Usamaru Furuya
La Musica di Marie

It saddens me to reread today this manga from fifteen years ago. Today's world is a series of terrorist attacks; chains of hate that turn into large conflicts: every day, we are bombarded with news that leads us to think that perhaps, silently, the third world war has already begun. Military technology has developed a force capable of exterminating the human race several times over. It would be nice if now Marie's music could envelop the entire world.

Usamaru Furuya in 2016 regarding Marie’s Music, a work published in Japan in two volumes between 1999 and 2001. Reading his words today is undoubtedly chilling given the current situation. And they have something sadly prophetic about them. Or, they simply reveal the short-sightedness of our world. A world unable to read and understand reality.

Understanding technology deeply also means understanding the limits of the human being.

Marie’s Music is considered the masterpiece of its author. Certainly, I can say that it is one of the most beautiful mangas I have read so far.

Marie’s Music is a steampunk work, a complex piece that deals with themes such as faith, religion, progress, and of course, technology.

To what extent can technological development be pushed without poisoning people's souls, in an eternal circle of competition and rivalry? And is there a limit beyond which it is better not to go? Is the myth of progress the center of the universe, or is it perhaps preferable to set a limit to progress in exchange for a more peaceful and harmonious life, without conflict?

Usamaru Furuya raises several questions without providing definitive answers, leaving room for an open ending that is open to interpretation as it is disorienting and unexpected. In which, nevertheless, the only real thing that emerges is the heart-wrenching feeling of a girl towards her best friend. A feeling that transcends time and space, becoming metaphysical. In a mix of tenderness, pain, and emotion.

A truly extraordinary work. Both for the depth of its themes and the artistic quality of the drawings.

The title refers to the sound that, brought by Marie - a sort of deity with the appearance of a mechanical automaton flying over the skies - is capable of soothing people's souls.