Double Arts

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Double Arts


caption =
ja_name = ダブルアーツ
ja_name_trans = Daburu Ātsu
genre = Action, FantasyInfobox animanga/Manga
title =
author = Naoshi Komi
publisher = flagicon|Japan Shueisha
demographic = Shōnen
magazine = Weekly Shōnen Jump
first = March 242008
last = September 62008
volumes = 2

nihongo|"Double Arts"|ダブルアーツ|Daburu Ātsu is a manga series by nihongo|Naoshi Komi|古味直志|"Komi Naoshi". It began serialization on March 242008 in "Weekly Shōnen Jump" issue #17. The story revolves around a fictional world whose inhabitants live in perpetual dread of a deadly disease known as nihongo|Troy|トロイ|"toroi". Almost universally fatal, Troy is most feared for its terminal stage, where the afflicted becomes transparent and eventually fades away, leaving only the clothes they had on behind.

There is only one known treatment for Troy; the help of a Sister. Sisters are women with a remarkably high resistance to Troy. When discovered, they are taken to the central church for training and sent about to cure afflicted people of the plague. Sisters "heal" their patients by clasping their hands and absorbing the toxin produced by Troy into themselves. While the process will enable the patient to live, it brings the Sister closer and closer to her own demise; Sisters are resistant, but not immune to Troy, after absorbing a certain amount of the Troy toxin, they too will disappear.

Against this backdrop, the plot follows the adventures of nihongo|Sister Elraine Figarette|エルレイン・フィガレット|"erurein figaretto" and nihongo|Kili Luchile|キリ・ルチレ|"kiri ruchire", one a famous Sister with a remarkably high resistance to Troy, and the other, a mysteriously gifted boy with a miraculous immunity to Troy. Their fates were tied together when Elraine finally reached her limit and succumbed to Troy, only to be saved by Kili who held her death at bay by clutching her hand. Kili's remarkable immunity to Troy is transferred to anyone touching his hand, but disappears whenever he is let go. As such, the two must cling together to keep Elraine alive, as they struggle to find a way to make it to the Church's headquarters, in hopes of using Kili's immunity to end the plague.

Due to its low weekly ratings in the magazine, "Double Arts" was truncated and ended at chapter 23 during early September 2008, in the 41st issue of "Weekly Shōnen Jump". The manga ended on an open-ended, yet optimistic note. Elraine is shown alive and well, and is not holding Kili's hand. The fates of the other characters following what would have been the 'true' ending are unknown, though Kili is implied to be alive.

Characters

* "Sister Elraine Figarette" is the female protagonist of this story. Also known as "Elle" or "Ellie". Sister Elraine is one of the traveling Sisters who save people from Troy at the cost of their own health. She is also the narrator of the story.

:Elraine is a stupendously famous Sister. She possesses a heretofore unheard of resistance to the Troy toxin, and has been able to heal upwards of thousands of people. Her success has earned her the title of "the White Fairy" among fellow Sisters, making her a veritable celebrity in the Church. This fame is only bolstered when she discovers Kili Luchile, the only person ever found with an immunity to the plague.

:She is a bright young girl with a somewhat sad, though nonetheless cheerful disposition. Prior to meeting Kili, she was very fatalistic and viewed her Sistership as more of a burden than anything else. But finding a chance at life she never thought possible in Kili, she grows more open and upbeat as their journey progresses. Though she can maintain a serene demeanor, she is very easily flustered, particularly when people chide her about her relationship with Kili, a relationship she maintains is purely Platonic. In chapter 23, she half confesses her feelings to him, saying that she didn't want the journey to end, and that she hopes he'll know why she said that.

:From her story, it seems that she's a Nagin. She is a sound but very active sleeper, as she is known to toss and kick with exceeding force throughout the night. As a result of this and her situation with Kili, Kili is often woken up and left with heavy bruises from her unintentional assaults.

* "Kili Luchile" is the story's primary male protagonist. He is a very artistic and upbeat young man with a variety of unique and remarkable skills. Of those abilities, two are most pertinent to the tale. The first is his immunity to the Troy plague; he is the first person in living memory unaffected in any way by Troy. Not only that, he is also able to halt the disease by having an afflicted person touch him. This is likely due in part to his second ability: his self-named "Flare". "Flare", to put it simply, is power wrought in cooperation. By touching another individual, Kili's physical abilities and processes, as well as those he touches, are increased in proportion to the number of people he grasps. I.e. Kili and Elraine hold hands, their individual strengths are doubled, with three people, each person's strength is tripled, and so on and so forth. The ability is apparently unheard of in this world, and constantly surprises everyone Kili meets. However, in his fight with Lucci Zezu, Lucci seems to know something about it after coming into contact with it, calling it an ability that "only one person was supposed to have". This implied that Kili isn't the only one to have the power. The question of who else could possibly share his gift is left unanswered by the manga due to its abrupt conclusion.

