To You Who Know the Blue of Heaven - Her Blue Sky, review: a love beyond the boundaries of time

To You Who Know the Blue of Heaven - Her Blue Sky, review

A Te Che Know the Azzurro del Cielo - Her Blue Sky is the manga adaptation of the animated film of the same name (Sora no aosa or shiru hito yo) written by Mari Okada and directed by Tatsuyuki Nagai. of 2019 (you can retrieve the box on Amazon). Through his wonderful drawings, Yaeko Ninagawa manages to remind us of the story told in the film, a story in which past and present coincide in a mysterious and almost magical way, where music is the glue and what gives rise to everything, under an immense and blue sky that remembers what has been and what has never been lost.



To You Who Know the Blue of the Sky - Her Blue Sky - Star Comics, review Tanto tempo ago, when all men were children, there was a land of freedom, full of fantasy and every, where goodness and love really existed. Everyone would like to reach Gandhara, the utopia of every man however [...] is still very, very far away.

To You Who Know the Blue of the Sky - Her Blue Sky: the return of the past

Now, in the present, Aoi is an aspiring bass player, Akane works for the town hall alongside Masamichi Nakamura, nicknamed Michinko, the drummer of the former band of Shinno, who has a crush on her and Shinno has no more news. Those carefree and happy times seem to be over, destined to never go back, until Aoi, while she plays inside the temple where she usually goes to practice, she does not see Shinno, identical to her thirteen years ago. Could it be a ghost? Could Shinno be dead? This is what Aoi thinks, who, frightened, runs away, throwing Shinno trapped in the temple.

To You Who Know the Blue of Heaven - Her Blue Sky: a love beyond the boundaries of time

When you will open A Te Che Know the Azzurro del Cielo - Her Blue Sky you will not find in your hands the classic sentimental comedy, but an almost magical story, which will take you back in time, to a distant dream that you thought you had forgotten but still keep in your heart. It is about music, that glue that unites the souls of many people and, in this case, of two boys, now grown up, who have not forgotten the feelings they have for each other. When everything is shattered, when life puts you in front of a choice that is not what you would have wanted for yourself, it sets you limits, what would you do if you had the possibility to go back? What would you do if the past came knocking on your door in a way you never dared imagine?


To You Who Know the Blue of the Sky - Her Blue Sky - Star Comics, review In the few pages of this first volume Yaeko Ninagawa has managed to enclose the feelings, nostalgia, fears and insecurities of those kids who had to put their dreams aside to take the path that would lead them to maturity. But those dreams are always there, jealously guarded in a corner of their hearts, waiting for the owners to find the courage to take them in hand once again.

Music is the glue, what unites past and present . The dream of a band, that of two guys in love to stay together forever, the regret of having given up on running away from a village that is perhaps too small to take root. Aoi loves her sister but now she just wants to run away, maybe even see Akane think more about herself than about her, maybe she also feels guilty because she didn't want Shinnosuke to take her sister away after her parents died. All his regrets and insecurities about her turns them into musical scores: music has become her life, just as it was for Shinno, her outlet to scream at the world about her frustration and what she cannot manage. to turn into words. On the other hand, it is as if Akane, after Shinnosuke's departure, has shut herself up in a cocoon, dedicating her life to her sister and putting her love aside, along with her love for Shinno. This love, however, has never dissolved and all her regrets are brought to light through the insertion of a supernatural element, a bit like what happened in AnoHana, the other masterpiece of Tatsuyuki Nagai, Mari Okada and Masayoshi Tanaka. . Shinno himself is filled with frustration, also trapped in a past that he cannot forget and this is probably why his past self cannot leave the temple.

Some more information about manga

The edition that Star Comics presents to us is a delightful first volume, perhaps a little too short compared to the price, but definitely cured. The first thing that immediately catches the eye is the overcover, in pastel tones, starring Aoi while she plays the bass. The covers and back feature a black and white drawing of the cityscape that Aoi and Akane see every day.

The narrative is pleasant, alternating with flashbacks that don't burden the story, but insert clues here and there. which give the reader the opportunity to understand what happened in the past. The designs feature bold lines and an abundance of black, distinct from the background. The characters are characterized to perfection and manage to immediately capture the reader's attention.