IC In A Sunflower
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is a
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
''josei'' (targeted towards women) manga written and illustrated by
Mitsukazu Mihara is a Japanese illustrator who helped to influence the Gothic Lolita look through her illustrations, particularly as the cover illustrator for the first eight volumes of the ''Gothic & Lolita Bible''. In 1994, she won a contest in the Japanese Lis ...
. It is a collection of seven, unrelated
short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...
which appeared in the Japanese
manga magazine are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics an ...
'' Feel Young'' from 1994 to 1997. The stories were then collected into a bound volume in Japan by Shodensha on October 18, 1997.
Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licens ...
licensed ''IC in a Sunflower'' for an English-language release in North America, and published it on January 2, 2007. ''IC in a Sunflower'' was positively received by English-language critics and readers. Reviewers identified various themes and literary elements in the collection, and generally enjoyed the short stories and art. The seven short stories consist of Mihara's 1994 debut , set in a future in which an
AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
vaccine destroyed the desire for sex; , which focuses on a young woman haunted by her childhood sexual abuse; , which deals with the events surrounding a couple and their robotic housekeeper; , which centers on a boy in love with a girl caring for her elderly father; , which revolves around a captured mermaid; , which features a disturbed college student; and , which is set in a future where
human cloning Human cloning is the creation of a genetically Cloning, identical copy of a human. The term is generally used to refer to artificial human cloning, which is the reproduction of human Cell (biology), cells and Tissue (biology), tissue. It does ...
is practiced.


Plot

''IC in a Sunflower'' consists of seven
short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...
, a format that
Mitsukazu Mihara is a Japanese illustrator who helped to influence the Gothic Lolita look through her illustrations, particularly as the cover illustrator for the first eight volumes of the ''Gothic & Lolita Bible''. In 1994, she won a contest in the Japanese Lis ...
frequently uses for her narrative. The stories are unrelated to each other, each featuring a different protagonist. The stories of ''IC in a Sunflower'' sometimes incorporate a
twist ending A plot twist is a literary technique that introduces a radical change in the direction or expected outcome of the plot in a work of fiction. When it happens near the end of a story, it is known as a twist ending or surprise ending. It may change ...
. revolves around a future in which teenagers do not have a desire for sex, as a result of an AIDS vaccine. The story focuses on Irori, who is taught about sex in school and encouraged by his parents, but ultimately neither understands nor has a desire for sex. focuses on a woman who struggles to create a happy life for herself despite the childhood sexual abuse done to her by her older brother. In her
backstory A backstory, background story, background, or legend is a set of events invented for a plot, preceding and leading up to that plot. In acting, it is the history of the character before the drama begins, and is created during the actor's prepara ...
, her parents refused to believe her as a child about her brother's abuse towards her, and upset, she bites her doll and develops a compulsive habit of biting. Later, as an adult, she settles down with a husband and child, but after discovering her battered doll which triggers memories of her unhappy childhood, she bites her child. centers on Vanilla, an android who keeps house for an old man married to a younger, unfaithful woman. The man treats Vanilla well, seeing her as a daughter, and the two have tea in the garden; his wife, in contrast, abuses her and allows her lover to do the same. After the old man reveals his plans for divorce, his wife murders him and orders Vanilla to bury the remains. Vanilla obeys, although she recognizes that the remains were of the old man. The story ends with Vanilla in the garden, keeping her promise to the man by having tea when the
sunflower The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a species of large annual forb of the daisy family Asteraceae. The common sunflower is harvested for its edible oily seeds, which are often eaten as a snack food. They are also used in the pr ...
s bloom. In , a boy falls in love from afar with a girl taking care of her elderly father. After she fails to appear with her father one day, he finds her dressed in mourning clothes with a smile on her face and burning the basket she kept with her. focuses on a captured
mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are ...
and her refusal to speak. Her captor attempts to pull her out of the bathtub where she had been living, and she remembers that she was a girl whose mother had tried to drown her and herself in a lake years ago. Her mother died, but she survived and imagined herself as a mermaid. She then wakes up from her delusion, finding herself in a hospital instead of a bathtub, and can begin to recover. revolves around a college student, who collects rocks and is tormented by his memories of dissecting a frog. After learning that his girlfriend is pregnant, he becomes upset and tosses her into a busy highway. Set in a future where human cloning is practiced, focuses on Tou, a clone sent to live in an orphanage of humans as part of an assignment. There, he meets a cheerful girl named Riika and after some time, she is taken to be killed for her organs. It is then revealed that Tou only thought he was a clone.


