After watching the Voices of a Distant Star OVA, I knew I wanted to give the manga adaptation a try. I knew that the story would have to be changed, as a 20 minute film does not make a 200-odd page comic. While very similar, The Voices of a Distant Star (note the addition of “the” to the title) manga takes a slightly more optimistic outlook and gives the story something closer to closure, which I think spoils the abrupt feeling of the OVA.
The volume opens with eight full-color glossy pages, introducing Mikako and the theme of lovers separated by space and time. These watercolors have a beautiful wispy look, adding to the effect of Mikako’s words of her world fading away, the further she goes from Earth.
The year is 2046. When Man arrived on Mars, they found the ruins of an alien civilization, dubbed Tarsians from the location where they were found. Through studying the Tarsian ruins, scientists discover faster-than-light space travel, as well as other technological advances, such as mechas called Tracers. Then the living Tarsians show up and start attacking the investigators.
Fifteen-year-old Mikako is drafted at the end of her final year at middle school as a Tracer pilot, as part of the Third Tarsian Mission, headed by the flagship, Lysithea. This seems to be out of the blue for her boyfriend Noboru, but he learns that she must have known for years that she had been recruited, but chose to continue her life as an ordinary schoolgirl until the last moment. The couple keeps in touch through cellphone emails, which due to the lack of advances in communication technology lags greatly. Days become months, months become years between messages, as Noboru ages on Earth and Mikako remains the same.
The manga definitely fleshes out the original story, adding small details that makes the characters much less two-dimensional in their cellphone obsession. We get the introduction of supporting characters, such as Mikako’s best friend in space, Hisa, and Wakana, the would-be girlfriend for Noboru, if only he could let Mikako go. Through Mikako’s squad leader, Miwa, we see a version of Mikako and Noboru’s story, where the girl just decides to never return to Earth, as it’s too painful to return to a world that you are no longer a part of. Sahara also introduces an unnamed classmate for Noboru, who illustrates how the majority of humanity feels about the Third Tarsian Mission. (Chiefly, disinterest at something that will never affect their lives.) All in all, I have to give Sahara credit for taking on a difficult job of adapting an existing property where fans will complain if any detail is off. The Voices of a Distant Star is a great story on its own.
My own problem with the manga is how the ending is changed. The OVA ends rather abruptly, with Mikako possibly hallucinating and potentially dying in space, while Noboru prepares to leave Earth for his space-bound career to hopefully find Mikako one day. It’s the classic Eastern ending, where “happily ever after” endings don’t happen, and everyone ends up suffering. The manga, on the other hand, takes a more traditional Western approach, as Mikako, on board the damaged Lysithea, reads the list of names of the rescuers coming out to the Sirius system to save them, and finds her best friend Hisa and Noboru among the group. It just feels like a cop-out after the sudden emotional power of the OVA’s Mikako, broken and drifting in space, literally years from home.
The artwork tends towards the average for a romance title, but I do like Sahara’s use of shading and blurred edges during flashbacks. It really supports the story-telling. The color introduction itself is beautiful, and I would have loved to have seen the entire book in color.
I only have one production complaint and it’s not really a major one, just a pet peeve. I’m not fond of TOKYOPOP’s frequent omission of translating sound effects, and this came back to bite me in this manga, as cellphones are checked a lot, and the “pi” sound of punching buttons is left untranslated. This caused me to stop and mentally substitute sound effects while reading the panels, which becomes rather annoying after a few chapters. Please, come out with your version of VIZ Media’s Signature series! I want my manga completely translated!
...Now that’s out of the way, The Voices of a Distant Star is an excellent substitute for the OVA experience (when viewed subbed). It captures much of the feeling of the original source, although the ending felt misplaced. Regardless, this is well worth picking up next time at the bookstore.
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