A, A Prime is a Japanese manga anthology of short stories written and illustrated by Moto Hagio. Originally spelled A, A′, it was first published in November 1984 by Shogakukan and brings together three science fiction stories published between 1981 and 1984. In addition to the titular short story which appeared in Akita Shoten's Princess, the anthology includes "4/4 [Quatre-Quarts]" and "X+Y"—both of which were serialized in the Shogakukan magazine Petit Flower. English translations of the stories, which first appeared separately in Viz Media's Manga Vizion from 1995 to 1996, were collected by the publisher in 1997.
The anthology deals with gender, with the androgyny and ambiguity typical of Hagio's characters, as well as identity and memory. Gender and sexuality are explored most prominently in "X+Y", which features a young man who learns that he is intersex, gender fluidity and transition, and a gay relationship. The story won the 1985 Seiun Best Comic Award, and its English-language version was praised for its artwork and emotion. It is also regarded as having introduced gender-bending to the manga genre.
Plot
Set in a shared futuristic universe, "4/4" and "X+Y" were published in Shogakukan's Petit Flower—the former in November 1983, and the latter in two parts in July and August 1984. A containing the three stories was republished three times by Shogakukan: on August 30, 1995, as part of the SF Masterpiece Collection, on August 9, 2003, in format and on August 25, 2014, in EPUB format.
The English version of the stories appeared in the Viz Media magazine Manga Vizion: "A, A Prime" in April and May 1995, "4/4" in July and August and "X+Y" in four installments from October 1995 to January 1996. Viz Media published the anthology as a graphic novel in October 1997. However, anthropologist Rachel Thorn commented the Unicorns are the "eccentrics", a common feature in Hagio's works.
Although the cover says that "X+Y" discusses gender and sexual identity, Former Viz editor Shaenon K. Garrity said that it "is really about identity in all its forms: sexual identity, gender identity, cloning, lost memories, blocked emotions", and emotional isolation.<!-- note the "(SG)" in the end --> Manga Bookshelf's Katherine Dacey wrote: "One of [its] most striking themes is the relationship between memory and identity", demonstrated by "A, A Prime" and the character of Tacto.
In the Comics Journal, Rob Vollmar wrote that Hagio gives "4/4" and "X+Y" a shōnen-ai beat and explores gender ambiguity; in "4/4" Mori is depicted as hyper-emotional, and Trill (a woman) has no feelings. Vollmar also highlighted the androgyny of "A, A Primes main characters, noting that Mori and Trill are even more androgynous. In "X+Y", "[The] muted sense of gender identity that is kept to the sub-textual level in '4/4' is transformed into the central conceit ... Hagio effectively scrambles gender awareness until little is left by which to prejudge the dynamic growth of the characters but the result. The resolution of the conflict, then, lies not in whether Mori will overcome his heterosexuality to recognize his biological resonance with the presumably male Tacto, but whether Tacto can remember and thus overcome his childhood experiences in order to accept love from anyone." According to Vollmar, the problems raised by Hagio are not only romantic but "thorny moral and ethical questions". Michelle Smith called it the weakest of the three stories.
Describing the anthology as a "flawless jewel of science fiction", Shaenon K. Garrity called it an emotional work which touched her deeply: "Because of A, A Prime, I discovered that this art form could do more than I'd imagined—not just tell ambitious stories, which I already knew from reading Sandman and Bone and Watchmen, but tell them with passion, in lines drawn from nerve endings, using every weapon in the artist's arsenal to not just dazzle the mind, but stab straight to the heart."