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Title: The Flat Earth/Exchange Vol 1

Author: Toshimi Nigoshi

Publisher: CMX

ISBN: 9781401216207

May Contain Spoilers

This tale, set in a grim future, was a little hard to follow.  Kotaro Shiga was placed in a state of suspended animation, and when he wakes up 100 years later, the world is a very different place.  Androids have taken over, and they believe that they created humans.  Now, if that’s not messed up, I don’t know what is.  Will Kotaro be able to survive in this hostile new environment?

Despite being confused during several parts of the story, I thought this was a very interesting concept.  Kotaro was placed in suspended animation without his consent or knowledge.  During a routine physical, he was given a shot, and the next thing he knows, he’s in a city of ruins.  No longer a carefree high school student, he has to find a way to eke out his survival in this bewildering new world he’s found himself in.  He has no clue what happened to leave the world in the sorry state that it’s in, and he has no idea what happened to any of his friends or family.  That’s enough to keep me reading, even though I kept getting lost in the narrative.  Hopefully Toshimi Nigoshi’s storytelling will tighten up in future volumes.

Kotaro has set up digs in the Sanctuary, and he’s pretending to be the Emissary for the Elder.  He has concocted this ruse to in order to exchange the Elder’s words of wisdom for food.  Apparently, high school kids aren’t so adept at procuring their own dinner.  The gig is up when Ree arrives to consult with the Elder.  Suddenly, Kotaro is shot and taken captive by Wildeniss.  Will he be able to discover what happened in the past to make this bleak future?

The androids are kind of cool, and they all have one huge handicap.  They can only retain memories for 22 years.  What a bummer that would be!  They believe that they are the ones who created humans, and just like humans, they’ve allowed themselves to be sucked into political strife, as the House of Lords and the House of Commons wrangle for control of the government.  There is political intrigue and terrorist attacks and over all, it seems like a pretty crappy place to try to raise a family.  Do androids even have families?

Ree is starting to forget things, and he’s not very happy about it.  It seems the harder he tries to remember, the faster the memories fade away.  I really felt for this guy – who wants to go through life knowing that they’ll forget everything they know?  Or that, after forgetting, they’ll become someone else as their personalities shift with the loss of their memories?  How much of your personality is grounded by your memories of your past?  If you start to forget your past, will you become someone different tomorrow?

The Flat Earth/Exchange was interesting enough that I want to read more, but also confusing enough that I didn’t get totally swept up by the plot.  Hopefully volume 2 will clear up a few of the more confusing points?

Grade: B-

Rated for Teen Plus