manga: The Empty Empire Vol 4-7

[meganbmoore]

I read the first few volumes of this a good while back, then got woefully sidetracked. (You may see me saying that a lot over the next bit.) It’s about an amnesiac boy who gets rescued by a whip-wielding girl named Ririka, who names him Rose, and whose caretaker, Eiri, is actually the kingdom’s head scientist, and had cloned him from Idea, the now-dead ruler of the world. There’s rival clones, evil scientists, angsty eye loss, angsty eye exchange, pirates, mysterious men who live in gothic mansions with fairies, crossdressing, android bishounen, Mysterious And Significant Accessories, and more! I think there may have been some pretty cute romance mixed in somewhere, but I’m not sure. It’s quite fun and endearing, and as much as I love my often incomprehensible, sometimes brainbreaking scifi shoujo, I can’t help but think there should be more licensed short scifi shoujo that doesn’t require a diagram. Or alcohol.

A few spoilers:

I grew strangely fond of Idem. This concerns me, what with all of his kidnapping and attempted-Rose-murdering, and I-must-kill-my-creator talk and the whole “If you fall in love with anyone else, I’ll kill him!” thing.

I wish it had been clearer if Rose (and Idem) loved Ririka independently, or if they loved her because Idea did.

I still have no idea who/what Idea was. Also, I cannot believe Idea and Eiri are only 18. I thought they were just drawn as looking young!