Furuya Usamaru's Mary's Music Box: 20th Anniversary Edition

"Usamaru Furuya, author of "Teiichi: Battle of Supreme High", "π", and "Lychee Light Club"

A twenty-year classic utopian masterpiece, re-released



"Revisiting this work, which I drew 15 years ago, makes me feel even more heartbroken in today's era. Terrorist attacks are increasing worldwide, and the chain reaction of hatred has developed into massive conflicts. News broadcasts daily make one feel as if World War III has already begun without us realizing it. Military technology has developed to possess immense power, pushing humanity to the brink of extinction several times. 'I deeply wish that Marie's music could envelop this world right now,' I thought profoundly."

──Usamaru Furuya, from the afterword of the 2016 new edition of "Marie's Music Box"



Under the protection of the goddess "Marie", Pipi and Kai grow up in the "New World", where the evil desires of old-world humans have been eliminated, and everyone performs their duties, maintaining peace and harmony every day. As Pipi's love for Kai deepens, she also discovers Kai's desire for "Marie". As the chosen one who can solely hear "Marie's" music, Kai is guided by the "New World's" three sages, gradually uncovering that the "music" that guards peace actually has the function of destroying advanced mechanical civilization... As the person who appears only once every 50 years and determines the world's direction, what kind of decision will Kai make between a "world without disputes" and "freely pursuing advanced civilization"?



Usamaru Furuya presents this city composed of intricate machinery with precise artwork. Above this, the youthful romance of Pipi and Kai, destined to perish from the start, leads them to different life choices, and thereby poses the core question that constitutes this work: should one protect beautiful but illusory memories, or embrace an unknown yet free reality? Hailed as Usamaru Furuya's gentlest work, it breaks through his past creative frameworks, which excelled in school, comedy, and erotic grotesque themes, and marks his first challenge to the sci-fi genre, a representative work of his career.