Every time a new volume of Chigusa Kawai’s La Esperança (Juné) arrives, I wonder why more people aren’t reading it and talking about it. It isn’t perfect by any means, but it has an abundance of really lovely moments.
Okay, so it doesn’t move at lightning speed. The pace is generally measured at its briskest. (It took five volumes for anyone to kiss.) Kawai has a tendency to milk her characters’ ambivalence, sometimes to excess. But the delicacy of her approach also allows for tremendous depth of character development, in spite of the accompanying impatience. Angelic Georges and bitter Robert have layers, and their initially simplistic, even stereotypical dynamic takes on additional detail with each discovery.
The book also has an extremely solid supporting cast. The leads aren’t isolated in their romantic angst. I love the scenes between Georges and his deceptively frail mother, and her more recent encounters with Robert have been filled with surprises and nuance. If there’s a better best friend in manga than Henri, I can’t think of him. His combination of protectiveness, impatience and support rings very true.
Maybe the pacing is less problematic than I think, because the careful unfolding of the story places more emphasis on its themes. It’s all about how people cope with pain and how they can unintentionally cause more by isolating themselves. Kawai finds ample modulations on her themes, making for ultimately rewarding reading.