You maybe wouldn't guess it, but Piece is as complex and intriguing as its title is plain and boring.
This is the story of a groReview of volumes 1 - 4
You maybe wouldn't guess it, but Piece is as complex and intriguing as its title is plain and boring.
This is the story of a group of young adults who reunite at the funeral of a former classmate. A quiet and unremarkable girl, most of them barely remember. The plot starts moving when the girl's, Haruka's, mother asks our main character Mizuho about the ex-boyfriend of her daughter. Not only would nobody expect Haruka to have a boyfriend in the first place, but even worse, she was actually pregnant with his child ... ?!
Thus starts Mizuho's and her friend's quest to put together the puzzle pieces of Haruka's - and consequently their own lives.
If the first volume maybe starts out rather unspectacular, within just a few volumes the series reaches an impressive level of depth and complexity, which truly sets it apart from your average manga series and even general YA literature.
It's always a great feeling when you can tell that an author has given his story a lot of thought and knows where it's going. And Ashihara is a great storyteller.
The story of this series twists and turns, while the characters and the readers try to put the pieces together. Just when you think you found the missing one, it turns out to not quite fit or else just makes you realize how many other pieces are still missing.
The cast of Piece is rather large, yet most of the characters are impressively complex. This series is about human relationships in all their diversity and complexity. Family, friendship, love. It's about finding yourself and changing yourself, yet also staying true to yourself. I love how the story at times promotes a kind of individuality that doesn't equal selfishness. The main characters, but also the side characters pretty much all have their own story. And sometimes, these fit together and overlap in ways you wouldn't expect.
There are so many beautiful scenes and quotes I want to add once an official English version is out. I'm really glad it's being translated into a few other languages (French, Italian, German ...) and hope it sells well enough.
So, not only has Ashihara thought the story through and created endearing characters, she's also very skilled when it comes to present all this in a visually striking way. No panel feels wasted. Not to mention that I find her sense of humor hilarious and her SD characters and funny faces are adorable.
Basically, I've got almost nothing to criticize about this series. One character feels a bit too over the top, maybe more so because the others are all pretty realistic. Looking forward to seeing how this will develop.
If you're looking for a girls' manga that is not exclusively or even primarily about romance, that deals in a mature way with human emotions, relationships, growing up and that has an intriguing mystery to boot, you can pick up Piece without hesitation. Also a great choice for anybody who's not a regular manga reader and wants to see what the medium is capable of....more
Wandering Son starts with a group of elementary school children. One boy among them wants to be a girl, and one girl among them wants to be a boy.
So fWandering Son starts with a group of elementary school children. One boy among them wants to be a girl, and one girl among them wants to be a boy.
So far so good. It's definitely a unique subject and Shimura seems to be a talented storyteller. The art is quite basic, Shimura herself says as much, yet at the same time manages to be touching.
After only one volume I can't say too much about the characters. They feel a bit too mature for small children, but that's certainly better than having annoying brats, and overall they're interesting enough to keep me reading, which is already something. Actually so far, more than the issues of Shuichi and Yoshino, I enjoyed the sibling relationship between Shuichi and his sister Maho. That this series doesn't suffer from "absent parents syndrome" is another plus.
What I'm having problems with though, is the fact that "wanting to be a girl" for now simply means "liking cute dresses, long hair and knitting", while a girl that likes pants and short hair is the same as a girl wanting to become a boy?
Maybe it's because the characters are still so young and at that age there isn't really all that much that defines us as "boys" and "girls" apart from those gender roles based on social expectations?
In any case, since there are actually so many boys and girls that don't correspond to these gender stereotypes ... it feels like there has to be more. To put it differently, somehow, if this is only about clothes and hobbies, I'm not sure Yoshino or Shuichi really know the meaning of "boy" and "girl"?
So, yea, I'm very interested in seeing how this story will develop.
If you want to try a coming-of-age manga series that is different from the masses, Wandering Son is worth a try....more
Twin Spica is a touching story about growing up and pursuing your dream.
For the characters in this one, the dream in question Review for volumes 1 - 4
Twin Spica is a touching story about growing up and pursuing your dream.
For the characters in this one, the dream in question is to become an astronaut, but you can really replace it with anything else you're passionate about, because the emotions and struggles depicted here are universal. And even if you don't care much about outer space, the many images of starry skies and planets are always beautiful to look at.
For me the series has a very calming atmosphere, with some dramatic and sad scenes interspersed regularly. It probably qualifies as magical realism, since there are apparently real ghosts, and it is also extremely realistic Science Fiction. After 4 volumes we're still at the beginning of the story, so there isn't all that much to say. We're still getting to know the characters and their diverse, often tragic backgrounds and I enjoy their interactions and their complexity which is gradually being revealed.
The art is, well, cute, I guess. It makes Twin Spica look like a children's story, but actually the series is aimed at adults. It's not really my favorite style (even though Asumi as a child is simply adorable), but works rather well with this story. From a technical point of view it sometimes looks a bit weird, but I'm impressed by the way the author can use light and shadow to emphasize important and emotional scenes. His large panel drawings are usually very pretty.
In general, Twin Spica is a completely character-driven work. Of course, they take their classes and tests preparing them to become astronauts, but the main focus is really on the characters and their everyday lives (and pasts). It is a calm but extremely well done Slice-of-Life series that can turn tragic at times (some episodes are heart-breaking). There is a story to tell with interesting characters and things actually happen. Not in terms of big action, but of character development. It's just a mostly realistic and down-to-earth story. So if you like these, Twin Spica is definitely worth picking up. It's also interesting if you want to see what an ＾adult manga￣ free of any clich└s looks like. I'm looking forward to the next volumes and to seeing which direction the story will take....more
![となりの講麗くん 1 [Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun 1]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1365071479l/6692627._SX50_.jpg)
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