A Curious Statistical Anomaly

A young girl is left behind when her family takes a trip and, in her anger and hurt, she makes the kind of wishes for badness of one type or another to happen to them. Unfortunately, they are killed in an accident and Jin Ryu is convinced it is her fault.

She hears of the wizard K who can grant wishes. The price of one and only one wish granted it to have K take from you that which you value the most. However, he refuses to bring her family back from the dead — and she must either become his apprentice or be killed because she has seen him.

I mean with a choice like that, you know she’s going to be A-one apprentice material. There are several stories about people who come to K to have their wishes granted. Apprentice Jin Ryu, in each case, can not understand K’s apparent lack of concern for the people who come to him. She goes out of her way to try to help them. Misunderstanding occur and Jin Ryu and K are in a kind of ballet of learning, understanding, misunderstanding, like, and dislike.

The images illustrating the text are clean, sharp, large eyes, beautiful people in an androgynous sort of way. The women and girls are feminine but often so are the men. I often got confused by K and Jin Ryu when they were in the same panel (then once I realized K is prettier it was no problem — but, hey, that’s just me). What I did love about the presentation is that the dialogue and written descriptions were large enough to read without straining. Some manga have very small typefaces that make reading (even with glasses) difficult, but this one is a treat to read so you can bustle through with the pace of the story. This is also manga that’s presented in the form most American readers are familiar with from front to back and left to right (usually manga is back to front and right to left).

This is volume one of what I assume will be a continuing series of stories. I think what drew me in was the fact that K is aware that wishes have consequences and dangers. He takes what someone values most in exchange for granting a wish. Think about that for a moment. That’s horrific. Pure evil actually.

Think of all the times in a year that you wish for something. Not the times that you wish someone a good day or a Happy Birthday or a top of the morning, but those times you wish someone had never been born, or would get hit by a car, or whatever evil. We don’t really mean those wishes. In fact, they’re just a way to blow off steam when we’re angry and upset. But what if in that heat of the moment you could go to someone who could make it come true and all it would cost is the thing your value most.

Now on the flip side, someone you love is in pain, hurting, or ill. A simple wish could be the means to helping someone you love life a full and rich life. But how do you frame such a wish — do you really know what’s best for someone else? If they’re dying of cancer maybe wishing for a cure will fix the disease but will it truly make them happy or just give them more years of a life they don’t like — it truly depends on the person. But such a good wish also only costs you what you value most.

Remember, you can only have one wish granted in your lifetime. So, it has to be a good wish that will do the most for you or someone you love or someone you hate.

Now, what about the price. Do you know what you value most in life? I don’t know what I value most in my life. After reading I Wish…, I tried to think what it might be. If we’re completely honest with ourselves, I doubt anyone really knows what they value most. Someone might say they value their children most in life. But do they really value the children or the joy the children give them or even the power they have over them. Flip sides to everything. Nuances in feeling — hidden unconscious desires and beliefs. K doesn’t take as the price what you say you value most. No, he takes what you actually value most and he doesn’t even know what that is until he has it in his possession.

Wishes aren’t the simple things we think they are. They can be dangerous — especially if they are granted. I Wish… may seem like simple tales of people with problems and a wizard who can grant a wish, but like life, nothing is that simple.