:As of chapter 19, Kili, and Elraine are training to develop a fighting style, made specifically, to take advantage of Kili's "Flare" ability. Although the only part of the training seen so far is dancing. As said by Fallen, dancing is supposed to help Kili, and Elraine be in sync, and as one. The name of the style, is called "Double Arts" (hence the title of the manga).

:In addition to his "Flare" abilities, Kili is shown to be a very talented artist, his bedroom filled with sculptures he creates. His skill is so high that he is able to do most singlehandedly and was able to carve a beautifully detailed sculpture out of a block of wood in seconds. He is even able to use this talent in situations that people would normally not think to use it: he was once able to create a makeshift sword, during a Gazelle attack, by putting together his attacker's throwing knives. Kili has also been shown to be an excellent tailor, mending a rip in Elraine's clothes in a moment, even adding a patch to it. While Kili is talented in art, his lacks aesthetics and is often scorned by Elle for his lack of sense.

:Kili is very kindhearted and willing to do anything for anyone. This is shown when he and Elraine are escaping, he stops and argues with her, because he wants to return to help the other Sisters. He eventually drags her back with him, to help them. He is also able to cook, since his mother doesn't and the task is left to him and his father.

:In chapter 23, it was revealed that he fell in love with Elraine at first sight. Following her, he saw her collapse and rushed to help her. He reveals (in an inner monologue) that the only true reason why he accompanied her was because he cared for her, and not because of an overwhelming desire to save the world (like he leads Elle to believe). Throughout the story, Kili manages to skillfully conceal most of his feelings for Elle. At the conclusion of the manga, he redeclares his determination to save her and the world from Troy by promising to see the journey through to the end.

:In chapter 20, page 10 of the Double Arts manga, Kili does a drawing with his signature proving that his name is Kili and not Kiri, which is often a common misconception.

"Sui" is Kili's old childhood friend, but as Kili puts it, "things are a bit different now." She is, according to Sui herself, also his ex-girlfriend. Sui had confessed to Kili 3 times and dumped him 3 times. As of now, she has said that she is currently going out with 10 guys at the same time. Sui first appears at Kili's house but when she sees Elraine, Sui simply grins and walks away. Sui apparently stalks Kili looking to get into fights with people. Sui is a very skilled fighter, and her main weapon is a large metal hoop, similar to a hula-hoop, which she calls "Avis." It can be used for both offense and defense and can also be broken down into for sections for easy stowing. Sui is also heavily obsessed with cherries, which she eats on a constant basis. When it comes to fighting, Sui's blood "boils" with anticipation, to the point were she wants Kili and Elle to get attacked or hurt so she can fight. When Sui faced Fallan, she lost for the first time in her life, and quickly broke down. While she was crying over having lost, she acts like a little child, and cannot speak properly; Kili mentions that this was a side of her he had never seen before. A display to which Elraine calls her "cute yet scary at the same time." After losing to Fallan, Sui holds a strong grudge against him, and after her return, she can be seen provoking Fallan. Her most recent "attack" against him was purposely sneezing in his face.

Sui is also part of the Nagin race, described as the warrior race with the most valor and physical strength. She calls herself a "pure Nagin", implying that it was her source of strength and skill.

"Fallan Denzell" is a mysterious person recommended by Sister Martha whom Kili and Elrain are to visit in Deodradd, a nearby town. He is apparently a very skilled fighter and is feared by many. He also has many apprentices around the world, however he appears to have something of an eccentric personality, as his first line involves requesting a Children's meal at a Cafe, and ensuring it comes with full decoration. According to Fallan himself, all of the stories about him are untrue. When Elraine and Kili meet with him he tells them that he is not like what others think he is, and that he will not be able to be their bodyguard. He also had a strong commitment "not to protect anyone". His commitment to "not protect" didn't prevent him from assisting Kili's party in defeating the Gazelle's assassins, since he was targeted by Abro. However in his fight with Abro "the poison killer," it is revealed that he is incredibly strong, as he knocked Abro out in one punch to the head. Also many of the stories of Fallan may actually be true, just not in the way it that the rumors propose. For example, he didn't break the "supposedly strong steel capital gate" with his bare hand (it was rusted, and got broken (by chance) when he opened it), he also didn't defeat a bear with his kiai (he was hunting with someone else), and the rumor of him defeating 50 bandits is only incorrect in the number of bandits, which was actually 500. Supposedly, he is also hated by animals, as a cat and a dog both run away from him. Later, Kili asked him to train both of them (Kili and Elle) in a form of martial arts capable to be done by both of them. For this, he asked them to follow all of his instructions, and to let him take control of their money. For starters, he asked Kili and Elle to dance together (which Sui got a good laugh at), to see their compatibilities with each other and to put them in sync. He explained that since nobody had never done this before (practicing martial arts with hands held), they were creating a new form of martial arts, called Double arts. It is implied in Chapter 19 that Fallan is significantly older than appears to be.

