Coelacanth

Ongoing Manga

Brief Summary: A girl on her way home is saved from being caught in an explosion at her apartment complex when she is knocked down and injured by a boy in blood covered clothes riding a bike. This boy drops what looks like a toy fish scale, which the girl picks up and keeps. Ten years later, she meets a man who happens to have the toy fish, in which the scale fits perfectly. She is attracted to him but as he may have an association with the explosion that happened ten years ago, it may be a dangerous liaison as his intentions could be sinister...

The title of this series attracted me. Wouldn't you agree that it's not every day you get one named after a "living fossil" of sorts (very interesting deep sea fish)? :) Intrigued before starting the first page, but the mystery and ambiguous summary actually attracted me as well.

As with the mangaka's other stories, the emphasis is on the mystery (or rather mysteries as there is more than one happening at the same time), which makes it intriguing because it is not a typical shojo love-romance story (but neither is it an action packed dectective thriller). In the story, the girl is not particularly interested in acting as a P.I./detective but she wants to find out more about the boy who "saved" her in the past. So yeah, in a way, it veers towards romance, but there is a darker element as there is uncertainty about the boy's motives.

There are quite a few elements that one glued to the story, wanting to find out the whys that it poses, including why the girl seems to have some strange delusions. Characterisation is not that strong, but the girl seems independent and clear headed enough.

My Rating
Story: B
Art: B
Recommended? Interesting and unique so far.