Let's finish off our Blue Seed anniversary retrospective with the manga that started it all. Supposedly, and contrary to what one would think, the premise of Blue Seed actually came from Ashi Productions and Production I.G, who gave mangaka and writer Yuzo Takada some ideas to develop. From the core concept he drafted and created characters and the overall storyline, taking inspiration from pop culture and genre efforts in order to modernize the original Izumo myth from Japanese folklore. The resulting Shōnen manga was published by Takeshobo in the Comic Ganma magazine from 1992 to 1996 and it only lasted for two volumes and 17.5 chapters.
The overall story is very similar to what we have seen in the anime but there are some significant differences. If you wanna know about the general story you can read my review of the TV series. Since my introduction to the series was the anime, my review of the manga will also compare the two works as my opinion of it is closely related to the way I see the anime but it's not a comparison thats fully tainted as I gave both the same chance, you can also extract the virtues and flaws of each work by what I have to say about them.
Here are the major differences (without spoilers):
-The manga puts more emphasis on Momiji and focuses more on telling the story through her point of view instead of alternating between the main cast all the time. The very first scene in the manga is Momiji taking a bath with her grandma, a scene that comes much later in the first episode of the anime. The events are told to us as Momiji learns about them, most of the info is revealed to her and to the audience at the same time, at least in the first chapter. The manga goes for a more mysterious tone because of this.
-The Aragami only attack at night time. This makes them pretty much useless during the day, the creatures have to wait until the sun is covered to attack. This also makes Kusanagi more vulnerable instead of the incredibly powerful hybrid he is in the anime, he has trouble going after Momiji during their first encounter, she even punches him, revealing that he is just another human in the daytime.
-Characterizations are mostly the same but they went through some slight differences in the manga. Momiji is more silly and is stronger in the manga (fighting back more occasionally, even against Koume!) to the point of defeating some Aragami single handedly. Kusanagi is less of a douchebag and comes off as more considerate since he is less antagonistic and goes out of his way to save Momiji´s life instead of simply having no other option. Ryouko is more tough and less formal, a bit of a deviation when compared to the somewhat gentle lady we see in the animated version.
-The lore and the backstory of the curse and the Aragami are a lot more clearly explained here, the exposition comes off more naturally because it has to be explained to Momiji (us).
-The comedy is less prominent overall and it's implemented in small doses as the tone itself is lighter as a whole, so it wouldn't make sense to have strictly comedic sections. The running gag of Momiji showing her panties is present here but it's not a focus.
-Some characters have more interactions here than in the anime. They also work together as a team in a more traditional fashion than before. Koume and Sakura, for example, share more conversations and moments together than what we see in the TV series.
-A lot of the important plot points in the anime are introduced far earlier in the manga such as the appearance of Kaede and Sakura, making the story feel a bit cluttered at first but they handle the storyline quite efficiently and never allow it to be overstuffed. If anything, I now appreciate the anime for introducing these characters with more room to breathe in between.
-The secondary characters are sidelined even further here, which is expected, they serve their function very well and enrich the story as their distinct personalities come through and make the characters' interactions more dynamic. While we dont get more insight into them than a few panels or lines we can thank the anime for giving us more memorable moments with them.
-Factions like Japan's defense force have a more active, even antagonizing, role and they put our main group in peril multiple times, allowing for the stakes to be increased and the danger to be more prominent, having to face more than just the Aragami. This also happens in the show but very late into the story.
But not everything can be compared, as the manga has some elements that stand on their own. The artwork is detailed and solid for a good amount of the pages, there are typical corners that are cut but not in a distracting manner, the drawings might be a little rough in a handful of panels but it's clear the effort mostly went into the larger and more important illustrations, creating some very memorable images. There are also some really intense stretches of storytelling that require almost no dialogue, playing to the strengths of its medium.
I appreciate the manga and anime for different reasons. The manga has a smaller scale and is considerably more focused while the anime is more bombastic, elongated and epic. The anime has more opportunity to flesh out concepts and ideas and, while it wasn't successful at everything, it managed to inject more life into the story, the additions like the character introductions and more time to show their dynamics made them more memorable and impactful in the anime as well.
Meanwhile, the manga had to resume and convey interactions and information in brief and concrete ways that the show had more time to explore and with more hindsight. A lot of it simply has to do with the medium and the way these works are produced. I will also warn you not to expect an ending, because it doesn't really have one, at least not one that's as truly satisfying and emotional as the one from the anime.
In my opinion, the manga really required more time and room to develop and fulfill its potential, because two short volumes don't really cut it. A strange thing is that it was never properly continued or extended considering the fact that it was far from a failure. Takada has admitted that Blue Seed would have benefited from being a light novel instead of a short manga, as a lot of the concepts could have been explored further. This is part of why some fans consider the anime show to be the most complete version of the story.
This closes our Blue Seed retrospective. A very nostalgic and enjoyable ride. Totally check out the series as it runs the risk of falling into obscurity after all these years with very little discourse surrounding it, but there are a lot of great aspects that make Blue Seed timeless and lovable.
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