2011-01-14
It is one of the masterpieces of the romance genre in manga. Shuji (シュウジ, ShÅ«ji?), a high school student in Hokkaido, is the main character. Chise (ã¡ãE Chise?), a fellow student, declares her love for Shuji at the beginning of the series. However, Chise is very shy and Shuji has a bitter tongue. Neither know how to express their feelings very well, but they do indeed have them for each other.One day, while Shuji is shopping in Sapporo, unknown bombers attack the city in broad daylight. He and his friends run for cover but notice a fast and small flying object shoot down enemy bombers. Separated from his friends, Shuji wanders through the wreckage only to stumble upon Chise. She has metal wings and weapons apparently grafted onto her body. She tells him she has become the ultimate weapon, without her knowledge or consent. However, she is seen by the JSDF as the last hope for defending Japan from imminent invasion by unknown foreign forces for reasons that are not apparent.This story, as suggested by the sub-title "The Last Love Song On This Little Planet", is primarily a love story. Although war is the backdrop for the show, we are not drawn into the war by extravagant battle scenes or the intricate details of national politics. The story focuses primarily on Chise's reactions to her increasingly powerful destructive abilities, Shuji's reaction to the same, and the relationship between the two of them. They go through emotional ordeals that may leave the reader crying as their story unfolds in the midst of war.A number of minor characters, who do not necessarily know of Chise's role in the war, have sub-plots that mostly concern everyday people in the context of war: a woman whose husband is constantly away from home, a school boy who joins the army to protect his sweetheart, a girl whose civilian boyfriend was killed in a bombing, and others.
