救済の日

KYUUSAI NO HI

Psychological

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
1
RELEASE
August 25, 2008
CHAPTERS
11

DESCRIPTION

Nishioka Kyoudai's anti-war epic, told in their signature surrealist style.

A man wakes up one morning to find the world outside of his house a wasteland. As he searches for signs of life, he finds a fetus in a ditch, which promptly latches onto his thumb and won't let go, and things only get stranger from there...

CHAPTERS

REVIEWS

atomx
100/100
It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.
In a world where humans are seen as simple tools to produce commodities the world becomes so absurd that it may as well only be expressed through the pen of the Nishioka Duo. Our protagonist finds himself in a world that is wartorn. No, wartorn is a far too comfortable term. The world is destroyed, the ground is desolate of any life and all that is left are mysterious soldiers that hunt fetuses, that hide in small crevices. It's the war of all wars. The war that ended humanity forever.

Nuclear weapons were firstly introduced to humanity during World War 2 and only briefly used in active warfare. Nowadays they sit around in bunkers so that the men who rule our world can pressure eachother with the threat of pressing the big red button that will eradicate humanity. It's hard to live in such a world isn't it? How are we supposed to plan for the future when the impending doom of our world is in the hands of egotistical maniacs. Just like the protagonist we have to try our hardest to focus on the present.

The so-called "present" is not so great either. When the man finds himself at work he sees that his workplace has transformed into a logistics center for human corpses. Since he is dressed in his pajamas, partly due to the fact that a giant fetus is nibbling on his thumb, he gets fired and returns home.

Later he finds himself in a prison for political opposition. The odd but idyllic everyday life in it is quickly disturbed by the execution of the popular communist Jesus of Nazareth. They have a long talk about the state of the world before he gets executed and our protagonist returns to another world.

He gets imprisoned and is visited by an angel. Apparently God is a bum who just meddles around in the life of us mortals for mere amusement. When the time finally comes the man, still carrying the fetus, is escorted to an infinite space by the angel. The fetus lets go of his thumb and reveals himself as the future. It offers him an escape from the thing we call present but he refuses. He refuses and looks back at the world he remembers and he finds himself back at the door of his home infront of his wife and daughter.

The story, akin to any Nishioka-Duo manga, may seem nonsensical at first but it is one of the best representations of our modern society that I have ever seen. It becomes much clearer when reading the briliant essay "To Make A Decision, However Foolish" by Abe Yukihiro.

The two ideas that constitute the world of "The Day of Salvation" are the impossibility of comprehending our modern world and the impotence that comes with it. Capitalism has exceeded the term "system" in the way that it has become an overarching rule that seems unable to be broken by anyone. It is not a system led by a single group but seems to have established a new human nature that absorbs everything in it. Anytime some whistleblower comes out, anytime when a war is revealed to be led for profit, anytime when a rich person is exposed for fraud it seems like nothing changes. Our protagonist knows that something is going wrong but he is left powerless against this society which has either turned ignorant to what is going on or is simply too absorbed in it. People lack faces and are empty husks that lack any personality and character.

It's a reflection of our current ignorance. The War on Terror was Americas excuse to invade Iraq, Child Labour has become the standard for textile manufactors... there are tons of things that we know are wrong but we still don't seem to care. Back then, atleast, you weren't as connected to the wrongdoings that are the basis of our very existence - of our comfortable lives in warm houses with unlimited entertainment. In every hand, every pocket and every store are pixelated rectangles that, with a few clicks, show us the terror that is unfolding on the other side of the planet.

Returning to the impossibility of understanding it all is the fact that nothing seems to change. That every critique and every action is just subsumed back into the thing we Capitalism. It seems that there is no end to it.

But maybe there is. When offered with "Salvation" the man rejects it. Although the baby tells him he has no love for the world he rejects the only thing that may let him escape this madness. He returns back to the world but leaves again. He leaves the life he has lived, the lie that he keeps telling himself. Although open for interpretation, I think it is a message for us to act. To stop lying to ourselves, to stop ignoring what is happening and, even if we are an unknowing fool, to simply get up and do something.
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