In a world where divine spirits are the source of all life, Alpi is a Soul Sender – a kind of wandering healer who helps dying spirits get to the Afterlife, for if the spirit dies within a living creature it causes them to spread a curse that destroys all living things around it. Alpi is therefore revered throughout the lands, saving people, property and landscapes.
The complication here is that Alpi, who travels with her assistant Perenai, is herself a young girl (for Soul Senders can be of any age) who looks far too young to engage in such life-threatening and dangerous work.
In this first volume there are 5 episodes, although the last is in two parts. In the first, The Bright Soul Sender, we first meet Alpi and Perenai, who banish a spirit threatening a village to the realm of the Sun God, a process that exhausts Alpi.
In the second, The Lake with the Dark Purple Waters, Alpi and Perenai reach Yulu, where there is a cursed lake. Being in water creates new challenges for Alpi, and it is a difficult spirit validation. This story shows how difficult Alpi’s work can be.
The third is the Temple of Purification, where Alpi and Perenai reach Lontendaya temple. We find out about the origin of such sacred sites. Alpi gets her tools repaired after the activity at Yulu, goes to recharge her physical magical and mental powers and remove the curses she is carrying at the temple, but at the same time discovers Lontendaya has a terrible secret. Alpi has secrets of her own as the crest on her knife has meaning.
The final story is A Wish for the Fire Moth (Parts 1 & 2). Alpi and Perenai reach Urubu Rita and the town of ironworks. The lord of the ironworks town, Lord Mido, invites them to meet him. They find that the town is kept running by an imprisoned spirit, which causes issues. Alpi and Perenai’s solution has consequences for those involved.
This is very much a scene-setting first volume that develops and deepens as the graphic novel progresses. At the beginning we are pretty unaware of her powers, but by the end we know of Alpi’s reason for her travels and that the personal cost to Alpi every time she performs an activity is high. The relationship between Alpi and Perenai is charming in that master-servant manner, with Perenai able to deal with Alpi’s emotional outbursts with stoicism and patience. It is clear that they care for each other.
I liked this first volume a lot. This feels like something Studio Ghibli could produce, with an engaging, if rather young, heroine, whose enthusiasm belies her naivety. The premise is interesting. The artwork is typical of such work but the dynamism between the panels works well. I’d be interested to read more about Alpi and Perenai in other volumes if not just to see how the unresolved plot threads are resolved.
ALPI THE SOUL-SENDER, Volume 1
Created by Rona, translated by Motoko Tamamuro and Jonathan Clements, lettered by Jonathan Stevenson
Published by Titan Manga (Titan Comics imprint)
ISBN: 978 178 774 1300
176 pages, Black & White.
ISBN: 9781787741300
On sale October 10, 2023, at bookstores, comic shops and digital.
Pre-order now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Indigo, and Forbidden Planet for UK.
Review by Mark Yon
