Kagen no Tsuki: Last Quarter

Last Quarter - Original Edition [下弦の月 /Kagen no Tsuki] #1

by Ai Yazawa

Mizuki is a girl who wants to run away from her life. As she smiles at everything sad that happens to her, her soul becomes heavier day by day. Her escape door is Adam, an English singer. But is he really real, or is everything they've been through just a dream? Adam sees his dead Japanese girlfriend in Mizuki, but strangely, nobody, apart from a girl who met her at the gates of heaven, can see Mizuki. This is a story that takes place somewhere between dream and reality.

Genres: Manga, Comics, Romance, Mystery, Shojo, Drama, Supernatural

227 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 7, 1998

About the author

Ai Yazawa (Japanese: 矢沢あい, Yazawa Ai) is a Japanese manga author and illustrator. Her pen name comes from singer Eikichi Yazawa, of whom she is a fan.
Yazawa started her comics career in 1985. She specialises in shojo manga (girls' comics). Most of her works have been serialised in the magazines 'Ribon', 'Cookie' and 'Zipper'.
Yazawa's stories focus on young, often rebellious women and their relationships. The characters are always very stylish, and Yazawa herself is known for her sense of fashion. (She even attended a fashion school for some time after high school.)
Among her most famous manga are Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai (I'm No Angel, 1992–1995), Neighborhood Story (1995-1998), Paradise Kiss (1999-2004), and Nana (2000-2009), the latter awarded a Shogakukan Manga Award in 2003. Some of these works have been adapted into anime and live action movies.

Reviews

[lillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

omfg this is so sad ? there’s literally no happy parts to this and it made my stomach hurt
but if yk me i’m a slut for ai yazawa this is definitely super underrated and overshadowed by nana and paradise kiss but it has the same melancholy personality as the later chapters of nana. i recommended it’s a very quick read took me about 2ish hours to read and i cried a lot 😍

[Conejo Literario · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this one for the books,for sure. Miss Yazawa is an amazing storyteller and this series prove it again

[Rowina · Rating 4 out of 5]

"¡Finalmente encontré el manga "Last Quarter" de Ai Yazawa en español y no puedo contener mi emoción! Como fan de Yazawa, estaba ansiosa por leer esta historia y déjenme decirles, ¡no me decepcionó en lo absoluto! Aunque es diferente a sus otros trabajos, eso no lo hace menos impresionante; de hecho, creo que es parte de su encanto.

"Last Quarter" es una historia paranormal que gira en torno a Mizuki, una joven que se encuentra en el hospital después de un intento de suicidio, y Adam, un misterioso músico que aparece en su vida de la manera más extraña. Este manga está lleno de misterio, lo cual lo hace adictivamente intrigante. La trama está hábilmente elaborada y cada página está impregnada de una atmósfera única que me sumergió por completo en la historia.

[StrawberryShojo · Rating 4 out of 5]

An honest portrayal of how someone might end up in an abusive relationship and how not dealing with trauma destroys a person and those around them. Also, you get to read about a pretty fun Scooby squad as well. If you want adult Goosebumps with a heaping plate of "aesthetic" and trauma, pick it up.

Full Review on Youtube

[eirignis · Rating 5 out of 5]

C’est inutile de redire combien Nana a impacté ma vie, je découvre les autres œuvres de Ai Yazawa au fur et à mesure. J’avais aimé Je ne suis pas un ange mais ça restait assez léger, emprunt d’humour et d’amour. Avec Last quarter, on retrouve la profondeur qui la caractérise, la gravité de la dépression, de la perte, de l’identité décousue, du destin funeste. Bien sûr je vois les échos avec le personnage de Nana dans Mizuki, de nouveaux des personnages musiciens. Ce n’est que le tome 1 mais je me demande comment elle donne tant de force à une histoire qui ne fait que 3 petits tomes..

