Review: Solanin

Kiriska — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 22:21:46 +0000

It’s always hard to ignore a title after someone writes an excellent post about it, but Solanin is also a highly attractive two volumes in length — perfect for my limited time and short attention span. And I guess there was also some masochistic curiosity to it because I knew Solanin would be painful to read. It’s about post-college life. It’s about life in general. It’s about still growing up even after you thought you’d already done so. And it hits very close to home.

Here is the review, and here is the MAL mirror.

Reading it was very hard in the beginning. Sixteen pages in and I could already relate absurdly well with both Meiko and Taneda, and hell, all their friends as well. It was depressing, but it got easier the further I progressed because they became their own people, rather than just ghostly representations of myself and people I knew. The story is how they choose to live their own lives, one path in a forest of many. Theirs aren’t the best choice, nor the worst. It isn’t an answer, but it’s there. Highly recommend.

Review: Bitter Virgin

Kiriska — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:01:27 +0000

A few nights ago, I asked for recommendations of “the most heart-wrenchingly adorable shoujo manga ever.” I was recommended Bitter Virgin and Usagi Drop, though I don’t think either of those are actually shoujo (the former claims to be seinen and the latter is josei), but ah well. I went with Bitter Virgin because it was shorter and finished rather than ongoing, though it only fit the “heart-wrenching” part of the request and not the “adorable” part. I’ll probably still end up checking Usagi Drop eventually, but for now:

Here is the review! (MAL mirror is here.)

Opinion Prone » seinen

Review: Solanin

Review: Bitter Virgin