Sometimes all it takes to fall hopelessly in love with an amazing manga is a few pages. That was my initial impression of A Kingdom of Quartz, the debut manga by Canadian mangaka BOMHAT. It’s like Witch Hat Atelier meets The Ugly Duckling meets Haibane Renmei. It was first released in Japan in 2023 (along with a Japanese translation), and it is currently accessible in the West in its original tongue. The author must be ecstatic to see their breathtakingly beautiful manga available in bookstores in their native nation.
I had no notion that BOMHAT was a foreigner when I picked this up to read, therefore my enjoyment of the book was unaffected in the slightest by assumptions that this manga wasn’t “genuine.” The definition of “manga” has clearly broadened in recent years with the popularity of French author Tony Valente’s Radiant and the anime that followed. That’s a very excellent thing in this instance.
Beautiful, statuesque people inhabit a celestial fantasy realm full of mystery and strange angelic animals straight out of the Biblical Apocrypha in BOMHAT’s immaculate, detailed artwork. It is just breathtaking. It is appropriate to draw comparisons between A Kingdom of Quartz and Kamome Shirahama’s Witch Hat Atelier, one of my favorite ongoing manga series. Both have a vintage, almost John Tenniel-esque classic artwork style. A new version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland illustrated by Shirahama or BOMHAT would undoubtedly do Tenniel’s meticulously detailed original pen-and-ink artwork justice.
A Kingdom of Quartz has superb composition and narrative flow between beautifully etched panels on every page, but it’s not simply wonderful visual candy. There’s more to love than that. The winged Celes of the Quartz Kingdom, who live in a gleaming city divided from the shadowy regions inhabited by demons, are an intriguing people. Blue, the figure from our point of view, has two unusual black wings growing out of her back, which set her apart from everyone else’s fluffy white wings.
There is cruelty and discrimination towards Blue and another one-winged character because of their “deformity,” thus this is hardly a paradise. She was raised in the loving care of the orphanage run by a religious order and has a mystery past. She aspires to become an archangel and join the elite group of heavenly guards for her monarch. Her name is etched on the shaft of the small wooden sword she handles so charmingly when we first meet her in the full-color opening to this collection. She has all the charm of a really shiny button.
While Judeo-Christian origins provide most of the volume’s dazzling imagery, some angels in this are unsettlingly accurate to biblical accounts. If you know, you know that in this world, there is a creator goddess as opposed to a fatherly male god. What deeper significance this has for the world’s cosmology is yet unknown. The winged Celes people of the Quartz Kingdom appear to have descended from ordinary humans at some point, however it is unclear if there are still any non-winged humans in the world. This planet appears to be material rather than spiritual, in contrast to most traditional ideas of Heaven; it also doesn’t appear to be a location where souls go after death.
Despite her difficulties, Blue is a sweet-natured naivete who always has a smile on her face. About 25% of the way through, the battles turn very… gory as terrible abominations kill most of her allies, revealing her hidden abilities. Even if the first chapter is quite adorable and charming, there is a violent, dark heart beating behind all of that beauty. The next battles are rather scary in certain parts. It makes sense that Madoka Magica and Made in Abyss aren’t mentioned in the official summary because the still-cute but bloody middle parts have a dark, unpleasant tone.
When Blue first meets Prince Cassian, the handsome male angel and heir apparent, he is enthralled with the girl with the black wings and the ability to explode demons. His promise of future elevation to her gives Blue a target that she will surely strive for throughout the next few books. This regrettably brief volume ends with Blue seemingly only beginning her quest of self-discovery and growth. She’s a likeable lead character who strikes the perfect balance between mystery and innocence to keep me interested in her tale. Her world is strange, ghastly, and incredibly lovely. I’m eager to start reading the next book.
