There are plenty of times where manga or some other form of media are born from the dreams of a creator years before its actual conception. In more than just a few cases, those works can tend to cling too tightly to a pursuit of innocence, or to appeal to them in a way that erases the traces of those dreams. Noss and Zakuro volume 1 is able to find itself well within the goldilocks zone between these two. A trip down memory lane that’s fueled by an imagination that’s never ceased to grow, it’s the dreams of a child brought to the page in a way that could only scream of nostalgia.
In the pursuit of sifting through childhood memories to discover a comparison, and briskly flitting past The Adam’s Family, the conclusion I have come to for the sake of my argument is Detective Conan. Or Crayon Shin-Chan, or Doraemon, or any number of those late 90s and early 2000s anime. Skirting the definition of Chibi, but decidedly favoring compact and more simplistic (yet very discernible) designs, it’s an art style that just feels like it speaks to the notion of Saturday morning cartoons.
A lot of the legwork in the delivery of that feeling does come from story, though, so before I get to discussing the art in detail I want to get the easier stuff out of the way. Producing an inconsequential yet progressive narrative that’s not limited by a 4-koma format, you get something that wants to go somewhere, but isn’t in much of any rush to get there. Much like Noss’ idle daydreaming, Noss and Zakuro volume 1 feels more than delighted to wander through Shadowsville, getting a look at everything here and there and everywhere.
Though, that more idle nature doesn’t mean that our characters don’t have energy to express. With Noss playing the role of an energy sink, Zakuro gets to go completely wild, creating a strong dynamic with this firecracker adopted daughter, and the far more reserved and passive adpotive mother. It’s a strong dynamic that plays well against the overall narrative of exploration. Zakuro gets to poke and peer into every corner, and Noss is able to pump the brakes, giving both Zakuro and readers a well needed break.
Speaking of the mother-daughter duo though, I think they are absolutely a wonderful example of Rariatto’s exceptional visual work in Noss and Zakuro volume 1. Despite the aforementioned simplicity of the designs, it’s hard to really say that detail and passion don’t exist within every stroke. A great example is that despite both being vampires, Noss and Zakuro have very different design language. Zakuro’s bubbly personality is accentuated by the host of colors that adorn her character- namely reds and purples. On the other hand, Noss sports a far more plain and “spooky” style that’s devoid of color. Even looking closer, their use of highlights and hatching on Noss help further differentiate her from Zakuro. Then there’s things like the overall design language that takes it a step further with things like the hands and-. It’s simple, but it’s just so full of love and interest and the personification of these characters that it fits wonderfully.
Another delightful visual decision with Noss and Zakuro volume 1 is the “scale” of the page. We’re not cramming a dozen panels into the space of a single page, or filling it to the brim with speech bubbles and exposition. Instead, it seems like Rariatto almost wants to show off their lovely designs by bringing them to a larger scale. Though, in reality, it’s more of something along the lines of pulling back on the pace of the work. It makes it very light and brisk- in a good way, of course. You get these stories as something that is nice and easy to digest, and you get to enjoy the art at a nice scale.
The use of that scale makes the designs for characters at varying distances quite interesting, though. Of course, they have perfectly distinct silhouettes to play off of, but with the afforded space they’re able to mess quite a bit with the different designs. It’s always par for the course for mangaka to do so, but with the simplicity of these designs already being at such a pinnacle, Rariatto looks for different ways to experiment with them. Though, my favorite way absolutely has to be the unicode emoticon-esque faces. It just feels like a perfect fit for the air of the work and rightfully finds itself a place as a recurring piece. Either way, if I were to summarize the wanderings of this visual discussion, it would be that while Rariatto has absolutely nailed the feeling of a nostalgic style, they’ve still retained complete control over its expression. They are not at the mercy of the feeling here, but rather are playing with and tweaking it on every page.
Noss and Zakuro volume 1 is a lot more than what I was hoping for. I was immediately signed on because of vampires, was furthered interested by the art style, and then was just caught hook, line, and sinker with reading this volume. It’s hard to put into words, but that feeling is just so… right. Rariatto speaks to their fascination with a world of monsters in their afterword, as well as how that transitioned into including a sense of reality that brought life to those dreams. I think they themselves have done an excellent job of expressing what’s so good with Noss and Zakuro with that sentence. It’s a world that is undoubtedly the musings of a younger child staring up into empty space while their mind runs wild, but all that dreaming is kept neatly within a box. I really liked Noss and Zakuro volume 1, and I don’t think there’s much to add past that.
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