365 Days of Manga, Day 274: Solanin

SOLANIN • VIZ • Inio Asano • 16+
Meiko, a recent college grad who grew up in a small town, lives in an apartment in Tokyo with her boyfriend Naruo, a would-be musician. They love each other, but Meiko is tired of her dead-end office job, and Naruo, a normally considerate and gentle boyfriend, is starting to wonder whether his band–whose other members include an aging rebel and a down-to-earth otaku type–will ever be a success. As the working world slowly takes its toll on them, will their dreams, and their relationship, survive? Somewhere between Honey and Clover and Dance Till Tomorrow (without the sex), Solanin is a touching, melancholy story of people in their early 20s trying to balance love, survival and art. Someone once said that Japanese pop culture emphasizes the fleeting nature of youth in a way which American pop culture doesn’t, and Solanin captures that feeling perfectly–the good times with friends, the restlessness, and also the anxiety and fear (of turning into a corporate drone, of having to move back in with your parents, or of the worse things that life can bring). Asano includes a few moments of surrealism, a foreshadowing of his more fantastical manga like Nijigahara Holograph, but for the most part the story is slice-of-life, and the art is a gorgeously realistic in that manga style where cute, wide-faced characters (like Meiko on the cover art) inhabit photorealistic Tokyo backgrounds. The late-afternoon sun shining through the curtains, the sunset on the riverbank or the city lights at night, goes a long way to setting the mood. In his epilogue (original to the Viz edition), Asano says “I felt all I could do in my manga was try to get a true depiction of the time as experienced by my generation.” But it’s easy to say that, and hard to create such likeable characters and believable, page-turning situations. (Review by Jason Thompson; originally printed in Otaku USA.)
*** 1/2 (three and a half stars)
Today’s winner is William O. of Texas, who will soon be receiving five shockingly awesome manga!

We’re getting a lot of photos lately, which is awesome! Today’s two-time manga winner is Paul, who will shortly be receiving manga. (Not the same manga that William is getting. Truly, there is manga to be had in abundance.) Thanks for sending your photo!