The Girl from the Other Side 2

 
The Girl from the Other Side 2

Siuil, a Run

by Nagabe

Seven Seas

2017

 

 

In part 2 of the manga The Girl from the Other Side, we open in medias res with a mysterious second Outsider entering Teacher's cabin and trying to kidnap Shiva. Teacher fights the other off, but not before it tells Shiva that it knows where her aunt is. (Teacher believes her aunt is dead, but still hasn't told the little girl that.)

 
The next day they go investigate, and Teacher goes into a lake with several more outsiders after securing a promise that they won't touch Shiva. He meets the Outsiders' mysterious 'Mother,' and when he accuses them of trying to steal Shiva's soul, they tell him he doesn't understand anything, and suggest that the humans stole something when they built the wall that separates the Inside (the village) and the Outside (the forest).

Teacher is worried that Shiva has been cursed, but she doesn't show any symptoms. We learn that he used to be human, but was cursed and became an Outsider, which explains why he seems different from the others, maybe?

 
Meanwhile, back in the village, the soldiers who failed to kill Shiva in part 1 have new orders to kidnap her and bring her Inside for unknown reasons. To catch her, they use 'bait,' which turns out to be Shiva's aunt. She leads Shiva away from Teacher's cottage while he's out collecting water or firewood or something, and that's the cliffhanger that will lead into part 3.

 
I'm still enjoying Nagabe's art, although it's less cozy than last time. The trip beneath the lake is nice and spooky. I have a hunch that the human 'Insiders' are going to turn out to be the real villains of the story. I mean, right, so far we've seen them abandon a little girl in the woods, then try to kill her, then kidnap her, so yes, they're already the real villains of the immediate story, but I suspect that the building of the wall will turn out to be some sort of historic crime, like the Insiders created the curse that the Outsiders spread or something. Anyway, that revelation will have to wait for another volume.