Manga Review: Kanata Kara

Name: Kanata Kara aka From Far Away
Author & Artist: Hikawa Kyouko
Chapters: Approx.  70 - Finished
Genres: Action,  Adventure,  Comedy,  Drama,  Fantasy,  Romance, Shoujo,  Supernatural

Plot: 
Walking home from school one day, Noriko is innocently caught up in a terrorist bombing. Rather than being blown to bits, she finds herself transported to another world; a world in which darkness seems on the rise, as its powers desperately search for a being known as the Awakening whom it is said will awaken the Sky Demon. She finds this new world to be dangerous and overwhelming, and Noriko has little choice but to throw her lot in with the mysteriously powerful man she encounters upon her arrival. The enigma of this world and her role in it will gradually unfold, but first things first: Noriko must learn their language!

Review:
This has got to be one of my favourites. It's a solid manga with nice, clean art from the 90s.

Noriko is your average Japanese school girl who's thrown into a pretty dangerous world. She does everything she can that's within her limits and doesn't get bogged down by the fact that she really can't help anyone fight off demons or the enemies. She doesn't sit around and wine, and when she gets captured she thinks calmly about the situation and tries to desperately escape. I could have easily seen her become a Miaka from Fushugi Yuugi...



Izark, main lead is hot, young, smart and very lonely. Who slowly becomes attached to Noriko and she helps him fight his inner demons, literally. He's also a tad possessive and over protective but considering the world they live in it makes sense. He's great eyecandy and a little cold and he has his reasons so he doesn't deserve to be grouped with the typical douchebag. Initially he can be pretty serious but he begins to loosen up halfway through the series despite the the depressing circumstances.

I think it just misses the mark to becoming a classic. It's great but I feel like it's missing something that could make it a better story. I think it's the lack of development with the supporting characters and how easily they got through things.
It's a great read and you won't regret reading it.