Manga Monday: X-Day by Setona Mizushiro

In response to the Columbine High School Massacre of 1999, Setona Mizushiro penned X-Day. The story centers on four individuals and their desire to blow up their school. Mizushiro focuses on why a person, or a group would want to destroy an institution, yet not in an accusatory tone. The two volume manga is very sympathetic towards its main characters. Personally the manga is in my home library because of its intention to talk about people battling depression as people and that their desires might be monstrous but does not make them monsters.

The story begins when 11, Polaris, Mr. Money, and Jangalian meet in the school’s online chatroom. They instantly bond over their mutual aversion towards the school as a symbol of their angst, and later meet up in a different chat room. There is where they first discuss blowing up the school, but it is filed away as they all become close friends online. Yet when one of them tries to commit suicide, they are forced to meet each other face to face and their discussion of blowing up the school turns into a plan. X-Day is when their plans will come fruition, but until then they plan and try to live through their depression, anxiety, abuse and insecurity.

Each character has their own reasons for their misfortune. 11 is semi-popular, a senior, and a former member of the track team. 11 is trying to keep hold of a mask of happiness and aloofness which hides a growing insecurity of being easily replaced on the team and in romantic relationships. Polaris feels restricted by the school’s uniform and adopts a mousy personality. Polaris fades into the background and is tired of being overlooked. Jangalian is trying to avoid unwanted and psychotic romantic advances, and Mr. Money wants to be useful to somebody, anybody. They all feel a level of adversity to their peers but no murderous intent. Instead they focus their grievances on the school itself holding it as the symbol of their struggles and misery. They do not want to hurt anyone yet want to be rid of the symbol. So each character struggles more with living until X-Day arrives.

Mizushiro shows complex character development with their struggles between destruction and perseverance. Unfortunately the story is only two volumes long, nine chapters in total with the last two having an urgency to wrap up the story. Polaris and Jangalian make a huge mistake with dire consequences, yet instead of elaborating on the subject, the issue is wrapped up with a slap on the wrist and a wag of the finger. It did not seem to fit with all the other issues that were presented and it seemed more that there was not enough time to explore it.

X-Day has no anime adaptation, but I you like the story I suggest watching Shitsuren Shokoraite roughly translated to Heartbroken Chocolatier. It’s a Japanese Live Action dramatization of Mizushiro’s manga of the same name.

Pick up X-Day at a Half Price Bookstore or any other second hand booksellers. I was owned by the defunct TOKYOPOP Publishings, which also owned: Marmalade Boy, Peach Girl, Kare Kano, Saint Seiya, Paradise Kiss, and Sailor Moon.

The two volume manga is 3 out of 5 stars for presenting sympathetic characters, engaging story-line and beautiful artwork.