Genre: Seinen: Crime, mystery, action, fantasy, thriller
Mangaka: CAB (story), Federica di Meo (art)
Publisher: KANA
Published: March 2023-ongoing
In a world where dreams can come true, only the nightmares become reality, taking shape and lives, as they infect their victims. The only ones capable and willing to hunt down these nightmares are the Epeira Caste. Sent by the holy see to clean the lands of its nightmares (at a fee), they embody qualities you might be familiar with if you’ve watched Claymore.
In this Kana publication, we see the main character Arane Heos, disposing of a nightmare efficiently, and with no emotion. Kind of reminded me of The Witcher on Netflix (never played the games or read the books). She does her job and the men who had contracted her decide to renege on their end of the deal and attempt to attack her. Yes, merely attempt because of course, she wipes the floor with them, leaving it bloody. They had just seen her take care of a nightmare, one that they couldn’t get rid of, and they thought it wise to attack her because they thought her beauty was a sign of weakness…??? Dumb. Never confuse the two.
Past this attempt at not paying a contractor, Arane is thrown back into the politics of the Holy See, so she can save her daughter, but save her from what? That’s when the real mystery starts. Who is she? Why is she important? Why count down the days since they last saw each other?
Because Oneira is still in the beginning stages, we do not know many details surrounding the mystery and the Holy See’s political ambitions. So, all I propose is just a theory, a manga theory!
Federica di Meo’s Art
The art is slick, curved, and yet retains enough angles to mirror my understanding of Arane—beautiful and deadly. Again, never confuse beauty for weakness.
The nightmare designs are rooted in existing lore yet have a new disturbing twist, which I appreciate. I would say that there are some horror elements to the nightmares, but overall, it is not a horror manga. Maybe it’s a little gory with the amount of bloodshed, and the little speck of body horror, but it’s not super scary. So, if you are easily disturbed, it may not be your cup of tea, but overall not horrifying.
The characters, the backgrounds and the clothes seem to all fit well together, which is not always the case with dark fantasies. Sometimes fantasy manga will vaguely reference an amalgamation of European influences—but not Oneira. It does not feel like someone is going to randomly have green tea or something out of place. Maybe this has to do with the fact that the illustrator is of Italian descent, maybe not. Maybe they just did good research.
Speaking of art, the publishing house Kana partnered with a brand of markers for a Draw This In Your Style (DTIYS) challenge. It’s nice to see a budding fandom.
Oneira’s Characters
Arane is canonically not straight, and we don’t need to put labels on it, except maybe… she a fuccboi. Just a little bit. And her sexuality has not been at the centre of the manga which is refreshing. Yes, let her not be into men and kick ass.
During her performance of her duties, we get a glimpse of her values, she likes to get her job done well the first time around. She may care for the welfare of the victims, but if they gotta go, they gotta go. If she was a doctor, she would have bad bedside manners, thankfully she’s not a doctor.
Her relationship with her pseudo-driver Bastione, is a breath of fresh air after those men who jumped her. I think he’s technically her age. They laugh, joke, and tease because even in a world of nightmares, they are able to create little pockets of joy for themselves. I envy them.
I can’t wait for more chapters to be published so we can see more of their friendship. It’s just so good. Cause in the flashback we see that it started off rocky, but look where they are now, and imagine where they could be by the end of the story. I’m just giddy with anticipation.
Worldbuilding in Oneira
Unlike many manga, this seinen’s exposition is minimal. Finally, salvation!
The implication that there is a philosophical division on what they consider religious and scientific is made known through dialogue and the way characters interact with technology. The little details surrounding how villagers view Arane, a Southerner, help paint a full picture in a few words.
Overall if you’re a fan of Claymore, The Witcher or dark fantasy in general I would recommend Oneria.
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