Read up to ch 13:
It... It was... I have no words. I just realized I read 13 chapters.
I got glued to it on the first chapter. The drawings are amazing. They're just normal people. Some have misaligned eyes, a longer nose, a tiny chin, all are normal people. I like that, I like that a lot.
The characters are not only drawn like humans, but they talk like them too. The girl truly wanted to know Fujii, she truly wanted to understand him. You also see the moment when she thinks "Yeah. This is the guy" and takes him to eat.
You see Fujii having fun his own way, trying to understand things. Complicated things, new things, foreign things, personal things.
All characters feel alive. The backgrounds are spotless too. Not too many people, not too many buildings, not too many clutter, just enough. There's people attending the seminar, all with their details. There's furtinure in the background as the characters eat, every piece has a place, but it doesn't overstay it's welcome.
It's simple, but also profound, like Fujii. You can get a surface level "feel" of things, and you know Fujii feels that, because he's in a sense, shallow.
As you grow older you start understanding the importance of day to day conversations. "What did you do last week?" "What did you eat yesterday?" "Did you see the game last night?" "I heard there's a new movie coming up". It's all common, no world ending, no life changing, and yet, it's important. Human beings get to know eachother by talking and spending time together. And in all their time together, the woman noticed, understood and accepted that Fujii simply wasn't what she was searching for in a relationship, and it was part of her fault too, because at the beginning, she also didn't know what she liked either.
She tried doing everything herself, but eventually realized that no relationship moves by one side doing all, and Fujii just wouldn't catch her clues. Not because he hated her or anything, but because for Fujii, everything was new and foreign. His first beer, his first sake, his first girlfriend, his first year at uni. With it also came questioning things he never questioned before. What's his favorite food? What's his least favorite food? Does he like this girl? And if yes, HOW much does he like her? Why can't he like multiple people?
It's normal questions of a normal man of normal times living a normal life, and that's because it's important. That's because it has sense. When the story is so mundane, you can truly appreciate every little thing.
I feel like I could just re read all these 13 chapters over and over and still marvel at the depth of dialogue, scenery and message that's just there for you to interpret. Not to invent (I'm looking at you, person that defends the ending of CSM and JJK).
I liked this. I truly, truly liked this. It felt personal, it felt real, it felt purposeful, it felt home made, like a warm plate of soup. And it came in a time of my life in wich I had been starting to distance myself from manga. This made me remember why I love manga. I love it.
Thank you for reading. Much regards, A.D.
