Blanc Project is a manga by Kosugi Mayu. It's two volumes long for now, volume 1 was released in March 2002. The series is running in the G Fantaji magazine by Enix, in which is also published the famous E'S. The manga costs about 800yen: its size is bigger than many collections, being 15x21 cm in contrast to the usual 11x18 cm (sorry I only know centimeters).
I LOVE the art. Kosugi-sensei can draw awesome bishounen. Her style is very thin and delicate, always precise, and can be also very funny and cute. Her use of pastels gives a soft touch to her color pictures. Actually, I fell in love with this manga as soon as I saw the covers. Aren't they beautiful? :)
The story evolves around the mystery of a computer game called White Earth. The release of the game was postponed for unknown reasons, to Yuu's expense. Yuu had been waiting for this day for months. He gets to talk with the game shop manager: no one really knows White Earth, the game has been developped in total secrecy. Yuu later meets friends of his, who tell him he can download the game on its official site. He runs back home and downloads it. At first the game acts weird and seems to work by itself. Someone appears on the screen and introduces himself as Blanc. A voice directly talks to Yuu about Earth's pollution and violence... Yuu grows frightened when a bright light suddenly comes from the screen: a child comes out of it...
Yuu's father died years ago. He worked in the company who developped White Earth, Tony. When Yuu was a small kid, he once saw a picture his father had, a picture of Earth seen from space. He saw it once again just before he learnt that his father had died, and it was sent by his father himself. The same picture was taken to promote White Earth. It's probably why Yuu grew so interested in the game. Also, when he downloaded the game on the Tony official site and just before the child appears, he's reminded of his father, and thinks to have heard him calling his name.
Many mysteries appear: What's White Earth? Who really is Blanc, the child who came out of Yuu's computer screen? Who is this the people inside the game threatening Blanc? What's the link with Yuu's deceased father? Etc...
Blanc is the name of the child appearing before Yuu. You'll agree that she has weird clothes, just like those of a computer game character. Blanc comes to live with Yuu and his big sister, Rei. At first Yuu is scared of her, quite normal after the shock he received starting the game. But Blanc's tears and smiles convince him she's not evil, though it's actually Rei who first approaches Blanc to console her.