Style and themes

In ''IC in a Sunflower'' and all her works, Mihara uses character designs incorporating Lolita fashion—a clothing style influenced by the
Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...
style and the
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...
and
Edwardian era In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...
s. She explained that that particular style conveys the duality of her characters: "It's about showing the delicate balance of 'delicate, yet strong,' or 'selfish and wild, yet lustful.'" Mihara has been involved with the shaping of the Gothic Lolita style—a subset of the Lolita fashion which incorporates dark colors—through her artwork; she illustrated the first eight covers of the fashion magazine-book '' Gothic & Lolita Bible'' and later returned to illustrating the covers with the twenty-seventh volume in fall 2007. Reviewers have identified multiple themes and literary elements in the manga. According to Mania Entertainment's Nadia Oxford, Mihara uses minimal dialogue and narrative, instead conveying emotion through the behavior of the characters.
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's A.E. Sparrow stated that the theme of the stories was the meaning of humanity, while Oxford wrote that the manga contains "themes of dystopian society and the fragile nature of the human mind." Sparrow thought that mental instability figures prominently in the stories. According to him, "Keep Those Condoms Away From Our Kids" deals with "the nature of sex," while Oxford believed that the story raises the question of the declining birth rate of Japan and other developed countries. Jason Thompson, author of '' Manga: The Complete Guide'', considered "The Sunflower Quality of an Integrated Circuit" to have elements from
film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...
. By featuring a mute mermaid in "Fish Out Of Water", Mihara makes an implicit reference to the fairytale "
The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" (), sometimes translated in English as "The Little Sea Maid", is a fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. Originally published in 1837 as part of a collection of fairy tales for children, the story foll ...
", according to Oxford. The treatment of the elderly, children, or the unborn is the focus of some of the stories, according to Sparrow. Sparrow and Dan Grendall of
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speculated that "Alive" focuses on the meaning of living.


Release

Written and illustrated by Mitsukazu Mihara, the seven short stories of ''IC in a Sunflower'' appeared in the Japanese
manga magazine are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics an ...
'' Feel Young'' from 1994 to 1997; Mihara made her debut as a
manga artist A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a Cartoonist, comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the indus ...
with "Keep Those Condoms Away From Our Kids" in 1994, which won a contest in ''Feel Young''. The short stories were published by Shodensha in a bound volume, (), in Japan on October 18, 1997. For her stories, she generally draws inspiration from real-life problems in society or unhappy times in her own life.
Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licens ...
licensed ''IC in a Sunflower'' for an English-language release in North America and the United Kingdom, along with four of her other works: '' The Embalmer'', '' Beautiful People'', ''
Haunted House A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the property ...
'' and '' R.I.P.: Requiem in Phonybrian''. Beni Axia Conrad translated ''IC in a Sunflower'' from Japanese, and Nathan Johnson adapted it for an English-language audience. Tokyopop published it on January 2, 2007 (). However, Tokyopop's North American branch stopped publishing on May 31, 2011.


Reception and legacy

''IC in a Sunflower'' was positively received by English-language reviewers and readers. The manga ranked eighth on
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's 2007 Reader Poll for the best new ''josei'' manga, manga targeted towards women. Douresseaux praised the collection as "easily some of ihara'sbest work made available in English." Sparrow highly recommended the manga, describing it as "a darker counterpart to ''Beautiful People''." The art was a frequent source of praise among reviewers, although Grendall wrote that some of the older stories had art not on the same level of refinement as her later work ''
Doll A doll is a physical model, model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and ...
''. Mihara's storytelling also went over well with critics; Oxford commended Mihara's ability to create unrelated short stories, something not commonly seen in manga. Rating the manga two-and-a-half out of four stars, Thompson enjoyed some of the stories, but felt that the occasionally predictable endings or "ideas" that the story failed to expand upon hurt the manga. Upon learning that her illustrations and stories in general had been positively received in the West, Mihara was surprised and pleased "that people are overcoming the cultural barrier and just getting the message!" Appearing as a serial in ''Feel Young'' from 1998 to 2002, Mihara's science-fiction ''josei'' manga ''Doll'' examines the relationships between the eponymous androids and their human owners in the future. The narrative primarily consists of unrelated short stories, but also develops an overall plot involving Ichiro, a man who illegally remodels the androids, and his revenge against the corporation which creates them. The character Vanilla from "The Sunflower Quality Of An Integrated Circuit" appears in ''Doll'' as one of the nine
prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...
s. Discovered by Ichiro and his Doll companion, she acts as if she suffers from psychological trauma, which she overcomes by recovering her memories of having to bury her master.


Notes


References

;General * ;Specific


External links


''IC in a Sunflower''
at
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* {{Feel Young 1994 manga Drama anime and manga Josei manga Mitsukazu Mihara Science fiction anime and manga Shodensha manga Tokyopop titles Android (robot) comics