Hikaru in the Light!

Hikaru in the Light! (A Graphic Novel: Volume 1) By Mai Matsuda (Graphix) PB RRP $17.99 ISBN 9781761645822

Reviewed by Robyn Gillies

This is a manga novel (comic) which is read from right to left and top to bottom in the traditional Japanese reading pattern. It tells the story of Hikaru, a middle-grade school student who works after school in her family’s bathhouse where she uses the natural acoustics to sing, often old songs for her grandfather. Her family and customers think she has the voice of a songbird. Hikaru though dreams of performing with a microphone not a mop.

When her best friend Ran, who was a former girl group idol, returns to the town she encourages Hikaru to try out for the national auditions for the pop star survival camp. But Hikaru suddenly finds herself competing against hundreds of other exceptionally talented young girls and she doubts her ability.

Hikaru’s parents are not so supportive of her thinking about singing as a career. They think Hikaru should be studying more and considering a livelihood that will provide her with a secure future.

This is a story about transitioning into young adulthood, about recognising what it is you want to do and, more importantly, believing in yourself to give it your best even if you sometimes doubt yourself. It is a story about the power of positive thinking and overcoming others’ discouraging words.

There is a graphic illustration to guide the reader on how to read manga, but it takes a few pages to adjust to reading in reverse, when left to right is your norm. 

There is also an explanation of how Japanese honorifics are added to the end of Japanese names and what the different honorifics mean, some of which are used in the story.

This story is likely to appeal to ages 8-12 years, upper to middle primary year level. It is 192 pages in length, but each page is filled with images and minimal text making it an easy read.

This story was originally written in Japanese and a few of the phrases don’t seem to have translated well. However, they do not detract from the overall flow of the story.

The story creates wonderful learning opportunities to explore how manga comics work and exposes young people to a little about the Japanese culture. It also demonstrates that young people, no matter where they come from, often have the same dilemmas.