econdary Characters

"Prophecy Woman" is the local fortune teller in Deodradd, and a friend of Mink. She is a heavy drunkard and has bottles all through out her office or apartment. She is seen drinking out of a large jug and also crushing Kiki in an embrace when he presents her a bottle for a gift. Her real name is unknown and she uses aliases frequently, Charlmery Gandra being an old one and "Tisera Gordon" as her current one. Her true purpose for this is unknown. She helped Kili and Elraine in their search for Fallan Denzell. Her skills are also apparently hit and miss at times; a sketch of Fallan she did was silly and unrealistic, but a quick drawing of herself wishing them luck is of great quality.

"Mink Luchile" is Kili's mother. She has the appearance of a young girl, so much so that Elraine initially mistook her for Kili's little sister. She is very talkative and kind and often jokes with Kili, asking if he's tried to "do anything" with Elraine or otherwise take advantage of their hand-holding situation. Mink accepts Elraine despite her having Troy.

"Urates Luchile" is Kili's Father. In contrast to his wife, he is large to the point of gigantic, and very quiet. He is shown to be kind-hearted, and is apparently a fantastic cook.

"Heime" is the current guard for the St. Aruru's church, not too far from Darme. Until Falzen arrives, he was protecting Elrain and Kili. However, he is currently injured from the attack by Zezu and in the hospital along with the other sisters.

isters

The Order of the Sisters is an organization that is comprised mostly of young women. Sisters are looking for a way to cure Troy, but until a cure can be found, a group of sisters slightly immune to Troy known as "Traveling Sisters" go from town to town temporarily healing people infected with Troy by an skill they learn called "drain." Drain allows a sister to absorb the patient's toxins from their body and take it upon themselves. This absorbing of toxins speeds up the process of Troy within a sister, and if a sister hits her limit, the seizures will overtake her, and she will disappear. A traveling sister may also opt to live longer and become a "Supporting Sister." There is also another division of the sisters that specializes in martial arts and protection against Gazelle. This division of sisters is known as "Militaire Sisters," and Falzen is the strongest group within the division. However, as of chapter 18, the entire Falzen Squad was wiped out by Lucci Zezu, save for Elle's Friend Andie Frau, who left the squad on order to escape her possible death and to protect Elle and Kili.

"Sister Hine (or "Heine")" is a sister that Kili and Elle ran into while in Deodradd. She is very up-beat and has a very informal way of speaking. Once an avid painter, Hine's parents died from Troy before a sister could arrive. She was then taken to the sister's headquarters and trained to become a sister. Although she herself became a sister, she despised sisters because they were too late to save her parents. However one day, she was having a bad day, and she had made it too late to save a family's grandchild, the family's gratitude for Hine even showing up changed her view of being a sister. After Elrain tells Hine to not give up on her dreams of painting, Hine finds out that after one or two more treatments, she will have seizures and disappear. After refusing to "retire" with Sister Chris's offer to become a supporting sister, Hine goes to a nearby house, and completes her final assignment. Upon finishing her "drain," Troy overtakes her and she begins to have seizures and disappear. As the seizures ensue, Hine then realizes that she wont be remembered when she dies, because she destroyed all her paintings. Kili and Elle arrive in time to save her. Immediately upon saving Hine, Elle grabs Hine's hand and uses "Drain" to absorb the Troy out of Hine, thereby increasing the amount to Troy within Elle's body. Having another two or three years left to live before her seizures return, Hine then resumes her passion of painting with an idea in mind (possibly something to do with Elle and Kili) She will also reduce the amount of people she heals to extend her life as much as possible. It is stated by the narrator (Elle) that Hine paints a picture in the future that makes her famous.

"Sister Martha" is one of possibly many higher ranking "retired" sisters whom support, oversee, and communicate with many of the sisters underneath them. She is Elrain's supervising sister. Martha is the one who apparently gave Elle the nickname "the while fairy." Whenever Elle forgets to call in, Martha tends to yell when she finally receives contact from Elle. She also has a tendency to blabble on the phone without giving the other side a chance to speak.

