PERSONA TSUMI TO BATSU: UNA SUBSTANTIA
Matsueda Naotsugu
Jump Comics
No, you won't see the gang from Tsumi OR Batsu in it (except for a cameo by Katsuya).
Darn.
Is it still worth it?
Yeah, sort of.
How do you get this? Well, um, try your local Japanese bookstore, if it will do special orders; I've provided ISBN's. The author's HP is here, so you can take a look at his pages on the manga and grab some pretty wallpapers.
Vol. I: Dream and Legend 4-08-873056-9 Ch. 1: Dream >> Awakening Ch. 2: Awakening >> Meeting Ch. 3: Meeting >> Boundary Ch. 4: Boundary >> Dark Path Ch. 5: Dark Path >> Daybreak Ch. 6: Daybreak >> The Key |
Vol. II: The Four Keys 4-08-873129-8 Ch. 7: The Key >> Big Brother Ch. 8: Big Brother >> Revelation Ch. 9: Revelation >> Prayer Ch. 10: Prayer >> Tremor Ch. 11: Tremor >> Core Ch. 12: Core >> Purification ("Jyouka") |
Vol. III: The Sea of the Heart 4-08-873202-2 Ch. 13: Purification >> Sorrow Ch. 14: Sorrow >> The Book Ch. 15: The Book >> Rinne Ch. 16: Rinne >> Fate Ch. 17: Fate >> Wish Ch. 18: Wish >> Dream |
Una Substantia was a three-volume series that ran in Jump Comics and got published in 2000-2001. (I think the second printing was in late 2001, but I'm not sure of the first printing.) Una Substantia is Latin for "of the same essence," and I think that pretty much sums up this series' relationship to the games we know and love.
How's the art? Well, the art, in my opinion, is gorgeous, very neat and clean and detailed. Everyone has noses so pointy that they could poke someone's eye out with them, but the artist is a guy, so there aren't any huge sparkling eyes.
How's the story? Well...it's not bad, it's a very typical Persona storyline, as you can guess from skimming the character profiles. Take a look at the chapter titles; they're cyclical, with the last chapter being named the same as the first. However, the manga is extremely...camp at times, especially when it comes to Shimizu and Kazumi.
So who are the characters?
This friendly chap is a junior at Seven Sisters High School. He's very friendly and open, and has been best friends (or perhaps more, according to school rumor) with Shimizu Rihito for ten years. (He greets Shimizu by goosing him...um...) Lately he's been having some strange dreams about a man with a butterfly mask who asks him his name...he has pretty cute bed-head. He plays the role of "Hero from Sevens with Hidden Angsty Past."
PERSONA: HIEROPHANT Yama
Kazumi's best friend and one of his classmates at Sevens. He met Kazumi ten years ago at Alaya Shrine, when Kazumi accidentally kicked a soccer ball into his head. He's so beautiful that he's a male model for the Nymphea Japon company (his billboards show him lounging about naked near a bottle of cologne, with the tagline "I'm....sinful." This being a Persona series, of course...(highlight for spoilers) it turns out that he's a Minion of Evil working for the Evil Nymphea Japon company. He claims to have secretly hated Kazumi all along, but we all know that in the end the power of "friendship" will turn him good again. You'll notice that he wears the female turtleneck with the male uniform. Yes, that's strange. He also taught Kazumi about tarot cards. Again, that's pretty strange. Gotta love those pimpin' shoes, though. He plays the role of "Nutty Best Friend Who The Hero Met At Araya."
PERSONA: JUDGEMENT Archangel, HIEROPHANT Varuna
A mysterious older woman who helps rescue Kazumi. She's been a Persona-user for about ten years, and lives in the Abandoned Factory with Keito and Rinne. (highlight for spoilers) She's Yakumo's younger sister. Ah, the angst! Their parents were extremely abusive, and Yakumo used his persona to kill them, of course scarring Narui for life. She plays the role of "Hot Older Woman."
PERSONA: JUSTICE Bishamonten, TEMPERANCE Suzaku
An ex-cop, one of the Persona-users hiding in the Abandoned Factory. He's presumed dead; at his 'death' he met his "Goddess," Rinne, and has been hanging out with ever since. He's the chainsmoking gun-toting badass of the group; his ex-partner is one of the Nymphea goons.
PERSONA: EMPEROR Indra, EMPEROR Odin
A creepy little kid with mysterious powers with lives in the Abandoned Factory with Keito and Narui. Keito calls her his "Goddess," which is also kind of creepy. Her partner in crime is Jack Frost. Personality-wise she flip-flops between a normal prank-playing little girl and a mysterious girl who wields the powers of the Red Book. Did I mention that she was creepy?
PERSONA: HIEROPHANT Varuna
The president of Nymphea Japon (the name means "Japanese waterlily"...). He has very special hair, and gives all his little minions silly white costumes and big scythes. He has the Black Book, which seems to be a computer program that extracts and modifies the personae his minions collect, warping them into demons. I wonder if he has magic chiming meditation balls like Kandori does.
PERSONA: STRENGTH Naga, NYARLATHOTEP (I assume that's what that black and white thing is)
One of Kazumi's classmates. She seems to have a crush on him, and is always struggling to suppress the rumors about Kazumi's "special" relationship with Shimizu. *laugh* Denial ain't just a river in Egypt, Itou. She's kind of a ditz, but a nice one.
A girl that Shimizu and Kazumi met at Alaya Shrine ten years ago. They played together every day, and she taught them the game "Persona-sama" and a charm based on the nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty." No, I am not making this up. This being a Persona story, it's not really much of a spoiler to say that she died, is it? The kids were climbing one of the trees at Araya, a branch broke, and she fell to her death. There was a funeral and everything, and the two living kids supressed their memories, etc etc etc. They blame her death on themselves for whatever reason, as usual.