Manga Review – The Girl From the Other Side, Vol 11 by Nagabe (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 178 pages
Publisher: Seven Seas
Release Date: November 9, 2021
ISBN-13: 978-1648273094
Stand Alone or Series: 11th volume in The Girl From the Other Side series
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5 stars
“ASHES TO ASHES, DUST TO DUST
Everything eventually crumbles to dust, even a cozy stone cottage. The creaky floorboards and sooty chimney are now only a sweet memory. Time marches inexorably forward. Only the world will remain, spinning ever on. As everything slips into the past, what remains of Shiva and Teacher’s last moments? This was a story of two people—one human, one inhuman—who lingered in the hazy twilight that divides night from day. Now it reaches its end.”
Series Info/Source: This is the 11th (and final) volume in this series. I bought a copy of this book.
Thoughts: After just finishing Gideon Falls (which also had a disappointing, vague ending) I was somewhat disappointed to find out that this series also had a confusing and disappointing ending.
This volume continues off right where vol 10 stopped. Teacher had found out a huge secret about Shiva and her soul and we get to see how this all plays out in this volume. Of course Teacher is initially angry at the revelations, but soon realizes that he misses Shiva desperately.
The artwork continues to be topnotch. However, the ending is a bit confusing and ambiguous. This is one of those endings where you kind of get to decide how you want it to end. I was disappointed that there isn’t any resolution around the curse or the Mother; we still don’t really know why they exist or if the disease they cause can be reversed. It’s just very open ended.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I really love this series as a whole. The artwork is amazing and watching Teacher and Shiva teach each other how to live in this strange world is fantastic. Although I enjoyed this final volume I also found it to be a bit disappointing. There isn’t any resolution around the curse and what happens to Shiva/Teacher is left up to the reader’s imagination because of the ambiguity of the final part of the book. I would definitely recommend this series as a whole. It’s a wonderful fairy-tale-like manga with a unique and beautiful art style. However, be braced for a rather ambiguous and disappointing ending….this seems to be a trend happening in the graphic novels/manga series I am reading right now.
