Review on the Manga "Juliet's Egg"

Title : Juliet’s Egg / ジュリエットの卵
Author : Yoshino Sakumi  
Type : Manga (1-3 complete)  




Summary :
This is a story about twins named Hotaru and Minato. Hotaru was a very beautiful but careless girl that went to a college in Chiba, while Minato was a very handsome playboy that went to a college in Kanagawa. Their mother had always loved Minato more than Hotaru, and she practically kicked Hotaru out of the house by sending her to a college in Chiba.

During her time in Chiba, feeling abandoned, Hotaru tried to make some friends, and she got to know Ryuutaro, an art student in her college. When someone offered her a job in a model agency, she took it in hope to find some solace in her job, and to keep her mind off of Minato. Meanwhile, Minato was upset because he thought Hotaru left him, and tried to bring her back. But what he saw made him stunned, because Hotaru was with another man that wasn’t him, and she looked happy and relaxed. Then after ‘talked’ to Hotaru, Minato decided to left his twin alone and go back to Kanagawa.

Their mother’s name was also Hotaru, and they never knew their father’s name. Minato never understood why their mother gave Hotaru her name if she hated her that much. Then, before she died, their mother told him a very surprising story. It went like this: ”Hotaru has an older brother, and his name is Minato…” And suddenly, his life turned upside down.


Comment :
Twins. Some people say that twins always share a bond that is more than just a general sibling bond, stronger than parental bond, and closer than lovers’ bond, because they are actually one entity that ‘accidentally’ turned into two beings. Looking at the relationship between Hotaru and Minato, I guess people are right, after all. But I have to admit that their relationship is rather…disturbing. In a good way, if you know what I mean.

Both Hotaru and Minato were described as stunningly gorgeous, and people seemed to be drawn to them on regular basis. Maybe it was rather normal for both of them to consider people other than their half were rather ugly, for they spent too much time in the other’s company. They loved each other simply because Hotaru was Hotaru and Minato was Minato, and not because any other things.

The world without Minato is an ugly and dirty place for Hotaru, but she realized that things between her and Minato were too complicated and she couldn’t bring herself to forget him. She couldn’t take it anymore, and at one point she unconsciously cut her long hair to be exactly like Minato’s, so when she looked at the mirror, she would look like Minato, and she would feel like Minato was actually right beside her, watching her. With that illusion in mind, she continued her life. As for Minato himself, the world without Hotaru was simply didn’t exist, and he would prefer to be dead rather than being separated from Hotaru.

Yes, they had a very wrong, sick and disturbing relationship, but if we look at the way they were raised, I think it will be quite understandable. But maybe, the most surprising thing in this story is that Hotaru and Minato were born from their mother incestuous relationship with her older brother, whose name also Minato. Apparently, that was also a reason why their mother tried very hard to separate them, to prevent this thing from happening again. Although I must say that what she had done only strengthened the bond between her children. In the end, realizing that she had failed to prevent such a thing happening again, she killed herself. But before she died, she told Minato that she didn’t regret anything that happened between her and her brother, although she was sorry for the way things turned out for her children.

After that, he sought Hotaru out, but Minato never told her what their mother had said. He asked her not to leave him alone, because he loved her and she was the only thing he had right now. But Hotaru told him that she was in love with Ryuutaro, and Minato was desperate, so he took her right then and there, consequences be damned. In the morning, when he looked at Hotaru and realized that he had crossed the boundaries between them, and that he was no different than their mother for doing the forbidden thing that no siblings should do, he took his own life, with Hotaru’s arms around him.

One little thing that Minato never knew was that their father also took his own life when he had realized what he had done to his own little sister, leaving her alone to face the world, never knowing she was pregnant. He also never knew that Hotaru never loved Ryuutaro. She was just too afraid to admit her love for Minato.

I know, I know. They were really one screwed up family. Funny how fate seems to always give history a freedom to repeat itself. Minato was determined not to be like his parents turned out to be. But his desperation clouded his judgment, and he ended up doing exactly the same thing as his father down to the smallest detail without even knowing it. Is this what people called Karma? Their mother blamed herself for what happened to her children. Minato blamed the world for practically everything, except for giving him a chance to love Hotaru.

Overall, I have to agree that they had a very unhealthy relationship, but, hey, it was love. Don’t people always say that love could make you blind and go insane? Minato said that it was just a coincidence that they were born as siblings, and his love had nothing to do with that fact. Is it just Minato’s excuse to love Hotaru, his own sister? Or is that saying about ‘you cannot choose the one you love’ actually true?