The Fall 2024 Manga Guide

Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring

What's It About? 

Once upon a time, there was Winter. Winter was once the only season in the world but such an existence was too lonely to bear, and so it created Spring to love. Before long, the earth wished for more time to rest in the cycle, and Summer and Autumn were born. The ones who carry the cycle are called the Agents of the Four Seasons. Hinagiku, the Agent of Spring, disappeared from this land ten years ago, taking the season of spring with her. Now, after incredible hardship, she has returned to restore the cycle to its proper state and, as in the myth passed down since the dawn of time, she sends her love to Winter.

Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring has an original story by Kana Akatsuki, original character designs by Suoh, and art by Nappa Komatsuda, with English translation by Sergio Avila. This volume was lettered by Chiho Christie. Published by Yen Press (November 28, 2023).

Is It Worth Reading?

I have a confession to make: I couldn't get through the first volume of the Agents of the Four Seasons light novel because of the way. Hinagiku. Talked. Was. So. Irritating. Fortunately for all of us unreasonably irritated by excessive punctuation, the manga is much easier to handle – yes, Hinagiku's stilted, stuttering speech is still written out the same way, but it's easier to take in the speech bubbles than in pure prose. The manga also moves through the story a bit more quickly, or at least at a more palatable pace without wading through dense text. I'm sure the novels are great, but unusually for me, I really like the manga adaptation better.

The story's concept is interesting, too. The idea that in Yamato (so definitely not Japan) the gods of the four seasons are represented by their “agents” who do the actual work of bringing the seasons about is unusual and familiar at the same time. Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen has a similar anthropomorphization of the seasons, but they act largely on their own, where these agents are, for all intents and purposes, the harbingers. And if there's no agent? The season simply fails to happen, going straight from winter to summer. While this may be the norm in Northern New England, it certainly isn't in Yamato, and so the sudden reappearance of spring after a ten-year absence is major news. And why was spring missing? That's the question that this volume begins to explore.

Hinagiku, the missing agent, is undeniably childlike, something that was apparently not true of her a decade ago, even though she was, it appears, actually a child then. Her disappearance has changed her in ways that Rosei, the agent of winter, fears are irrevocable because he blames himself for whatever happened to her. It's not clear if it was kidnapping or death; both are mentioned, and it seems like neither Rosei nor Sakura (Hinagiku's guardian) actually knew the answer. And Hinagiku isn't in any shape to provide one if she even knows.

The art for this is very nice, with a graceful air whenever Rosei or Hinagiku are using their powers. It makes for an interesting juxtaposition between the modern world and the mythical one that the agents descend from, although they may be just regular people given special powers – Rosei's guardian is worried about him being shot at one point, implying that the agents can be killed like anyone else. It's early days yet for the mythology to be fully explained, but there's still a lot to think about with the worldbuilding. It has the potential to be a very intriguing story, and I think it will be worth giving it a second volume to find out where it goes.

What. If. I. Wrote. My. Whole. Review. Like. This? Never mind, I'm already sick of it. But that's exactly how the main character speaks throughout this entire manga. Yes, there's a legitimate plot reason for her to talk like this, and no, I still can't forgive it. I could talk all day about this manga's beautiful, delicate art or its well-established folkloric fantasy backdrop, but at the end of the day it comes down to how this sole authorial choice makes the dialogue a chore to read.

Everyone knows how the seasons go: Winter, Summer, Fall, then Winter again. Wait, what? Ever since the Agent of Spring was kidnapped ten years ago, Japan's seasons have been all wonky. Now Hinagiku, the Agent of Spring, has finally returned to spread cherry blossoms across the land—and she's facing some big questions from the public that she is hardly equipped to answer in her strange, halting speech. The story lampshades her dialogue with multiple characters commenting on her odd speaking style, but it doesn't make it any easier to read. What happened to Hinagiku over those ten years, and how will the balance of power between the agents of seasons shift now that she's back? This volume sows the seeds for this major storyline, but contains few answers. In fact, we only meet the Agents of Spring and Winter: Summer and Fall are still a mystery.

I loved the yuri moments between Hinagiku and her bodyguard, who is fittingly named Sakura. I was intrigued by the developing backstory between Hinagiku and Rosei, the Agent of Winter, who had a complicated role in Hinagiku's fateful kidnapping. I think the manga is laying breadcrumbs for an enemies to lovers romance between it, so it looks like the yuri teases will be short lived. It's difficult to review a story that is clearly the opening act of something much bigger and it has barely shown its hand. This manga is strongest in its quietest moments, in which it portrays the agents of Spring and Winter performing respective dances to activate the powers of their seasons, letting the beauty of the art take center stage. But if the rest of this story keeps. Focusing. On. Hinagiku's. Dialogue. Then I am going to lose patience with it.