Otherworld Barbara Explained

Ja Kanji:バルバラ異界
Ja Romaji:Barubara Ikai
Genre:Science fiction
Type:manga
Author:Moto Hagio
Publisher:Shogakukan
Demographic:Josei
Magazine:Flowers
First:September 2002
Last:August 2005
Volumes:4

is a science fiction manga by Moto Hagio. It is set in a near-future Japan, and begins with a girl, Jyujo Aoba, who has been in a coma since she was nine years old, who was discovered next to her parents' bodies, with their hearts inside her stomach. To discover why she killed her parents, a specialist enters her coma dreams and finds that Jyujo is dreaming about and simultaneously creating the future. The series was serialised in Shogakukan's Flowers between September 2002 and August 2005 and is collected in 4 volumes. The series is licensed for release in the United States by Fantagraphics Books.

In 2006, Otherworld Barbara won the Grand Prize of the 27th Nihon SF Taisho Award

Development

Hagio "wanted to do something about meat" when she created the story for Otherworld Barbara, and felt that the story "turned out kind of gross".[1] Thorn felt that Hagio also used her interest in the right and left brain, and the origin of language. She read Noam Chomsky's Noam Chomsky on The Generative Enterprise, A discussion with Riny Hyybregts and Henk van Riemsdijk., Vilayanur S. Ramachandran's , and Andrew B. Newberg's Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief.[2]

Reception

Otherworld Barbara won the Grand Prize of the 27th Nihon SF Taisho Award by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan (SFWJ) in 2006 and was the first manga in 23 years to have won this award.[3] [4] Paste Magazine praised Hagio's sense of pacing.[5]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Thorn . Matt . The Moto Hagio Interview conducted by Matt Thorn (Part Four of Four) . The Comics Journal . 2005 . 2011-09-05 . 2011-08-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110815052615/http://classic.tcj.com/history/the-moto-hagio-interview-conducted-by-matt-thorn-part-four-of-four/ . dead .
  2. Web site: Opinion: 'Otherworld barbara' . . Thorn . Matt. 2005-10-28 . 2011-09-05.
  3. Web site: Loo . Egan . December 2, 2008 . Dennō Coil Wins Award from Japanese Sci-Fi Writers (Updated) . June 21, 2022 . . en . March 9, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220309071333/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-12-02/denno-coil-wins-award-from-japanese-sci-fi-writers . live .
  4. Web site: 各賞受賞一覧 SFWJ:日本SF大賞 . August 16, 2022 . . ja . August 11, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220811184353/https://sfwj.jp/awards/winners/awardsT.html . live .
  5. Web site: Otherworld Barbara Vol. 1 Haunts You Like a Dream. 15 August 2016.