is a Japanese

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) 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 prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is use ...

series written and illustrated by

Junji Ito is a Japanese horror manga artist. Some of his most notable works include ''Tomie'', a series chronicling an immortal girl who drives her stricken admirers to madness; '' Uzumaki'', a three-volume series about a town obsessed with spirals; and ...

. It was serialized in ''

Big Comic Spirits is a weekly Japanese ''seinen'' manga magazine published by Shogakukan. The first issue was published on October 14, 1980. Food, sports, romance and business are recurring themes in the magazine, and the stories often question conventional va ...

'' from September 2004 to July 2005, and published in one volume.

Synopsis

Following the discovery of a mysterious

rogue planet A rogue planet (also termed a free-floating planet (FFP), interstellar, nomad, orphan, starless, unbound or wandering planet) is an interstellar object of planetary-mass, therefore smaller than fusors (stars and brown dwarfs) and without a ...

which is on a course towards the solar system, Remina Oguro, the daughter of the scientist who discovered it, finds herself the subject of fame and adoration after her father chooses to name the planet after her. However, as it becomes clear that Remina is on a collision course with Earth, and also appears to be destroying anything in its path, this adoration turns to fear, then to homicidal madness. Eventually, Planet Remina draws near to Earth, and the truth is revealed; rather than an inanimate planet, Remina is a planet-sized organism, intent on tormenting humanity before consuming the Earth whole. Staring down death at every turn with only an enigmatic homeless man as her ally, Remina must flee from the rest of humankind and fight for her survival after she escapes a crucifixion by the mob that kills her father, led by a malevolent cult who believe that sacrificing Remina will bring about an end to the cataclysm enacted by her eponym.

Publication

The series is written and illustrated by

. It was serialized in ''

'' from September 16, 2004 to July 24, 2005.

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of Japanese dictionaries, dictionaries, literature, comics (manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are to ...

published the series in a single ''

tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or m ...

'' volume, which was released in Japan on June 22, 2015. In 2020,

Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...

announced they licensed the series for English publication. They released the volume on December 15, 2020.

Reception

Nick Smith from ''

ICv2 ''ICv2'' is an online trade magazine that covers geek culture for retailers. ''ICv2s main areas of focus are comic books, anime, gaming, and show business products. The site offers news, reviews, analysis, and sales information for retailers a ...

'' praised the series, stating it was "handled well". Helen Chazan from ''

The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing r ...

'' also praised the series, calling it "immensely appealing" and "relatable". Ian Wolf from Anime UK News also praised the series, stating that it felt like something new from Ito, while also giving the horror he is known for. Michelle Smith from Manga Bookshelf was more critical, stating that she was intrigued by the premise, but found the series to be "unaffecting". As part of Anime News Network's Fall 2020 manga guide, Rebecca Silverman and Caitlin Moore reviewed the series. Silverman praised the series, calling it a "good, chilling story", while criticizing it for being "too on the nose with its imagery". Moore stated that she also enjoyed the series, but was left confused by the plot. In December 2020, the series ranked in the top ten of the adult graphic novels in the United States list by

The NPD Group The NPD Group, Inc. (NPD; formerly National Purchase Diary Panel Inc. and NPD Research Inc.) is an American market research company founded on September 28, 1966, and based in Port Washington, New York. In 2017, NPD ranked as the 8th largest mar ...

. It also ranked on the top ten of ''The New York Times'' Best Sellers list in the graphic books and manga category in January 2021. In the same year, the series won the Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia and was nominated for the

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that we ...

. In 2022, it was ranked in the top ten graphic novels by the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

's Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table.

References

External links

* {{Weekly Big Comic Spirits Eisner Award winners Horror anime and manga Science fiction anime and manga Seinen manga Shogakukan manga Viz Media manga