by Qualia the Purple: The Complete Manga Collection is a story about a high school girl named Yukari, who sees all people as robots.
Ok, that’s not entirely true. This is a story about Manabu (aka Gaku-chan), a normal high school girl who is in love with Yukari but doesn’t quite realize it.
…Alright, you got me. This is a story not really about either of those things. This is a story about quantum mechanics and theoretical physics that happens to center on Manabu’s metaphysical attempts to save Yukari from an early death at the hands of an evil science institute.
Based on the light novel of the same name, this single-volume collection is just as confused as the intro of this review. It begins with a strong concept: Yukari appears to be a chuunibyou, but in reality she has the ability to deconstruct and rebuild matter however she seems fit. Manabu is a normal girl with something of a princely streak. You think you’re in for some sci-fi-tinged high school Yuri yearning, but somehow it develops into a plot about a serial killer.
And then, roughly a third into its length, it decides to pivot into a multiverse story that damsels Yukari, the girl who is practically Dr. Manhattan, in order to put the story in Manabu’s hands (Manabu even addresses this bait-and-switch directly to the reader). By design, she is an empty vessel with a singular goal.
The story already made a leap into the unpleasant with the serial killer subplot, but the back two-thirds ends up making Manabu out to be a monster as she tries everything, no matter how unpleasant, to achieve her goal. Most unfortunate of these decisions involves Alice, a child prodigy who arrives at the high school to recruit Yukari to the aforementioned evil science institute. A major pivot point involves an alternate universe Manabu falling in love with her, despite her being younger by a fair number of years. Our point-of-view Manabu ends up developing a relationship with Alice as a means to further her goal of saving Yukari. The whole thing feels like an unforced error, since there is nothing about Alice’s character that is gained by making her a few years younger than the rest of the main cast.
One could say that it’s subversive how Manabu and Yukari’s relationship sits neatly in the old paradigm of undefined schoolgirl Yuri crush, while Manabu’s (hella problematic) relationship with Alice is unambiguously explicit in its romantic and sexual nature. That must have felt novel in 2009 when this story was first released, but today it has notably less impact. Also, I’m sure I could write an entire paper on how an “impure” (putting aside the age gap) queer relationship is instrumentalized in the service of a “pure” Yuri love, but frankly I’m too exhausted by the belabored explanations of the Copenhagen Interpretation and wave function collapses to bother.
The biggest flaw of this manga is that the book itself is a poor choice for visual adaptation. The vast majority of the story is told in narration by Manabu, and there are few if any moments that let the visuals speak for themselves. That said, there is one extremely funny moment that takes advantage of the medium.
Given its age, I can forgive a few of its sins. (The fact that a flip phone played a major role in the plot did get a chuckle out of me.) That said, it pales in comparison to a short story collection made from a very similar mold: Last and First Idol. Where the edgy elements in Qualia just made me wince, the visceral gore and violence of LAFI played punctuated Gengen Kunano’s biting satire, be it for idols, gacha, or whatever. Qualia plays it very straight which lessens its appeal to me.
I’d say that if you are in the pocket for some sci-fi Yuri and don’t mind a misstep or two, Qualia the Purple could be worth your time. But I would suggest the light novel over this manga collection.
Ratings:
Art – 6 Not a whole lot to write home about visually; doesn’t take advantage of the medium enough
Story – 6 More disjointed than compelling
Characters – 5 What’s on the page is pretty stock
Service – 1 Higher if you like detailed explanations of Schrodinger’s Cat
Yuri – 5 / LGBTQ – 5 Some old-school yearning, but also has a queer relationship as a plot element
Overall – 6 Would have more impact if this release time-traveled back to 2009
Thank you to Seven Seas, who provided me with a review copy.
Matt Marcus is a cohost of various projects on the Pitch Drop Podcast Network, as well as the writer for the blog Oh My God, They Were Bandmates analyzing How Do We Relationship in greater depth.
