D — DEAR, MY GOD

We have entered a dangerous zone: Nora’s all time favorites. Dangerous because I have hard time bringing myself to shut up. Asada Nemui has been an artist I can tell their work apart in a heartbeat and always go back to re-read!

Title: Dear, My God
Artist & Author: Asada Nemui
Release Year: 2015
Status: Finished, 1 volume
Licensed? (Y/N): No (Seriously, get a grip @ publishers!)
3-second-synopsis: Choose your fighter: a hot priest and a brainwashing cult? Or a hot office worker and a talking plant?

Dear, My God has two stories that are connected through the concept of ‘God’. First story (Dear, My God) is about Ross, a priest, going into town to get supplies for the church and when he’s in the shop, he comes across a 17 year old boy holding a knife at the shop owner. He manages to handle the situation and takes pity on the teenager. Ross is eager to help him, when he hears the boy’s story, it’s clear as a day that he’s brainwashed by a cult that aims to “purify people through relieving them off of the source of the evil”, a.k.a, their money. Out of good will and concern, Ross follows the boy to the cult’s hideout. They both try to ‘save each other’ in their own way and the story begins. (This story might contain triggering depictions, proceed with caution.)

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The second part (Flower Story) is about Hana, the office worker. One weekend, he wakes up to a potted plant on his coffee table and soon recollects last night’s memories. Heading home drunk after a night out, he notices the potted plant in question left on the pavement, in front of the flower shop across his flat. Being the kind person he is, he takes the pot home with him. Now, he’s not too happy about the situation because he’s on bad terms with the florist, he doesn’t know how to take the plant back and apologize for his actions. The next thing he knows, he has bigger problems because the plant suddenly goes “God allowed me to talk. And uh, my throat is dry. How about you water me a little?” And they become friends. Yes.

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I debated a lot on whether to write more in depth or just keep it under 500 words, which was my original plan for this challenge and decided on the latter in the end. However, this volume deserves more recognition in its way of delving into religious fanaticism, the humanly need for companionship in any form, healing potential of a helping hand and Asada Nemui tackles all these in 6 chapters!

There’s been a huge shift from the original meaning of yaoi, which is an acronym of yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi (“no climax, no point, no meaning”). As any other growing genre, the more people contribute, the more variety and quality we get. This is not to say that a manga focuses solely on idealized romance where everything is rose-colored or works out perfectly isn’t worth reading. I intend to write more on this topic, but I just wanted to highlight that there are also a lot of stories that wish to convey or question more than that.

I recommend Dear, My God because it’s a striking story with interesting and bold metaphors, very pretty visuals and a type of quirkiness only Asada Nemui can offer. Here are some more illustrations from their Twitter account and see you next post! (source: * & *)

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Where to find Dear, My God

Japanese physical volume
Japanese digital volume

Masterlist

A — Ameiro Paradox
B — Blue Sky Complex
C — Coyote
D — Dear, My God
E — Endou-kun no Kansatsu Nikki
F — Full…
G — The Good Teacher
H — Hakujon to Kurobotan
I — Itadakimasu Gochisousama
J — Jealousy
K — Koi wo Suru Tsumori wa Nakatta
L — Love Tractor
M — Momo to Manji
N — Novae
O — Oh, My Assistant!
P — Piercings
Q — Quit Writing, Dear Author
R — Ryu no Otto, Boukoku no Kami
S — Saha
T — The Trees in Spring
U — Unknown
V — This Villain Emperor’s Gonna Charm the Male Lead to Survive
W — Wolf in the House
X — XXX Buddy
Y — Your Eyes, My Words
Z — Zarco

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