Barbara Ikai

Barbara Ikai

Cover of the first volume of Barbara Ikai featuring Kirya Kitakata
バルバラ異界
(Barubara Ikai)
Genre Science fiction
Manga
Written by Moto Hagio
Published by Shogakukan
Demographic Josei
Magazine Flowers
Original run September 2002 – August 2005
Volumes 4

Barbara Ikai (バルバラ異界 Barubara Ikai, also known as Otherworld Barbara in English) is a science fiction manga by Moto Hagio. It is set in a near-future Japan, and begins with a girl, Jyujo Aoba, who has been in a coma since she was nine years old, who was discovered next to her parents' bodies, with their hearts inside her stomach.[1] To discover why she killed her parents, a specialist enters her coma dreams and finds that Jyujo is dreaming about and simultaneously creating the future.[2] Barbara Ikai was serialised in Shogakukan's Flowers between September 2002 and August 2005 and is collected in 4 volumes. Barbara Ikai won the 2006 Nihon SF Taisho Award,[3] and was the first manga in 23 years to have won this award.[4] It is published in Traditional Chinese by Sharp Point Press.[5]

Development

Hagio "wanted to do something about meat" when she created the story for Barbara Ikai, and felt that the story "turned out kind of gross".[6] Thorn felt that Hagio also used her interest in the right and left brain, and the origin of language. She read Noam Chomsky's Noam Chomsky on The Generative Enterprise, A discussion with Riny Hyybregts and Henk van Riemsdijk., Vilayanur S. Ramachandran's Phantoms in the Brain : Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind, and Andrew B. Newberg's Why God Won’t Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief.[7]

Volume list

No.Release date ISBN
01 26 June, 2003[8]ISBN 4-09-167041-5
  • 01. (世界の中心であるわたし)
  • 02. (眠り姫は眠る血とバラの中)
  • 03. (公園で剣舞を舞ってはならない)
  • 04. (彼の名は絶望 彼女の名は希望)
  • 05. (エズラはどこへ消えた？)
  • 06. (六本木で会いましょう)
02 26 March, 2004[9]ISBN 4-09-167042-3
  • 07. (きみに肩車してあげた)
  • 08. (冷蔵庫の中のわたしを食べて)
  • 09. (火星の海で泳いでいた)
  • 10. (お父さんお帰りなさい)
  • 11. (お誕生日は同じ10月1日)
  • 12. (東池袋カササギのパン屋)
03 20 December, 2004[10]ISBN 4-09-167043-1
  • 13. (長い長い遺伝子（ゲノム）の物語)
  • 14. (大人にだってわからない)
  • 15. (遠軽への遠い道)
  • 16. (ひとつになりましょう)
  • 17. (誰もあなたの名前を知らない)
  • 18. (はじめてのことだから)
04 26 September, 2005[11]ISBN 4-09-167044-X
  • 19. (ずっとあなたを愛していた)
  • 20. (死者からのメッセージ)
  • 21. (バルバラ崩壊)
  • 22. (花小金井ヒコバエ保育園)
  • 23. (ぼくのキリヤをかえしてくれ)
  • 24. (遠い昨日から遠い明日へ)

References

  1. ↑ Thorn, Matt (2005). "The Moto Hagio Interview conducted by Matt Thorn (Part One of Four)". The Comics Journal. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
  2. ↑ "Moto Hagio Focus Panel - San Diego Comic-Con 2010". Anime News Network. 2010-07-23. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
  3. ↑ "list" (in Japanese). SFWJ. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
  4. ↑ "Iguana Girl Turns Manga Legend" (PDF). Japanese Book News Vol. 63. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
  5. ↑ 無標題文件 (in Chinese). Sharp Point Press. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
  6. ↑ Thorn, Matt (2005). "The Moto Hagio Interview conducted by Matt Thorn (Part Four of Four)". The Comics Journal. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
  7. ↑ Thorn, Matt (2005-10-28). "Opinion: 'Otherworld barbara'". Japan Times. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
  8. ↑ 小学館：コミック 『バルバラ異界 1』 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. 2003-06-26. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
  9. ↑ 小学館：コミック 『バルバラ異界 2』 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. 2004-03-26. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
  10. ↑ 小学館：コミック 『バルバラ異界 3』 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. 2004-12-20. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
  11. ↑ 小学館：コミック 『バルバラ異界 4』 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. 2005-09-26. Retrieved 2011-09-05.

External links