[Vyou · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

#MangaMadnessReadathon

[flovdra · Rating 4 out of 5]

bardzo pozytywnie mnie zaskoczylo!! jestem zaintrygowany i czekam na wiecej 👀👀

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this trilogy - currently re-reading it before I watch the movie again. So sad and beautiful, and Ai Yazawa's art is as brilliant as ever.

[chimiochi ⋆ ࣪ ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ⋆ ࣪ (inactive) · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnfed. Plot felt boring and literally went nowhere.
Will not be reading the rest of series (sorry Yazawa 😭)

[Léa ☠︎︎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jamais déçue par notre reine Ai Yazawa, Last Quarter est un chef d’œuvre de mélancolie

[Ayanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

sadness x mystery x ai yazawa

[zuzzzuuu · Rating 4 out of 5]

wgl nie tego sie spodziewałam ale mega dobrze się zapowiada, początek totalnie na coś inny wskazywał i bardzo się cieszę, że ostatecznie poszło w innym kierunku

[Oona · Rating 4 out of 5]

banger hate de savoir la suite

[Rasha | رشا · Rating 4 out of 5]

طوال الشابترين الأولين ما كنت فاهمة شي لكن وصلت لنقطة رهيبة من القصة وعرفت ان في فيلم مقتبس منها، قمة السعادة :))

[daniela]

The kids are sooo cute I didn’t know that much about the plot so I didn’t realize they would be main characters as well. Interested to see where this goes so pretty n melancholic

[Nicole Vasilev · Rating 4 out of 5]

i am intrigued

[Vex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paranormal Ai Yazawa story? Hell yeah!

[Noninuna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hotaru, a sixth grader, was in a car accident due to her cat. Now that she's out of hospital, she continue searching for her cat, Lulu. One day, she sees a similar looking cat and follows it to a big empty house. There she meet Eve, a lonely ghost that likes to play piano. Eve keeps playing one particular song but it always half way through. Hotaru asks her to play it till the end but she tells her that she can't remember anything other than that half song. There on, Hotaru & her 3 friends start to investigate who was Eve.

Initially, I was intimidated to start anything from Ai Yazawa because her other work, Nana was hugely popular. I also didn't know what to expect so going half way through vol 1, I was still confused. Later on, things started to come together and the mystery unfold bit by bit. I like how during the seriousness of the situation, there are always humor between the four friends.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story has such a melancholy feel to it, but I think that's just Yazawa-sensei's brand. I think this story is interesting. The ghost, the lost memories, and the children who just want to help. I think Yazawa's story concepts are always so different from other manga I've read. Even if the concept itself isn't extremely original, the way she writes makes it entirely her own.

[زينب · Rating 4 out of 5]

The whole message from this story is that REALITY might not be that great however it's better than the 'perfect' dreams. It's creative the way she conveys that message in this manga. I especially enjoyed the 'mystery/detective' parts.

[Angélique · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still amazed by Ai Yazawa's art, this is a dark and sad beginning, I'm quite anxious about the rest, to be honest...

[ดินสอ สีไม้ · Rating 5 out of 5]

เป็นพล็อตที่สลับซับซ้อนและสนุกมากกก
ความทรงจำทับซ้อน ผีสิงผี อะไรประมาณนั้น
ไอยาซาว่าเป็นนักเขียนที่ไอเดียบรรเจิดมากค่ะ ชอบบบบ

[katrina]

kinda confused but i love this

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Completo.

