Volumes: 6/6 (Complete)
Shoujo/Seinen (reads like)
Genre: Family, Friendship, Romance, Dreams
Summary: Shino is a normal high school girl who's pretty content with life with the exception of one thing- her shut-in older brother, Tamotsu. Tamotsu is the family embarrassment, a middle school drop out who has been hiding out in his room from the world for four long years. It’s to the point where she lies to her friends and tells them she’s an only child and makes excuses for why they can never visit her house. But one night while Shino is fighting with their father, Tamotsu comes out of his room and says he’s going to try and get out more.
As Tamotsu struggles to rejoin society, his sister Shino ends up reluctantly supporting him as he tries to get a job, make friends, and even date. Can their family become whole again? Can Tamotsu make up those lost years of crucial life experiences? Can Shino find her own happiness?
Review: This is such an unusual series in a lot of ways. For starters, there’s two main characters who both take turns being the narrator of the story. When it’s Shino, it reads more like Shoujo, being about a high school girl’s life. When it’s Tamotsu, it reads closer to Seinen being about a college aged guy. But it works because the stories are all connected.
Also surprisingly, the series is really packed dense with content, and yet it doesn’t feel rushed at all. Somehow these 6 volumes cover a lot of ground, more than a year in the story. Every chapter past the first volume or so has something major happen. Compared to a normal manga this manga plot would normally be at least 8-10 volumes, but it’s like there’s zero filler, which creates a very intense story.
Shino’s story is about learning to let down her guard and trust others and be more genuine to herself and what she wants out of life. She also comes to realize that she isn’t the only one struggling in life, that also her brother, her parents, and her best friend have been too. She really grows as a person and starts to pursue her dreams.
Tamotsu’s story is about a former shut-in with almost nothing- no job skills, no social skills, no friends- then suddenly trying to be outside in the real world trying to turn his life around with only his sister’s support. That and his favorite manga that inspires him, Ashita no Joe. And he has a dream of his own, too.
Recommended: It’s a really underrated series that really ought to be way more popular. It starts off a little sluggish, but quickly picks up and becomes a really heartfelt story. Anyway it’s a weird genre mix between Shoujo and Seinen, but it does lean a bit more towards Shoujo, I’d say. Also the cover art is super colorful, but the inside artwork looks much more normal.
Age Rating: Older Teen for one very sexy encounter, but the rest is teen appropriate
No comments:
Post a Comment