels much less short because it is so fast and gripping. I remember reading this first in 2007 and upon rereading it in 2020 – it still holds up very well. Highly recommended. Just be prepared for a slightly lackluster ending.