[tiaᝰa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I saw some people talking about how great this series was, and as a fan of NANA/Paradiss Kiss, I expected to enjoy this as well. But I didn't, and here are the main reasons why. First, this felt extremely rushed. I get that there are only three volumes in this series and there's only so much one can divulge to the reader within that timeframe, but it created this underlying sense of urgency throughout the entire volume that threw me off. And it was there even in the most relaxing of scenes. But moving on from that, as much as I love reading up on unhealthy relationships (as fictional entertainment), this was just not it. I enjoy reading well-written versions of this concept, not the watered-down mush you automatically think of when someone mentions a "toxic relationship". This is the watered-down mush you automatically think of when someone mentions a "toxic relationship", by the way. Like, oh, the girl runs off with a guy she just met, but he's actually kind of crazy because of his dead ex! It's not even a bad concept (although overused); it's just that she felt so shallow. Nana Komatsu did it better. And I didn't feel anything for the characters at all, really; they just irked me. It honestly felt like Yazawa favored the vision of this story more than the actual characters themselves, if that makes sense. Which is the complete opposite of NANA. But this was ultimately a consequence of what I mentioned before, the rushed undertones.

[khair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Je ne m’attendais pas du tout à un plot pareil. Le tome commence de manière assez banale puis tourne dans quelque chose de totalement inattendu mais excellent.
Comme toujours, l’écriture d’Ai Yazawa est incroyable, les phrases sont superbes, les déclarations d’amour aussi.


SPOILERS ❗️❗️❗️❗️
Lorsque j’ai compris qu’Ève était décédée dans l’accident, j’ai ressenti une peine immense. Ce personnage me touche particulièrement, et le fait qu’elle soit toujours autant à la recherche d’Adam me fend le cœur parce que j’ai la nette impression qu’il n’était pas si charmant que ce qu’elle croit (il n’y a qu’à voir comment il l’a traité, violence physique + chantage affectif). Ce personnage (Ève) me brise.
FIN SPOILERS ❗️❗️❗️❗️

Ce premier tome est un véritable coup de cœur. J’espère que les deux autres seront aussi bons. Il me tarde de les lire même si j’ai vraiment peur de finir avec le cœur en miettes.

[Monika Kilijańska · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hotaru jest jeszcze uczennicą podstawówki. Trochę nieśmiała dziewczynka ulega poważnemu wypadkowi i poznajemy ją w momencie, kiedy ma opuszczać szpital. Akurat tak się składa, że udaje jej się wyzdrowieć jeszcze przed rozpoczęciem szkoły i nowej klasy. Dziewczynka ma nawracające sny dotyczące kobiety w białej zwiewnej sukience i jej kotka, Luny. We śnie kobieta nie może wydostać się z ogrodzonej posesji, a w powietrzu unoszą się pióra oraz fantastyczna melancholijna muzyka. W rzeczywistości kotek Hotaru zaginął w dzień wypadku i dwa ostatnie dnie wolnego od szkoły dziewczynka spędza na szukaniu go. Tak trafia do domu, w którym spotyka Mizuki, opiekującej się do tej pory Luną. Z pomocą przyjaciół Hotaru postanawia pomóc płaczącej dziewczynie, którą nazwała Ewą i dowiedzieć się, dlaczego nie może ona opuścić domu.

Więcej na http://www.monime.pl/last-quarter-kag...

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decided to give something different a go on a whim, and I'm glad I did! While this generally isn't the type of manga I go for, I can't deny that it hooked me pretty quickly and I'm very invested already in seeing where things go. The characters are all very likeable, the artwork is superb, and the story hits on a ton of different genres, from comedy to romance to mystery, all very deftly. The melancholy atmosphere that's built here is great, and overall this just felt like a breath of fresh air to me in contrast to what I'm usually drawn to. Good stuff.

[Drine Psylook]

Je ne suis pas fan de la couverture, elle ne rend vraiment pas honneur au style de dessin de Ai Yazawa. Le visage, les cheveux et les yeux me fascinent.
L’histoire m’a bien plu.
J’ai apprécié les personnages. À part peut-être Adam qui me dérange, je les ai trouvés attachants.
https://psylook.kimengumi.fr/2024/07/...

[Ziα Đαdiпα · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eccolo qui il VERO capolavoro della Yaza!
Non avevo idea che potesse concepire un manga di tale portata.. Di gran lunga superiore a mio parere rispetto a Nana, Parakiss o qualsivoglia altra sua opera.