Asano Inio's works are known for the mature, realistic and character driven stories, that ranges from slice of life to psychological horror stories. Nijigahara Holograph is one of Asano's published works, but where to begin this manga? The story narrated was difficult to follow, and after reading it for a second time, it still wasn't clear what its ultimate purpose was.

The story of Nijigahara Holograph revolves around the lives of Suzuki, a troubled boy; Komatsuzaki, an unpredictable bully whose trauma causes him to act in inexplicable way. Arakawa, who is in love with Komatsuzaki. A daughter in coma, a mother who committed suicide. Together with the sudden explosion of the butterfly population, the story of the manga spans 10 years in which the lives of all these people are connected with each other.

Now comes the difficult part: following the different storylines of each character,how these interact with each other, and the motives and decisions of the characters. While the narration jumps from the present to the past, 10 years ago, which is relatively easy to follow, the actions of the people and the connection with the butterflies is not. The story is apparently linked with an urban legend, a monster in a tunnel, though the purpose of this and how it leads to certain actions of the characters was not entirely clear to me.

The narrative felt like it was a puzzle where only certain parts were available. It was done in such a way that makes the reader really think about human nature, and with the help of the different actions of the characters and stories behind them, try to assemble the puzzle, knowing that some pieces will miss. I personally wasn't able to this, making it very difficult to comprehend the ultimate purpose of the story. Any enlightenment on the subject would be greatly appreciated.

There is a big cast of characters in Nijigahara Holograph. The characters presentation is done well in the story, though in some cases too little information was offered to truly understand the nature of that character, leaving it to the reader's imagination on what their background was to have that particular behaviour/nature.

Character development takes place in the manga, though the ambiguous story made it difficult to present a clear character development, though most of them lead to become even more depressive. The characters behaviour in most of the cases are realistic, presenting typical human nature: jealousy, anger, revenge, you name it, in which Asano conveys the imperfect nature of humanity.

The art of Nijigahara Holograph is impressive, as we know of Asano Inio's works. The big variety in character design and the facial expressions adds to a more realistic feel to the story, which is necessary to transmit the emotional state of the characters. The backgrounds are impressive and detailed as well. The shading skills of Asano are very good and fits with the story, as it matches with the dramatic and mysterious atmosphere the manga tries to convey.

I personally enjoyed Nijigahara Holograph, though the story that it was trying to tell made it difficult to follow. The art style,  characters and the mysterious atmosphere made it nevertheless worth the read. If you are interested in psychological mangas, than this may be something for you, but be prepared to lose yourself in the story in the attempt to understand it and try to fit the puzzle together.

Thanks for reading.