Title: Goodbye, Eri
Author:
Tatsuki Fujimoto
Literary
Level: Advanced
Rating: 4/5
Forewarning: much like Fujimoto’s works, they explore harsh themes like confronting death, suicide, abuse, and depression. Be aware that this is a tough manga to read, even though there are only 200 pages.
Published in April of 2022 and the same author for Chainsaw man, Tatsuki
Fujimoto, Goodbye, Eri is a one-shot (one-chapter short story) about a boy named
Yuta who films every instance of his mother’s last days alive for a school
film fest. He finished the film with a crude explosion that did not go well with
it, yet he still claims that it was his best film. Yuta then meets a girl named
Eri that says she likes the movie and that no one understands his vision, but
that she can make it better. So they begin working on watching movies to fully
understand what they are and making a new one for the next year, to surprise
them even more, and make them cry. There is a twist however, because she is also on
the verge of dying and wants to be immortalized in a film. They make up a story
that she is a vampire that gets reborn without her memories and wants to have a
film to remember her last life.
I can’t accurately tell any twist,
partially because it is something everyone should experience, and partially
because it’s not easy. There are themes that I’m not prepared to speak about
which makes it more conflicting to review. I like the manga, but I would not
recommend it unless you are mentally prepared to be sad or confused and are comfortable
with topics such as death and depression. This won’t be a well-reviewed manga
due to how complex it is for me to describe it without spoiling any major
parts. To be honest, it is a particularly new experience that should be read,
mostly because it deals with the confrontation of death and the death of a
loved one. Not everyone deals with death the same way and reading this gave me
a new perspective. Would I call this short story Avant-garde? Kind of, because
it is very experimental without a clear message, but there is a message to be
brought, just not in the ending. Regardless, read at your own discretion.