:Qualia the Purple
{{Short description|Japanese light novel and manga}}
{{Infobox animanga/Header
| image = Qualia the Purple Cover.png
| caption = Cover of the light novel's English edition, featuring Marii Yukari and Manabu "Gaku" Hatou (reflected in eyes)
| ja_kanji = 紫色のクオリア
| ja_romaji = Murasakiiro no Qualia
| genre = Yuri
Science fiction
Romance{{Cite web |title=Qualia the Purple (Light Novel) |url=https://sevenseasentertainment.com/series/qualia-the-purple-light-novel/ |website=Seven Seas Entertainment |access-date=2023-02-14 |archive-date=2023-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230214033247/https://sevenseasentertainment.com/series/qualia-the-purple-light-novel/ |url-status=live }}
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Print
| type = light novel
| author = {{Ill|Hisamitsu Ueo|ja|うえお久光}}
| illustrator = {{Ill|Shirou Tsunashima|ja|綱島志朗}}{{Cite web |title=Qualia the Purple LN |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/qualia-the-purple/ln/.193140 |access-date=2023-02-14 |website=Anime News Network |language=en |archive-date=2023-01-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129181613/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/qualia-the-purple/ln/.193140 |url-status=live }}
| publisher = ASCII Media Works
| publisher_en = {{English manga publisher|NA=Seven Seas Entertainment}}
| imprint = Dengeki Bunko
| published = July 10, 2009
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Print
| type = manga
| author = {{Ill|Hisamitsu Ueo|ja|うえお久光}} (original story)
| illustrator = {{Ill|Shirou Tsunashima|ja|綱島志朗}}
| publisher = ASCII Media Works{{Cite book |title=紫色のクオリア(1) (電撃コミックス) |id={{ASIN|4048864122|country=jp}} }}
| publisher_en = {{English manga publisher|NA=Seven Seas Entertainment}}
| demographic = Shōnen
| magazine = Dengeki Daioh
| first = January 27, 2011
| last = August 27, 2013
| volumes = 3
| volume_list = #Manga_volume_list
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Footer}}
{{Nihongo|Qualia the Purple|紫色のクオリア|Murasakiiro no Qualia}} is a yuri science fiction light novel written by {{Ill|Hisamitsu Ueo|ja|うえお久光}} and illustrated by {{Ill|Shirou Tsunashima|ja|綱島志朗}}. It was first published in Japan by ASCII Media Works under the Dengeki Bunko imprint on July 10, 2009. A manga adaptation, drawn by Tsunashima, was serialized in Dengeki Daioh starting on January 27, 2011, and published in Japan in a total of three tankōbon volumes. Both the novel and its manga adaptation are licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment for publication in North America.{{Cite web |last=Saabedra |first=Humberto |title=Seven Seas Announces Qualia The Purple And More Titles |url=https://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2022/02/10-1/seven-seas-announces-qualia-the-purple-and-more-titles |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=Crunchyroll |language=en-us |archive-date=2023-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123091619/https://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2022/02/10-1/seven-seas-announces-qualia-the-purple-and-more-titles |url-status=live }}
Premise
Marii Yukari, a junior high school student possesses purple eyes via which she perceives all humans as robots. She has only a single friend, Manabu "Gaku" Hatou. Marii is enlisted into a secret organization that wants to take advantage of her powers, and becomes involved in a series of dangerous science experiments whose consequences ultimately force Gaku to make a difficult choice.
Publication
Qualia the Purple was written by {{Ill|Hisamitsu Ueo|ja|うえお久光}} with illustrations provided by {{Ill|Shirou Tsunashima|ja|綱島志朗}}, and first published in Japan by ASCII Media Works as a Dengeki Bunko title on July 10, 2009.{{Cite web |date= |title=電撃ドットコム > 電撃文庫＆電撃文庫MAGAZINE > 新刊情報 |url=http://dengekibunko.dengeki.com/new/index.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090713084618/http://dengekibunko.dengeki.com/new/index.php |archive-date=2009-07-13 |access-date=2023-02-14 |website=dengeki.com}}{{Cite book |title=紫色のクオリア (電撃文庫) |id={{ASIN|404867904X|country=jp}} }} A manga adaptation, drawn by Tsunashima, was serialized in Dengeki Daioh from January 27, 2011,{{Cite web |title=「紫色のクオリア」大王でコミカライズ、描き手は綱島志朗 |url=https://natalie.mu/comic/news/44113 |access-date=2023-02-14 |website=コミックナタリー |language=ja |archive-date=2023-01-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128060950/https://natalie.mu/comic/news/44113 |url-status=live }} and was published in a total of three volumes. In February 2022, Seven Seas Entertainment announced that they had licensed both the light novel and manga for publication in the English language within North America, and released the novel's English version on December 13, 2022.{{Cite web |title=North American Anime, Manga Releases, December 11-17 |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2022-12-15/north-american-anime-manga-releases-december-11-17/.192892 |access-date=2023-02-14 |website=Anime News Network |language=en |archive-date=2023-01-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230120105456/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2022-12-15/north-american-anime-manga-releases-december-11-17/.192892 |url-status=live }} The manga's English version, which will be published in a single omnibus edition volume as Qualia the Purple: The Complete Manga Collection, is slated for publication on June 13, 2023.