An updated version of a previous review I wrote on r/Seinen on Reddit. I am a sucker for adventure stories involving discovery of some lost land or island. Consequently Wandering Island by Kenji Tsuruta may be my favorite manga in a while. The narrative involves a woman named Mikura who pilots an airmail delivery service in a charming biplane to serve communities scattered across Japans more remote islands in the Pacific Ocean. Mikura becomes wrapped up in an obsession to find a mirage island in the Pacific Ocean that her grandfather sighted years ago called the Electric Island. The story is fairly simple but wellexecuted up to the current Volume 2. Mikura has an energetic engaging disposition that puts a big smile on my face. Im a big fan of Kenji Tsurutas art he draws very warm and vibrant characters. Mikuras character design goes with her personality. Hes made the island villages and towns look so charming Im actually now dreaming of a trip to visit those Japanese islands at some point. Dark Horses first volume actually ends with a fairly educational afterword about Japanese islands that appear in the narrative. I have a pretty amorphous and varied taste in manga. FYI my favorite series include Children of the Sea Blame A Distant Neighborhood Mushishi Nausicaa Gon and Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou Gon being the nonseinen exception here so while those are pretty different from Wandering Island if youre not a big fan of some of them perhaps that can be informative. I suppose an underlying thread connecting all of those previous works is a sense of wonder and discovery and thats a feeling Im always chasing as Im reading manga and just realizing that a bunch of those are published in Kodanshas Afternoon. Wandering Island is my favorite combo of art character and narrative Ive read in a manga in a while. As a heads up Im cool with seeing more natural and functional underdressedness and nudity in characters of any gender and did not find Mikuras traipsing about in a bikini to be erotic distracting or demeaning but I can see how others may find her portrayal too fanservicey. Dark Horse has released two Englishtranslated volumes so far solidly constructed books with durable paperback covers and pages of good paper quality. It is just unfortunate that the physical edition of first volume is already getting harder to find. Dark Horse historically has done pretty small print runs which I understand but it means that things can get hard to find even in just 3 4 months as is the case with the Blade of the Immortal omnibuses. Anyhow I heartily recommend Wandering Island My closest comparison to Wandering Island may actually be the late Jiro Taniguchis The Walking Man. There is a lot of wordless walking and observation from Mikuras point of view that makes for a relaxing read. Kenji Tsuruta is a really underrated mangaka who is a case of quality over output quantity. Other previous notable works of his include Omoide Emanon Memories of Emanon the first volume of which also recently released by Dark Horse and the long outofprint Spirit of Wonder.