Goodbye, Eri

“Goodbye, Eri” is a new one-shot manga by the author of “Chainsaw Man”, Tatsuki Fujimoto. The protagonist, Yuta, was given a smartphone for his 12th birthday with the expectation that he will film the rest of his dying mother’s life. During her last moments he runs away, refusing to film her dying breaths, and the hospital explodes… thus we cut to the middle school’s film festival. Yuta has premiered his first feature film “Dead Explosion Mother”, and everyone is appalled, finding it very disagreeable and saying, “It’s making a mockery of [his] mother’s death” (26). He runs to the roof of the hospital where his mother died to commit suicide, and meets a girl named Eri who says she enjoyed the film. He then forges a relationship with her, and she pushes him to make a film that will make the school “bawl their eyes out” (54).

From the first page I was capitated by the framing of the panels. As a majority of the manga is from the perspective of Yuta’s smartphone camera, drawings blur, images repeat multiple times, and most every page is made up of four rectangular panels. The usage of these techniques makes the manga very evocative of a home-video, perfectly executing Fujimoto’s intent. This framing was a refreshing break from his last work, “Chainsaw Man”, and other battle manga that often stay within a more traditional mode of paneling.

Regarding the plot, there was one thing in particular that drove me up a wall in the best possible way. That was the meta-aspect of the manga. For the 20 pages the story seems to be nothing more than a child’s view of his mom’s life through the lens of a smartphone, then it zooms out and reveals that what we have been watching is a movie Yuta filmed for his class. Right after the movie is over, Yuta begins filming again, and the story proceeds. He meets Eri, decides to make a redemption movie, and she dies. Once more we zoom out to Yuta’s premier at the following year’s school film festival. After 4 pages of black panels, simulating a credit sequence, the story continues once more. In this final stretch we get the most straightforward glimpse into fantastical realism, as Eri is revealed to be a vampire in real life, just as she was in the film. The manga ends with Yuta walking away from the exploding building in which he just said goodbye to vampire Eri—this time we do not zoom out. I was a big fan of this subversion of expectations, as the most fantastical ending is the one that is not revealed to be part of an in-manga film.

This ending left me, and a lot of other readers, scratching their head trying to grapple with what is real and what’s not in terms of the manga. After finishing the work, the urge to know what reality the story grounded itself in began eating away at me, prompting detective work I have never before been so inclined to do. And though I believe I now hold some formation of an idea, the original shocks of breaking the walls of “reality” still tremor throughout me, causing me to want to investigate even further to definitively know I am right. This is the first time I have been so intrigued by a story’s meta.

To top it all off the themes put forth really struck a chord with me. In particular I enjoyed the theme of editing out the bad in life and carrying forth only the good memories of someone… though I am not sure whether or not this philosophy is correct. When Yuta’s father says “In the movie, your mom was…! She was a good mom…” and Yuta responds, “I wanted my memories of her to be beautiful…” this allowed me to connect to Yuta (128-29). Yet this connection isn’t based upon the idea that Yuta’s father puts forth, the idea that “You have the power to decide for yourself how you’ll remember someone”, rather it spoke to my tendencies to over idealize and inadvertently remember only beautiful things about people (129).

Another theme I thought was well explored is the theme of suicide. Yuta’s opening words in what he intends to be his final message to the world are “This one goes out to all the people who made fun of me”, continuing to say “I put my entire middle school life into making that movie. Do you guys have any idea how it feels to have it get mocked?” (31-2). This is extremely relevant in a digital age where you can upload your life’s work to the internet and immediately have it ridiculed from thousands of people across the globe who have never interacted with you in your life (though Yuta is dealing with a-whole-nother beast, that being relentless middle schoolers). Yet, I thought it important that Fujimoto showed Yuta coming back from this place, as one single person (Eri) was able to save his life, showing that a purpose could be just around the corner, and it is better not to throw it all away. Yet, I am not sure, as of now, exactly what to make of the second suicide attempt and just what leads him to walk away from that, though I do like that this provides a certain commentary on the reoccurring nature of depression and mental health complications.

With a refreshing layout, a relatable protagonist, complex themes, and a head-spinning meta-aspect, among many other things I did not have the real-estate to prattle on about, “Goodbye, Eri” has certainly earned itself a spot among my favorite pieces of media. Whether you’re a manga veteran, or just want to dip your toes in, this is an amazing piece to check out.