Dosei Mansion Volume 7, the review
Already in the sixth chapter the story was starting to take more and more intriguing and worrying turns, but with the finale we can see a worthy resolution of all the intrigues that had unraveled in the previous issues. Before going into the review, we remind you that other manga such as Biscuit Flowers, Bon no kuni - The lantern festival, Henshin, The gifts of Edo, White Clouds and Edo's souls are also included in Aiken, but while all these listed are self-contained volumes, Dosei Mansion is the only series of the series consisting of seven volumes.
We have already reviewed the first six volumes and today we conclude the story of Mitsu's adventures and other particular and mysterious ones. characters with the review of Dosei Mansion Volume 7.
Dosei Mansion Volume 7: the worthy conclusion of a simple but intriguing story
In the sixth volume we discovered the reasons for the strange behavior by Mr. Nishimaru and a large part of the entire volume was dedicated to him. Furthermore, for the first time, we found ourselves catapulted into a class struggle which, as often happens, is fought from below due to abuse and violation of rights from above. From this story we were able to discover Mr. Nishimaru's personal secrets that forced him to hate the upper level heavily after the death of his first child and the perennial coma of Makie, his beloved wife, due to medical malpractice. In short, a story made of action and intrigue in which the reason for the much desired trip to Earth emerges.In Dosei Mansion Volume 7 we observe in more detail the accident at the power plant that upset the entire rotating satellite, but in particular the lower level. The latter, in fact, is isolated and the souls of the inhabitants, already unstable, are ready to break out in a violent revolt. At this point Mitsu, who has practically become the spiritual leader of window cleaners, takes courage and accepts the assignment to go to Earth also to instill strength and determination in his co-workers. The spacecraft is practically ready and it is decided to reveal its potential and the entire project to all citizens at both lower and upper levels as a message of hope to all the inhabitants of the colony. The concluding chapter therefore focuses on the mission and the revolt, but there will be important concluding parentheses on Mitsu's father and his accident.
Narrative and artistic styles in the full maturity of the author
In all the volumes of this sci-fi series created by the manga creator Hisae Iwaoka we could see a growing narrative climax that is not exactly fast, but never banal or boring. In this concluding volume the work of maturation continues and reaches such a high level as to solidly cement the entire story without the risk of doubts or inconsistencies. In the seventh volume we find all the characters, both main and secondary, in almost equal measure, so no one prevails over the others as happened also in Volume 6.Finally we also understand the reason why the sensei Iwaoka had wanted create an entire volume focusing the story on an apparent secondary character of little interest, namely Mr. Nishimaru. The latter, in fact, will prove to be the true antagonist of the story due to his greed and his hatred towards a certain part of the population. Without risking revealing too much of the main story, we will also be able to understand what are his real plans for the trip to Earth and how his eagerness to reach his goal, also puts his life and that of others at risk.
Another non-trivial feature is the ability to be able to shift the focus of the story from the death of Mitsu's father, which is never totally forgotten, to the socio-political importance of the descent mission to Earth. Both coexist, but the second becomes a sort of hope for all citizens who, exhausted by the delicate situation, hope for a success of the mission. However, it is only the citizens of the lower class who are exhausted and the concept of class struggle previously introduced with Volume 6.
The author is very able to describe even only with images the feelings of the various characters, who become increasingly important for the narration of events. In this volume there is also a not indifferent graphic peculiarity, splendidly created by BAO Publishing: to show the journey on Earth, some color pages have been created and printed to describe in more detail what the protagonists of the story see. This choice involves the reader more in the story as do the flashbacks that finally, from about the fourth volume, do not present the small errors of temporal confusion present in the first issues.
In short, the maturation of the author is evident and finally, it is also shown on a graphic level. By now accustomed to style and aware of his skill, he decides to give free rein to creativity by creating incredible vertical and horizontal tables that give a sublime glance. The tables on the outside, or on the orbiting satellite or showing the Earth, have always been the strong point of the Iwaoka, but in this final chapter the scenes inside the colony and the more intimate ones that are more detailed and more accurate. The anatomies of the characters are more precise and at times even more realistic with a more marked and decisive stroke. There is no shortage of sweet, rounded and kawaii geometries, but now even Mitsu has grown up, he is no longer the chubby kid of the first chapters. The protagonist has become an adult ready to live his life aware of his potential and his own importance, just like the author who created him.
