Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy a standard, well-executed romance manga or anime (the romance elements in Kono Oto Tomare, for example); but I feel the medium sorely lacks depictions of what I would call "daily intimacy" - the soft, tender moments we share with loved ones that are but momentary interactions of mere minutes. Such interactions are not long enough to warrant entire chapters. They're not dramatic enough to keep readers glued to the page and purchasing physicals. As such, they're an essential part of real romance that is often left out of manga and anime both for the sake of brevity and for the sake of focus. Mangaka need to keep their readers coming back, they need to maintain their serialization, and they need to constantly build towards that next "climax" or "arc."
Veil successfully escapes from this mould by way of Ikumi Fukuda's strict focus and immense talent for depicting the otherwise undepictable. From the first chapter, Fukuda sets a clear tone of short-form chapters involving minimal dialogue, with a focus on capturing "moments" rather than telling an overarching story. The short-form nature limits Fukuda's ability to introduce and build side-characters, which simultaneously works in Veil's favour by ensuring the subject-matter of each chapter is hyper-focused on Emma and Aleksander. There is no need for mind-numbing love triangles, comedic-relief goofballs, or childhood best friends as there is no need to build drama or incite shipping wars. If you read the first few chapters of Veil, you know what the manga is about - Him, Her and Their relationship.
This is not to say that the manga is stagnant. Their relationship evolves at a slow, natural pace as they grow more comfortable with each other through the passage of time. We are not shown every stage of this evolution; rather, we are offered glimpses into moments of intimacy. No chapter stands out as "that chapter" and no moment is "that moment," though there are some callbacks to previous chapters which help each chapter feel connected amidst the episodic structure. Fukuda also recalls, in one of their afterwords, that the amount of dialogue and text in the manga is slowly increasing. As a result, later chapters feature more of Emma and Aleksander's witty banter and playful teasing, which assists in developing them and their relationship. Nevertheless, the primary focus of the artistic direction remains on the moments of intimacy - the point of contact between their bodies, their wandering gazes, and their emotive expressions. Dialogue is used to amplify these interactions and carry us through the moment, rather than deliver exposition. Perspective shots are often used, to great effect, to help us fill the shoes of either character during one of these moments. The use of a black screen for Emma's perspective reinforces the readers' appreciation for how these moments play out for her - through spoken word, touch, and smell.
These interactions are complemented by the Monologue pages, which offer an in-depth view of the character's (or object's) perspective on a special moment. This is an important element that supplants Veil's need for "think-bubble" exposition in a way that is both artistically and contextually superior. The Monologues work in a manner akin to a traditional romance novel, relying on flowery language and emotive language conventions to enable readers to envision and appreciate all aspects of the moment. Despite my experience being through a translation of the original Japanese wording, I felt these Monologues retained their poetic literary beauty and succeeded in metaphorically breaking down the moments of intimacy to each sensation, touch and thought.
Veil's art style is a striking departure from the norm, owed to its initial conception as a twitter project. The linework is sketchy, yet controlled and deliberate. A highlight of Fukuda's style and their use of colour is the shading; focal points of panels are often coloured with rich, dark tones which contrasts beautifully with the otherwise muted shades of beige that fill the rest of the scene. It is well-suited for the nature of the manga and - in my opinion - more effective in this context than traditional black and white would have been. Colour is most often used for the characters and their outfits, which helps them stand out amongst the environment and serves to show how their relationship metaphorically "colours" their worlds.
Veil's chapters feature many extra pages dedicated to rough sketches, extra one-page scenes and beautiful spreads drawn in various different art styles. Fukuda uses these as a chance to flex their artistic prowess and also express their love for the story and their artwork as a whole. I found that these pages heightened my appreciation and love for the manga as a piece of art and made the characters feel more alive.
With regard to the characters themselves, neither Aleksander nor Emma have a complex backstory, overarching goal or meaningful motivation. They exist as two complementary individuals entwined in a love affair that unfolds away from the prying eyes of the public. Where other romance manga build main characters as central figures in their respective worlds, by virtue of their relationships and connections with the supporting cast, Veil mostly separates the characters from their role in society and their other relationships. Instead, we are shown the characters as they are to each other. This adds an element of 'secrecy' to the moments, like the intimacy is an inside joke shared only between the two of them. This is reinforced not only by the lack of side characters, but by the lack of "background" characters as well. This 'secrecy' is a core part of real-life intimacy - the mannerisms, jokes and ultimately love that may be surface-level visible to spectators but ultimately cannot truly be known by any other than the participants. Consequently, if the focus of a story is this intimacy, a spectator may as well not exist.
Personalty-wise, Aleksander and Emma fill a common relationship dynamic of the stoic, gruff man and the feminine beauty. I found the banter and interactions that originate from this pairing to be humorous and heart-warming, as they usually are. The incorporation of Emma's condition adds an extra layer to this trope, introducing the need for Aleksander to be extra considerate. Aleksander's attempts to learn and understand her 'world' and accommodate her are beautifully sincere and the pinnacle of intimacy - attempting to understand one another. These efforts are furthered by the masterfully written dialogue that flows completely naturally; at no times does it feel forced, stiff, or as if trying to say to the reader: "hey, they're in love, get it?" Instead, the dialogue represents the characters' flustered and shy approach towards defining their relationship, often dancing around outright expressions of love without ever truly landing on them. This does nothing to detract from the sincere love and romance conveyed through their interactions, however, but instead adds a cute and endearing element to the relationship.
All in all, I'm very excited to continue reading Veil and look forward to seeing what soft, tender moments of intimacy Fukuda choses to depict next. I understand that this style of manga may not be for everybody, but I highly recommend anyone with an interest in romance give it a try!
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