One of the oldest myths in Japanese folklore is the story of Kaguya-Hime (a.k.a., "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter"), a young girl found inside a glowing bamboo stalk by an elderly cutter, and raised as his own chlid.
Kaguya-Hime grew into a beautiful young woman and one day confessed to her adoptive father that she came from a city on the Moon, eventually returning there, pulled upward as if by an invisible force.
It's no coincidence that Japan's moon orbiting satellite, launched in 2007, is named Kaguya. Nor is it surprising that this myth kicks off the plot for The Manga Guide to the Universe (No Starch Press), penned by Kenji Ishikawa and just released in English translation. One of the characters declares the story of Kaguya-Hime to be an early example of science fiction -- after all, aliens from another world are a staple of the genre.
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This is the latest in an ongoing popular series of science-themed manga, which includes colorfully illustrated guides to calculus, statistics, molecular biology, physics, electricity, even databases.
They all pretty much follow similar formats: young people (often young women) are spurred to explore the topic of interest for purposes of the plot, with occasional sidebars delving into more scientific detail than a straight narrative would otherwise allow.
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In the case of The Manga Guide to the Universe, we have two junior girls at the fictional Kouki High School, Kama and Yamane -- the only two members of the school's flagging drama club. They have 20 days to come up with a killer performance for the arts festival -- or else the drama club will be no more.
Enter American exchange student Gloria, who joins the drama club to learn more about Japanese culture. She's the one who suggests an updated play about Kaguya-Hime, with the princess hailing from a distant galaxy instead.
Yamane is eager to write the adaptation, but there's just one problem: she doesn't really know much about the universe. Fortunately, Kanna has an older brother (Kanta) who is studying astronomy at the local university.
He introduces them to Professor Sanuki -- and the tour of the universe begins. The girls learn about Ptolemy and Copernicus, Kepler's Laws, the solar system, our Milky Way and other galaxies, the Big Bang, the continuing expansion of the universe, curved spacetime, and of course, whether alien life might exist. Heck, there's even brief mention of the multiverse for good measure.
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I generally like the Manga Guide series and its unique pop culture approach to teaching science: it strives to both educate and entertain, with varying success. This latest offering has a lot to recommend it, notably the inspired tie-in to Kaguya-Hime and a sidebar detailing other cosmic myths from cultures around the world. In a sense, modern astrophysics and cosmology have given us a new origin myth, one based on scientific observation.
True, the characters aren't very complicated, the plot and dialogue are fairly didactic, and some of the jokes get lost in translation, but it's still a fun, quick read. That said, while the Manga series is to be commended for including more extensive sidebar material, I felt the same way about these digressions as I have in prior books in the series: they're too much of a distraction and take you out of the story.
They're more like accompanying study guides, in fact, and I keep wondering why this material isn't placed in an appendix at the end, instead of constantly interrupting the narrative action. Then again, I suppose one could make the argument that having the sidebars right there when the points are raised in the storyline has its advantages, too.
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That's a minor quibble, however; the series is consistently good, providing an excellent means of augmenting classroom curricula for teachers looking for something a bit more appealing to students. The Manga Guide to the Universe is one of the best. It's a great way to introduce kids to the wonder and vastness of the cosmos.
Image credit: No Starch Press
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