Sorako

Summary:

GEN Manga is Indie Manga from the Tokyo Underground. GEN Manga was made to give fans an exclusive look at real doujinshi, otherwise known as indie manga, that they had heard about, but until now, unable to get their hands on. In its essence, doujinshi is manga traded among other manga artists. Manga for manga lovers!

Sorako lives an ordinary life. And this is an ordinary story. She has friends and family, loves her dog, thinks about life, and occasionally looks for work (kinda). These are the adventures into a typical girl's life.

"The new entry this time around is a short story called Sorako, by Fujimura Takayuki. It's a nice slice-of-life story about a twentysomething having doubts about her life situation. The plot is minimal, and is mostly about her lost dog, but I think that makes it even a little better. There's city living commentary, jobless commentary, and a whole lot of ordinary, but it makes for a great read. I think one-shot stories like this suit the format of Gen, and I'm happy to see something like this in its pages." -Slightly Biased Manga  (Summary and book cover courtesy of goodreads.com)

Review:

I am not extremely familiar with manga so I jumped on the opportunity to give this a shot when I saw it on NetGalley.  Unfortunately, I have to say I was a little underwhelmed, but that may be because I am not a connoisseur.  The story is a collection of short stories, but I the main character changed and I found that distracting.  Some stories are melancholy and capture indifference that comes with depression, while others are more upbeat.  I would have enjoyed the stories more if all the stories were a slice of life of a single character.

That being said, I did love the artwork and I do enjoy slice of life style stories.  I think they can be effective in forcing the reader to see a slightly different perspective.  The stories are certainly believable glimpses into contemporary lives and that was the main redeeming feature I enjoyed.

Please note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion courtesy of NetGalley. 

Rating: 3 stars!

Who should read it? Manga fans who are looking for a glimpse to everyday life in Japan