{{Cite web |last=Moo |first=William |date=2022-02-10 |title=Seven Seas Licenses Qualia The Purple Light Novel, BARBARITIES, Die Even More Valiantly, & LES MISÉRABLES Manga |url=https://anitrendz.net/news/2022/02/10/seven-seas-licenses-qualia-the-purple-light-novel-barbarities-die-even-more-valiantly-les-miserables-manga/ |access-date=2023-02-14 |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123091810/https://anitrendz.net/news/2022/02/10/seven-seas-licenses-qualia-the-purple-light-novel-barbarities-die-even-more-valiantly-les-miserables-manga/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Series: Qualia the Purple: The Complete Manga Collection |url=https://sevenseasentertainment.com/series/qualia-the-purple-the-complete-manga-collection/ |website=Seven Seas Entertainment |access-date=2023-02-14 |archive-date=2023-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230214033247/https://sevenseasentertainment.com/series/qualia-the-purple-the-complete-manga-collection/ |url-status=live }}
= Manga volume list =
{{Graphic novel list/header
| OneLanguage = yes
| Width = 70%
| LineColor = 8d53a0
}}
{{Graphic novel list
| VolumeNumber = 1
| RelDate = February 27, 2012{{cite web|url=https://www.kadokawa.co.jp/product/201111000628/|title=紫色のクオリア（１）|website=Kadokawa|access-date=February 13, 2023|archive-date=May 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520225551/https://www.kadokawa.co.jp/product/201111000628/|url-status=live}}
| ISBN = 9784048864121
}}
{{Graphic novel list
| VolumeNumber = 2
| RelDate = November 27, 2012{{cite web|url=https://www.kadokawa.co.jp/product/311782200000/|title=紫色のクオリア（２）|website=Kadokawa|access-date=February 13, 2023|archive-date=May 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220518012118/https://www.kadokawa.co.jp/product/311782200000/|url-status=live}}
| ISBN = 9784048911870
}}
{{Graphic novel list
| VolumeNumber = 3
| RelDate = October 26, 2013{{cite web|url=https://www.kadokawa.co.jp/product/311938500000/|title=紫色のクオリア（３）|website=Kadokawa|access-date=February 13, 2023|archive-date=August 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220813153340/https://www.kadokawa.co.jp/product/311938500000|url-status=live}}
| ISBN = 9784048660129
}}
{{Graphic novel list/footer}}
Reception
Reviewing Qualia the Purple for Anime News Network, Christopher Farris generally praised the plot, characters, and science fiction elements of the story, and opined that the novel would work best if one went into the story knowing as little as possible about its plot twists. Farris described the early chapters of the story as "fun in an inoffensive way," and characterized it as deliberately light in tone in order to make readers more comfortable prior to its more serious plot developments. While Farris said that he greatly enjoyed the story overall, he felt that the "dense" descriptions of theoretical quantum physics topics (which he said could necessitate frequent rereading for some), and some darker turns later in the narrative, could alienate certain readers. Regarding the yuri components of the story, he said that they were not introduced in a manner that readers would anticipate (another factor he perceived as potentially alienating) but nonetheless said that this element of the story was effective and felt that it included "one of the most heartwarming, romantic applications of quantum physics you've yet seen." Farris also praised the English version and its prose, which he said "reads very well."{{Cite web |title=Qualia the Purple LN |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/qualia-the-purple/ln/.193140 |access-date=2023-02-14 |website=Anime News Network |language=en |archive-date=2023-01-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129181613/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/qualia-the-purple/ln/.193140 |url-status=live }}
Maria Remivoza of CBR included the Qualia the Purple manga on a list of "10 Best Underrated Sci-Fi Manga".{{Cite web |last=Remizova |first=Maria |date=2022-10-02 |title=10 Best Underrated Sci-Fi Manga, Ranked |url=https://www.cbr.com/best-underrated-sci-fi-manga-ranked/ |access-date=2023-02-14 |website=CBR |language=en |archive-date=2023-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123091810/https://www.cbr.com/best-underrated-sci-fi-manga-ranked/ |url-status=live }} David Heath of Game Rant included Qualia in a list of "best" science fiction light novels that did not yet have an anime adaptation.{{Cite web |last=Heath |first=David |date=2022-11-21 |title=8 Best Sci-Fi Light Novels With No Anime Adaptations |url=https://gamerant.com/best-scifi-light-novels-without-anime-adaptation/ |access-date=2023-02-14 |website=Game Rant |language=en |archive-date=2023-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123091809/https://gamerant.com/best-scifi-light-novels-without-anime-adaptation/ |url-status=live }} Discussing the manga, Tito W. James of Comicon commended the ability of the narrative to "ground high concept quantum mechanics and philosophy in grounded, believable human emotion" and said that Qualia deserved an anime adaptation.{{Cite web |last=James |first=Tito W. |date=2017-12-18 |title=Love Transcends Time And Space In Qualia The Purple |url=https://www.comicon.com/2017/12/18/love-transcends-time-and-space-in-qualia-the-purple/ |access-date=2023-02-14 |website=COMICON |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123091801/https://www.comicon.com/2017/12/18/love-transcends-time-and-space-in-qualia-the-purple/ |url-status=live }}
References
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