Akatsuki no Fumi

Finding a true friend after a lifetime of friendlessness is truly an emotional occurrence, especially if it spans generations.

Unwitting time-traveler and Japanese historical figure Mori Ranmaru forges an unlikely friendship with Akira, who is almost completely friendless (with the exception of his cute robot V-suke!)

The contrast between Akira's sullen, angst-ridden character and Mori's modest elegance shows how friendship can bloom even when you're literally hundreds of years apart.

Most of the story is funny in a cute and enjoyable way. The rising drama near the end of the story is very moving, and it definitely brought me to tears.

It's a good, concise read. The story cuts straight to the point with no meaningless detours and delivers a very moving and satisfying conclusion.

Inui Miku's art is clear, attention-grabbing, and fresh. The author expertly draws a historical figure and an adolescent living in a future together with no awkwardness between the two.

Overall, this is an exceptional manga. Always good for a read, and truly shows that true friendship is something that cannot be destroyed by time.

Living in the shadow of one of our sibling and feeling lonely because of it, is really hard. And this is what this one shot is mostly about.

Akira is an adolescent who suffers from living in the shadow of his father and this, since his childhood.
His father, Takatsuki Minori, is a well-known inventor and people want to get close to Akira only because of his father's popularity. Akira's relation with others only ends up being superficial and there's nobody he could consider as a real friend.

But one day a machine created by his father gone haywire and summons the 16th century samurai, Mori Ranmaru.
At first Akira will consider Ranmaru only like a bother but he will quickly understand that they are alike and he will find himself in him in the point that they will end up being friends.

It's really a touching story that develops an interesting relation between Akira and Ranmaru. And Akira's feeling of loneliness is really well depicted.
There are some funny jokes that don’t break the seriousness and the drama of the story and give a lighter mood.

The little touch of historical and science fiction are a good plus and both mixed together have brought some interesting plot twists.

If you like stories about friendship and isolation, I'd definitely recommend this one shot. It's really a beautiful story.