manga: The Empty Empire Vol 1

[meganbmoore]

In the 26th century, the world was in chaos until a man named Idea came from nowhere, united the world, and became emperor. And then one day, he randomly died. (No, really, it was random. He just flopped down and died!) The palace, a teensy bit worried about the return of anarchy, asked Idea’s best friend and scientist, Eiri, to make a new one. Eiri told them he could clone Idea, and even age him to the right age, but that he couldn’t recreate Idea’s experience, so the clone wouldn’t be able to control things.

The palace, of course, ignores Eiri and clones Idea, and then goes “oh hey, wait, this guy is nothing like Idea!” So they try to kill him. Thankfully, the clone escapes and is found by Ririka, the whip-wielding foster daughter of Eiri. They initially think he has amnesia, and Ririka names the clone “Rose” because of the flower shaped scar on his forehead. Rose is so happy to have a name that he doesn’t worry about being given a girl’s name too much. Ririka also figures out pretty quickly that having a guy who looks like the emperor around results in free food. Ririka is smart.

Of course, eventually the Palace assassins find Rose, at which point, he proves that he also inherited Idea’s telekinetic abilities. Eventually, Eiri convinces the Palace to give Rose a chance to prove himself. Rose understandably objects, but isn’t given much choice. After near death at the hands of Idea fanatics, Ririka assigns herself to Rose’s protection anytime he steps out of the palace.. Despite her best efforts, this does not prevent his abduction by Kid, who got Gojyo’s scars was scarred by Idea in battle. Kid ascribes to the shounen “BFF means always trying to kill you” mindset. Naturally, by the end of the volume, Kid and his girlfriend, Ayano (she thinks for the both of them) have moved into the palace, and Kid has promised to fight Rose to the death once Rose has proved himself a worthy successor to Idea. Rose doesn’t know what to think about this.

Somewhere in there, Idea’s body was stolen. Twice. Apparently, getting Rose to look at Idea’s body is a Very Important Plot Point. Eiri is very insistent on it, saying that Rose will “understand” once he does. The current keeper of Idea’s body is Migime, a man who has a left eye, but not a right eye. Eiri only has a right eye, and wears a spectacle. I predict eye trauma reveals.
 
For those who skipped the cut, or just want a shorter version: Post-apocalyptic shoujo. Clones. Amnesia. Whip-wielding heroine with Clamp-esque hair. Promise of eye trauma. BFF means trying to kill you. One eyed scientist. Stolen bodies.

I swear, I kept looking to see if Naoe Kita was a former member of Clamp.

I love you, CMX box.

Comments

[swanjun.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to read some more reviews of this one, and all of your CMX haul, really.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Post-Apocalyptic! Promise of eye trauma! Clones! Pseudo-amnesia! Whip wielding heroine!

Not sure what's next in the CMX haul...I'm largely going through the box quasi-alphabetically.

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

Ooh, sounds neat. I'll have to look for it.