Manga Review: Astral Project Volume One

[Jason]

Title: Astral Project
Volume: 1
Mangaka: Marginal & Syuji Takeya
Originally Serialized In: Comic Beam
Licensed By: CMX
Genre: Seinen
Price: $12.99/US

Astral Project is by Eisner award-winning author, Garon Tsuchiya, writing under one of his many pseudonyms, Marginal. The story follows Masahiko, a young man estranged from his family, working as a driver for upscale call girls (who are former celebrities on the skids), when he gets the call that his sister has died. He realizes he didn’t even know what Asami had been into in recent times, so tries to find out at least a little. Much of what he’s learning about his sister’s life is coming from her friend, Yukari Shindo, who helps sneak him into the funeral and to his parents’ house so that Masahiko’s father doesn’t see him. The only thing he takes as a memento from Asami’s possessions is an unlabeled CD, assuming that would be personal to her. His one fear is that Asami committed suicide.

Upon listening to the CD, a jazz collection, Masahiko has an out of body experience. Once his fear that this is how Asami might have died abates, he learns to enjoy the astral projection the CD allows and begins exploring both his new ability, his sister’s life and just who made this CD in the first place.

Yukari helps fill in the parts of Asami’s life, as much as she knows having gone to college with her. She’s a stark contrast to most of the women Masahiko currently deals with. One of the fallen stars he transports to clients helps to hook him up with a jazz expert as well. He tells Masahiko that the music is by a legendary artist named Albert Ayler, who is known for working along the lines of blurring reality.


Masahiko learns to manipulate things while out of his body and he meets others in that astral space. From them, he tries to get a better handle on things so he can understand what’s happening and what his limits might be. It’s not an easy task since not everyone there is friendly. Not everyone is even human. Yukari’s growing sexual attraction to Masahiko and the desire of jazz expert, Oga, to have Ayler’s CD, add darker tones to this story.

The art honestly reminds me more of something I’d expect to see in DC’s Vertigo line rather than Japanese manga. The inking is rather heavy and the tone is overall dark. All the sound effects are in English only. My biggest compliant might be a tad unfair given the serialized nature of manga but every chapter reminds us that Asami died and Masahiko inherited a CD that allows him to astral project. There is one time that it happens twice in one chapter. It wouldn’t be so bad if it were only a panel or two but usually it’s the whole page. Reading it bound like this, it’s a little dull.

Overall Astral Project is interesting as stories go, a little slow to unfold, but that’s all right. Slow is not the same as boring and a good mystery should be slow to reveal its secrets. Did Asami commit suicide, die of natural causes or of something more sinister?

Reviewer: D.M. Evans
Proofed and Edited By Lissa Pattillo