The lack of reviews this has and the fact that I would like to exteriorize all my thoughts about the manga I just read is the main motivator for my following words. So might as well write them.
As an Aka Akasaka fangirl, I had already stumbled upon Yokoyari's drawings on Oshi No Ko. Since I started drawing classes not a long time ago, my teacher asked me to pick a mangaka's style to reference and practice, so I picked this woman's style, since I liked it quite a lot and it isn't utterly detailed and complex as other mangakas whose drawing style I really like ... (eg: Q Hayashida, Yuji Kaku, Kentaro Miura, the list goes on). This attempt at "reasarch" I was doing to develop my own drawing abilities, and the fact that I knew she had works written by her (and wanted to see what she has to offer in that regard), were the main motivators why I picked this up.
So well, first, it's a collection of short stories. As it tends to be with these kinds of collections, some stories are a lot better than others. They delve about love, sex (I wasn't expecting this much sex coming from her), human relationships and deception. I will list them all and give my thoughts on each of them, as well as my rating.
1. Hagane no Kokoro
Typical story about cheating and marriage. Nothing groundbreaking nor very interesting here, this could be pretty much be a side story of a dorama or a telenovela for all I care. Though I'll say the twisted perception of desire that the protagonist has is compelling.
5/10
2. Neo Dutch Wife
This was... something. Even though the subject matter is quite disgusting and hard to read, it deals with something that affects A LOT of young people nowadays (I'll say this situation is pretty Japan coded, but the fact that I, a girl from latinamerica, has met boys who view women and sex in exactly the same way as the protagonist, does says something about media and our own escapists ways of proyecting our sexual desires). I'm glad the story does acknowledge how problematic (and common) this actions are, specially within mangakas themselves. It's strange, and very disgusting at times, but it works.
7.5/10
3. Stand By You
This one is also something. I like how it talks about protection in sex, and even though it's also pretty dark and twisted while dealing with VERY serious issues (and the ending is bittersweet, to say the least), I do think it does manage to make some interesting points about devotion and how people project happiness and liberation on sex, even though that liberation may not be healthy for you if you analize it correctly.
7.5/10
4. "Kawaii"
Got HUGE OnK vibes from this one, now I get why Akasaka is working with her. Also a bittersweet one, but it does deal with a very interesting topic on Japanese society and the line of work that it represents. I like how it gives agency towards a protagonists that is trapped in a line of work usually considered degrading to women, and how she deals with all the positives and the negatives that it all implies. A pretty current subject if you ask me, mostly with all the OnlyFans craze. This is one of the few stories that has cute scenes, so I'll give them that.
8/10
5. Ipponbana
Wow.
The most different story of them all, and for good reason. Has some sapphic vibes engrained in it, which I really appreciated. Very interesting chemistry and interactions between the protagonists, deals with heavy subjects and I like how it handles the fact that some persons impact our life hugely even if they aren't with us anymore, that hit me. Extremely sad, but quite deep and poetic. Loved this one, read it!!
10/10
6. Koi wa Zenkei Shisei
This one is so short that when I first finished I had to read it again because I didn't understood a thing. In retrospect, it's quite intense but funny, if this is a parody on the isekai subgenre, it's actually a pretty good one. It's quite bizarre and a little out of place compared to the rest, but I ended up liking it's short intensity.
7/10
7. Namu Amidaisuki
Interesting one, also the one I feel most unsure about. Realistic in some ways, the relationship reminds me of Nana Komatsu and Takumi's toxic dynamic in Ai Yazawa's Nana. Though I'm still confused if the own toxicity of the relationship is endorsed or not, that may be the main reason why this story makes noise in my head. Still fine I'll say.
6/10
The art is great, I really like how homogeneous the style of this woman is and how she uses the hair and eyes to convey emotions the character's emotions. With how mundane most settings are, she does a great job to do something with that.
So well, I'm going to say this I quite liked this! Not every story is great, but I was actually very surprised with how dark and heavy some of them are and the topics most of them touch. They actually gave me Inio Asano vibes, which I'm not pretty sure if it's good or bad lmao (considering I like Asano it might as well be).
This made me find out that Yokoyari is actually an ecchi artist, and considering my uneasy history with sex portayal in manga and anime (specially because of it's huge issues with sexism and the male-gaze), I'm still trying to sit through that. Even though my western brain still has some issues with how sex and relationships are represented in Japanese media, this may be one of the few times I'm actually interested in the view the author has about explicit situations (even if it can get very twisted at times). I read somewhere that Mengo said that she tries that her stories, despite being erotic, are actually to be enjoyed by men or women alike, and I'm actually very glad for that!
I do think some of this stories may have benefited of more pages and development, but I'll still take them despite how short some of them are.
Would recommend it, but mostly if you're already into manga and have read seinen before. Will probably read more by her in the near future.
Alternative TitlesSynonyms: Hagane no Kokoro, Neo Dutch Wife, Stand By You, "Kawaii", Ipponbana, Koi wa Zenkei Shisei, Namu Amidaisuki Japanese: 一生好きってゆったじゃん InformationType: Manga Volumes: 1 Chapters: 7 Status: Finished Published: May 30, 2018 to Feb 17, 2020 Demographic: Seinen Serialization: Big Comic Spirits Authors: Yokoyari, Mengo (Story & Art) StatisticsScore: 6.431 (scored by 1,238 users) 1 indicates a . Ranked: #164912 2 based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #6335 Members: 3,074 Favorites: 12 |
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