Restart Days Vol: 1
Author: Sorahana
Publisher: Vic's Lab Distribution
Pages: 235
Reviewed by: Sandra Scholes
Premise: The 8th Day. It is when God creates the imaginary world "Fictional Reality." It is considered to be the place where the dead ends up at.
On every 8th day, all humans are given a chance to retrieve someone from "Fictional Reality" and return that life to Earth. However, the trials aren’t simple. Six people, consisting of two representatives from the past, the present, and the future, are gathered together to start the “Imaginary War.” They must accomplish every given tasks, and only one person, the victor, will earn the chance to [Save].
Review:Vic's Lab create novels based on anime series that reminded me of DMP's June imprint where they created text based novels based on their most popular manga series. Restart Days has the colourful cover artwork to draw the reader in, and when they start to read the book, there are a few black and white interior illustrations so you keep in mind it is based on an anime, which if you are a big fan of them is a good idea.
To live in a world that is a lie sounds like it could be awful, but here, humans can do anything, even die and be resurrected. I like the use of the infinite loop in the artwork as this is what the humans in the story are living in and some can't accept this and as such are afraid of the future. Here, when people die they go into the fictional reality realm. As with a computer file or picture, they can be saved by the ones who love them the most, but they have to undergo trials to be able to bring them back. Several people want to bring back their friends, and all have seen their friends die while trying to save them. We get to see Yuzuru Kihara start the story off by telling her own tale of how she feels living in the nightmare of not being able to save her friend.
The fictional reality realm isn't what any of the people thought it would be; there is nothing but emptiness there, waiting for someone to meet them, or living in the solitude of everyday life. With no purpose and nothing interesting happening, it gets boring for most of them and what is worse is they see no end to their situation.. It is as though they are dead as they can't find food and yet never get hungry. I have to admit I expected, largely due to the cover art and interior illustrations a 12 rated fantasy drama surrounding several characters in an unusual world, but what I got was much more.
This is for those who like reading much darker manga (light text based novels) with despair, unhappiness and times you could call gory. From girls committing suicide by jumping off a building to ones stabbing themselves to death with a knife, Restart Days Vol: 1 is a deep journey through the rabbit hole of a virtual world brought into reality.
