Nijigahara Holograph
Plot. The story jumps back and forth between years and events, allowing the reader to piece together how the nonlinear events are correlated. The focal point of the story is the character Arie Kimura, a pretty fifth grade student with pale skin and long hair. She enjoys telling her classmates a scary fairy tale in which a girl is sent by God to warn a village of a monster that will destroy them. The villagers fear her predictions, and seven of them decide to sacrifice her to appease the monster. The girl is reborn over and over, doomed  to repeat the cycle, with the monster growing larger every time due to its stomach getting fuller with bodies. This fairy tale foreshadows the general structure of the manga. Arie claims the monster hides in Nijigahara tunnel, a dark tunnel close to their school. The students' teacher, Sakaki, explains that the Nijigahara embankment was named for a legend about a , a "cow with a human face" known to predict plagues and suffering before mysteriously dying. Arie's classmates bully her, disturbed by her tale while also repressing their own individual personal problems, and seven of them eventually push Arie down  a well leading into Nijigahara tunnel to appease the "monster," mirroring the fairy tale. The children convince the adults that it was an accident, and Arie ends up comatose and stays this way for the majority of the story. Shortly after, ominous glowing cabbage butterflies begin to swarm the town. Arie's classmates grow up and try to move on with their lives, but still find themselves haunted by the incident and the guilt of their actions. They are plagued by internal monsters: guilt, pain, trauma, etc., and are unable to rid themselves of their painful memories and deeds. These  repressed emotions continue to have an influence throughout their lives in all timeline versions of themselves, whether they appear as adults, parents, or old people. However, many of the characters act on their dark emotions through the alternate timelines as well, as a way to purge themselves of their dark thoughts and temporarily affix blame on others. Their internal monsters follow them throughout their lives and are shown to always plague them. In all alternate timelines, Arie mirrors the sacrificial girl from the fairy tale, being murdered, raped, abused, or even committing suicide. Major characters. Some of the major characters  affected by their actions directly or indirectly inflicted upon Arie include: Release. The manga was serialized in the Japanese manga magazine "Quick Japan" by Ohta Publishing from November 2003 to December 2005. Ohta Publishing collected the 13 chapters into a single volume on July 25, 2006. Fantagraphics Books announced that it had licensed the manga in North America on January 1, 2013. Fantagraphics noted that the manga would be darker than their previous two releases, but still be part of their initiative to publish "unique artistic voices," adding that it would be translated by Matt Thorn. The manga was subsequently  published on March 19, 2014. The manga has also been published in France by Panini Comics, in Spain by Ponent Mon and Milky Way Ediciones (republisher), in Italy by Panini Comics, in Germany by Tokyopop Germany, in Brazil by JBC, and in Taiwan by Taiwan Tohan. Reception. Jason Thompson of Anime News Network found the manga to be confusing and dark, but said: "manga is about flow, but it takes skill to play with that flow as much as Inio Asano does in "Nijigahara"." He also likened the manga's portrayal of the dark sides of people to David Lynch 's films. Comparing the manga to Asano's previous works, Johanna Carlson of Comics Worth Reading said that it has "the same strong focus on character, but with much more emphasis on the creepy and violently destructive." She concluded that "the complex, multi-layered storytelling rewards attention." Ng Suat Tong of The Hooded Utilitarian felt that the quality of the manga which required looking at it as a whole was atypical in the industry, which emphasizes ease of reading. They called the manga as a whole "a marvel of narrative needlework and one of the best comics to have been  translated in recent years." In a starred review, "Publishers Weekly" called the manga a "dark and twisted psychological horror story" which is "equal parts beautiful and highly disturbing", adding that it is "impressive and will leave readers puzzling about it, with many likely returning to dig deeper and discover further meanings." Hillary Brown of "Paste" compared the manga to the film "The Butterfly Effect", finding the manga more favorable, saying: "the book is interesting—even as it frustrates—with its complicated timelines and penchant for big reveals." Laura Hudson of "Wired" called it a "haunting graphic novel", categorizing it as  a horror story, saying: "it's not a particularly easy story, or a nice one, but it is unflinching and beautiful." Oliver Sava of "The A.V. Club" described it as "a challenging title that forces the reader to confront terrifying situations without offering much comfort afterward", concluding that "Asano's skill delivers a haunting story that ultimately delivers substantial rewards, even with its unsolved mysteries." Kevin Church of Comics Alliance found that the story didn't feel cheap, "even with the unrelenting bleakness of the narrative" due to Arié's impact on the lives around her. He also complimented the  story's focus, its balanced symbolism, and Asano's detailed art and depiction of facial emotion. Lastly, he found the manga much more difficult than "Solanin", but called it a worthwhile challenge that "carries a palpable dread that will haunt you well after you put it down." David Berry of the "National Post" found fault in Asano's over-indulgence in implying that everything in the manga is connected, but called the story "one that can still capture a unique moment with piercing emotionality, leaving feelings lingering like evening shadows." The manga charted on "The New York Times" Manga Best  Sellers list, being the sixth best-selling manga for the week ending on March 8, 2014. The manga was nominated for the 2014 Diamond Gem Awards—which are selected by comic book retailers based on sales—for the category Manga Trade Paperback of the Year. Paul Gravett listed the manga as his tenth top manga of 2014, sharing the spot with one other work.