The Pleasures of Reading, Viewing, and Listening in 2021, part 24: Anne Carly Abad

 

 

On Dreaming
by Anne Carly Abad

 

Among the things I enjoy reading are manga and manhua. Being both a writer and a designer has me looking for material that satisfies both my thirsts for visual and written art. For 183 chapters, Kochou no Yumeji had me scrolling through page-after-page of beautiful art and characters. The opening chapter begins with a line by one of the main characters, Shirogane—“Do you want to live?”

In the past two years, there has been a proliferation of isekai literature. The kanji 異世界 is literally translated into “different world” or “otherworld.” It is the world of the Other. While in the past, isekai would have a character jumping into a different dimension (through a portal or a magic book), more recent isekai appear to connect Death with the Other. And it is a meaningless death at that. Suddenly getting hit by a car or drowning are common tropes in this genre. But perhaps with good reason. When one dies, is there any meaning to it or the life one leaves behind?

In Kochou no Yumeji, Shirogane’s question is so important because he asks Sumi if she would like to live. What does life mean to a human like Sumi who has lived an unending nightmare of insignificance? Shirogane, the dream seller, offers her a second chance, and she takes it. By tethering her soul to a butterfly’s dream, Sumi is reborn in the monster’s world as Kochou (Butterfly).

But Kochou, formerly Sumi, must now start all over. While a lot of isekai pieces focus on the main character using his/her former life’s knowledge to his/her advantage, Kochou no Yumeji explores the terrible situation of escaping one nightmare and then jumping into yet another.

What little she has so far built in her past life as a human is now lost. Instead of seeing this as a fresh start, Kochou is crushed by the overwhelming weight of having nothing again.

In the world of monsters, a butterfly is a far too delicate thing. She flits from one friend made to the next, trying to make something of herself, trying to be useful. But what can a butterfly practically do? Why did Shirogane choose her?

It is interesting how after dying once and living a second time, only then does Kochou wonder why she was saved, or why she was born at all. In this strange world, something as fleeting as a dream enraptures monsters who can’t see beyond their own reality. A spirit who has lost its way, a god who could not save his human lover, every creature in the underworld needs to see beyond their own darkness. And Kochou has found meaning in helping these creatures dream of a different place and time. In this brief lull during her pursuit of purpose, Kochou learns of the beauty of struggling. Even as a little butterfly, her efforts are hard proof that she is leaving a mark in this world and the other that she left behind.

Truly after dreaming the bittersweet dream of this butterfly, the question changes: How do I want to live?

 

Anne Carly Abad received the Poet of the Year Award in the 2017 Nick Joaquin Literary Awards. She has also received nominations for the Pushcart Prize and the Rhysling Award. Her poetry and short fiction have appeared in Apex, Mythic Delirium, Omni Reboot, Strange Horizons, and numerous other venues. Aqueduct Press will be publishing her collection of poetry, We've Been Here Before, in 2022, as a volume in our Conversation Pieces series. Anne lives in the Philippines.