The Credits Roll Into the Sea vol. 1

Umiko Chino is a 65-year-old widow with a fondness for movies.  She used to watch them all the time with her late husband, but has done this less often after his passing.  When a spur-of-the-moment decision to get out of a bit of social awkwardness takes her into a screening of the latest horror movie, she meets Kai.  He’s an androgynously good-looking boy who’s intrigued by the sight of this old woman watching such a film; or rather, the sight of this old woman watching the people watch this film.  It’s an encounter that will change Umiko’s life and set her on the path to making a movie of her own.

The very existence of a title like “The Credits Roll Into the Sea” is something that pleases me.  It’s a series that’s clearly catering to an older audience, with subject matter outside of the manga mainstream, and it’s arriving here on its own merits rather than the coattails of an anime or live-action adaptation.  These are things that I’ve felt have been harder to come by in new manga from Dark Horse over the years and I’m glad that they’re taking a chance on publishing a title that’s an outlier in all these ways.

Does that make it any good?  Well, it depends what you’re looking for.  Umiko’s realization of her passion at her age is something that’s easy to appreciate regardless of age or gender.  Yet it all feels more pleasant rather than genuinely interesting in this first volume.  The reason for that is how it feels like Kai is dictating the terms of her interest early on, with him pushing our protagonist into this.  Not helping matters is the fact that we’re constantly told about Umiko’s passion for movies rather than shown it ourselves.  Would it have been that hard to have her go see “Die Max” because she’s a secret admirer of gory, exploitative slasher movies?

Regardless of these issues, there was also this feeling that the manga itself wasn’t something that was necessarily meant for me.  There’s nothing wrong with making your series appeal to a specific audience, and there’s no guarantee that it’s going to go over well if you do (looking in your direction, “Emanon”).  Yet while reading this first volume, I really got the feeling that it was intended for older women who could relate to Umiko’s situation and who’d really appreciate the attention given to them by a slightly mysterious young pretty-boy.

That being said, I don’t think Kai is a problem here.  In addition to being the person who really sets the story in motion, he’s also got the more interesting backstory here.  What we learn about his troubled home life and the failure of his one significant friendship does make him seem more like an actual person rather than a vehicle for wish fulfillment.  Which is good as the volume ends by blending the two in a moment that causes Umiko to make a real step forward into the world of filmmaking.

All of this isn’t to say that I didn’t like this first volume of “The Credits Roll Into the Sea.”  It was never less than pleasant even as I got the vibe that it wasn’t necessarily something meant for me.  Whether or not it’s going to go anywhere interesting from here, that remains to be seen.  I’d certainly like to see Umiko take more initiative in the narrative, as well as go on a bit more about the movies she likes and how they’ve affected her.  Maybe we’ll see that in vol. 2, or maybe pleasantness is the rule of the day here.