"Sister Chris" is Hine's supporting sister. She is also the sister that arrived too late to save Haine's parents. Chris then took Haine in and taught her to become a sister. Before hanging up for possibly the last time, sister Chris apologizes for arriving late that day and making her become a sister.

"Sister Rose" is the current head sister of St. Aruru's church. She is very generous, yet strong willed. She helps Kili and Elrain, and asks Heime to guard them. According to Sister Edda, another Sister at St. Aruru's church, Sister Rose is an excellent cook. She faced Zezu in combat to give Elraine and Kili time to escape, but Sister Rose and all other Sisters are severely injured, especially Edda, whom Kili held her hand to help keep her and Heime alive, using Flare to speed up the healing. She and the other St. Aruru sisters are recovering in the Turme hospital.

"Falzen Sister Andie Frau" is Elrain's best friend. They trained togeather in the Sister's Headquarters in the country of Naginzeria. Since their Time appart Andie has become a part of the Falzen Squad and is believed to be the sole survivor after Lucci Zezu's attack on their caravan.

Gazelle

Gazelle is an organization that is meant to keep Troy from being cured. They kill those that are immune to Troy as well as Sisters because they are in the way of their plans. Their true plans are currently unknown, but it has something to do with the people infected with Troy. Sisters have a way to "treat" it, which causes problems for Gazelle, especially if they can find a person like Kili who can't be infected with Troy. They refer to themselves as "missionaries," while others refer to them as "assassins."

"Lucci Zezu" is one of the leaders of the Gazelle, and is also one of the eleven original founders. Zezu has skills that are currently beyond any current characters and appears to have the ability of teleportation. He has an animal theme of crows. Zezu also seems to have a vested interest in Troy's continued existence, stating that those immune to them are eliminated first. He also seems to be familiar with Kili's ability, mentioning that only one person (implied that it's not Kili) is supposed to have it.

"Abro Liberica", also known as Abro the poison killer. He is known for having once killed 200 people in one night; he has murdered many civilians and sisters. Every time he kills, he poisons his victims first to let them suffer before he kills them. Although he was strong, he was knocked out in one punch from Fallan.

Races

In the world of Double Arts, there are described to be four major races that everyone is a part of. Only two of these races were described with a third race mentioned before the series ended.

"Nagin" is a warrior race. They are the largest of the races, and known for their valor and physical strength. Sui says that she is a "clear Nagin", or a "pureblood" Nagin, hence her immense fighting skills.

"Beiger" is a race of craftsmen. They are known for building and designing things all over the world. The race is first introduced when Kili and Elraine first visit Deodradd, a town that has more Beigers than Nanun. The center of Deodradd is also built over a river, which is implied due to the skill of the first Beigers who lived there. Kili may or may not be part of this race. When asked about it by Elraine, he and Sui refused to comment on the subject.

"Nanun" is a race that was only mentioned in passing when the Beigers were introduced at Deodradd. Details about the race are unknown and left to speculation.

Troy

The name of the plague that has haunted and devastated the people of the Double Arts world for years, Troy is a contagious, powerful and lethal illness with only one known treatment and no true cure.

The symptoms of Troy are at first relatively innocuous. When it enters into the terminal stages, however, symptoms become somewhat obvious. When the victim becomes rather obviously sick and ill, the victim is often nearing the end of his or her life. When the illness reaches its final stage, the victim begins to cough violently, and is wracked by seizures. As the seizures reach their climax, Troy's most infamous and feared effect ensues: the body of the victim begins to disappear. In a gradual process, the afflicted fades away until nothing but their clothes are left behind.

The only available salvation for a Troy victim is to seek the help of a Sister; young women with very high resistances to Troy, capable of temporarily "curing" other victims. Sisters, while not immune to the Troy toxin, are capable of withstanding much more of the poison than a regular person; while most can catch the plague from simply coming into contact with the afflicted, this does not seem true for Sisters. A Sister's job is to purify a Troy victim of the Troy toxin by drawing it into themselves, commonly known as "Drain," leaving the victim healthy and opaque. But in exchange, the Sister's own life is shortened: Sisters may be resistant, but not immune to the toxin, after absorbing a certain amount into themselves, they also experience the effects of the disease. Sisters are universally women: men have a weaker resistance to Troy, and as such never possess the extreme tolerance required for Sisterhood.

While well-known and feared, there seems to be little to no explanation as to the nature and origin of the plague. And, though it is a lethal disease with many similarities to a real-life plague, the world seems to be able to function normally thanks to the efforts of the Sisters. The heads of the Church vest much interest in finding a cure, and many hope Kili Luchile will lead them to it.

Manga Volumes and Chapters