Nijigahara holograph (虹 ヶ 原 ホ ロ グ ラ フ) is the second major work of Asano Inio. Written almost simultaneously with What a wonderful world!, this means that the two works are inevitably linked to each other. We are not talking about a similarity of literary genre or in the method of writing, but of that thread that unites all the works of every great author, each of them is a piece of the puzzle of the writer’s thought. Indeed Nijigahara holograph can be considered the twin work of What a wonderful world! but, unlike the latter, it explores the most obscure corners of the author’s mind.

Analyzing Nijigahara holograph was, to say the least, complicated. Despite being a fairly short manga (13 chapters), it is imbued with themes that differ from philosophy, religion, mythology; so much so that I had to reread it several times to be able to tidy up my consideration.

Nijigahara holograph is a dark work. Asano throws the reader into the abyss of human immorality. Murders, pedophilia, abuse, rape, cynicism, indifference, madness, discrimination, fear. However, the message of the work is positive, it pushes the reader to enlighten his own soul, to have a bit of self-love, to trust the world and people. Asano creates a marvelous contrast between the darkness of the narrative and the enlightment of his message.

After a first reading I thought that Nijigahara holagraph was unnecessarily complex. A non-linear narration, continuous jumps between present and past, supernatural elements in a realistic context and so on. Then the more I reread it, the more the will of the author was revealed to me. The message of the work is to dig into one’s own soul to understand oneself, and Asano wants his reader to do the same thing with his work, to dig deep to understand the message.

Nijigahara holagraph is an existentialist work where Asano, like an Albert Camus of our times, tries to find a good reason to continue living in a world that is not so “wonderful”.