I just recently found out about this manga… and wow, it is simply amazing. The emotional damage hit extremely hard and I was just moved to tears. I am not that big into one-shots but I heard about Sayonara Eri from a friend and checked it out. At first, I didn’t notice who the author was… I finished the chapter and then realized who the author was. And everything started to make sense.
So welcome back to another edition of our manga recommendation series. This week we have something a bit different but, it is technically still a manga so it’s fine. This week we are talking about Sayonanra Eri or Goodbye Eri. Let’s get right into it.
Introduction
Sayonara Eri is one-shot by Fujimoto Tatsuki. If that name sounds familiar, it is the same author as Chainsaw Man. That is why I said, everything made sense when I read his name. Being a one-shot, it only hasย oneย chapter, of course. It was published on Shonen Jump+ on 11th April 2022. And it is already the 43rd highest-rated manga on MAL.
So as you may imagine, a work by Fujimoto-sensei, Sayonara Eri provides quite a bit of commentary on human nature. All with a twist of course, since Fujimoto-sensei loves playing with our feelings. This guy is a genius and he has mastered the art of making us feel attached to the characters of the story.
Plot
Sayonara Eri follows Yuuta. Yuuta’s mother is ill and she asks her son to film her last moments. Yuuta does so very diligently and when his mother passes away, he decides to make a movie of her final moments and screen it at his school. He does so but, he adds elements of fantasy to them. This causes massive backlash; depressed from all that, Yuuta decides to take his own life. Just when he is about to do so, he meets a girl called Eri who actually praises his work and asks him to make a new movie!
Well, just this much goes on to show how much effect honest appreciation can have on a creator. As you may have guessed from the title, Sayonara Eri is a rather sad tale. The plot really makes you question a lot of stuff. But the point of the plot is, that people come and go from our lives but the memories we made with them, stay with us. This message is something I deeply relate to.
Characters
There are not that many characters in Sayonara Eri. The only important ones are Yuuta, his parents, and Eri. Fujimoto-sensei being Fujimoto-sensei does a fantastic job of making us feel connected to these characters. In fact, Yuuta’s habit of adding a bit of fantasy to his movies is very much like Fujimoto-sensei, he also writes normal human stories with a bit of fantasy, just like this one. This manga presents a small but very likable cast of characters. There is a lot we can learn from the characters in this story.
Art
If you’ve read CSM, you know how good Fujimoto-sensei’s art is. The art style used in Sayonara Eri is obviously a bit different from CSM. This manga is nowhere as dark as CSM so the art style is suitably changed to fit the theme better. But what I mean is that the quality of art still remains top-notch.
Why should you read Sayonara Eri?
Quick pointers on why you should check out this manga:
- Unique plot
- Great characters
- Emotional damage
- Very short
Conclusion
That is all for now. Sayonara Eri really caught me by surprise at first but then I saw who the author was… and well, everything became apparent. Let me know what you guys think in the comments. I will take my leave here. See ya!
