Wednesday
Jul012009
Manga Review - The Kids Are All Right
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 09:14PM
I want to bring two recent mangas together in one review, since I feel they have some kinship. The first is Usagi Drop. Here is my back of the book summary.
The second is Orange Yane no Chiisana Ie, or Little House with the Orange Roof. Again, quick synopsis, this one ripped off a web page since I can't be bothered to look up everyones name right now:
(LDK=Living room, Dining room, Kitchen, a common style of house in Japan. And now you know!)
Side by side, the similarities are not obvious. But then, if they were, I wouldn't have to blog about it, huh?
Style wise, the thing that first made me connect the two is a very simplistic style. Most panels are missing major background detail, preferring to lead with a set piece rather than fill each panel with activity. The other thing is that both stories are dependent on a child's perspective. In Usagi Drop, it's obvious. Daikichi, the new dad, is having his world view readjusted thanks to an independent thinking pre-schooler. Orange (as I will now call it) doesn't have to focus on the kids, but for the most part it does. The typical plotline that involves two recently single people forced to live together is there, but they add to that two pairs of kids, one middle school and one pre-school. These pairs take on the traits of the adult's relationship that they both try to hide - the older kids are openly hostile and resentful, and the younger kids are best friends and instant partners. Through the kids, you see what the result of each action the adults could take would be in raw emotional form. In fact, both these manga look through the world with the eyes of children so much, I came to this conclusion:
I'm reading kid's manga.
I honestly think these are aimed at kids, Usagi Drop especially. The humor is definitely kid level, and the kids definitely lead the narrative while the adults get swept up in their actions. And given the fact that I find a humor and depth to these stories that you won't find on American Saturday Morning, I have to also conclude that Japanese kids are way more sophisticated than American kids, Pokemon not withstanding. It's also a welcome break from High School fanservice dramas, quite the pallet cleanser. Check them out.
Daikichi returns home to attend his grandfathers funeral, only to discover a young girl hanging around the house. This shy urchin is introduced as the 5 year old daughter of his grandfather! When the family argues about who should take responsibility for Rin, single working stiff Daikichi make a snap decision that he will take Rin home with him since no one else seems capable of seeing her as a person. But is he ready to be a father overnight?
The second is Orange Yane no Chiisana Ie, or Little House with the Orange Roof. Again, quick synopsis, this one ripped off a web page since I can't be bothered to look up everyones name right now:
A man comes home one day to have his wife give him divorce papers. A woman comes home to her apartment one day to find a woman she doesn’t know wrapped in a towel coming out of the shower. They both get conned by the same real estate conman on the same house, a 4LDK. So now the man, his two sons, the woman, and her two daughters live in the same house.
(LDK=Living room, Dining room, Kitchen, a common style of house in Japan. And now you know!)
Side by side, the similarities are not obvious. But then, if they were, I wouldn't have to blog about it, huh?
Style wise, the thing that first made me connect the two is a very simplistic style. Most panels are missing major background detail, preferring to lead with a set piece rather than fill each panel with activity. The other thing is that both stories are dependent on a child's perspective. In Usagi Drop, it's obvious. Daikichi, the new dad, is having his world view readjusted thanks to an independent thinking pre-schooler. Orange (as I will now call it) doesn't have to focus on the kids, but for the most part it does. The typical plotline that involves two recently single people forced to live together is there, but they add to that two pairs of kids, one middle school and one pre-school. These pairs take on the traits of the adult's relationship that they both try to hide - the older kids are openly hostile and resentful, and the younger kids are best friends and instant partners. Through the kids, you see what the result of each action the adults could take would be in raw emotional form. In fact, both these manga look through the world with the eyes of children so much, I came to this conclusion:
I'm reading kid's manga.
I honestly think these are aimed at kids, Usagi Drop especially. The humor is definitely kid level, and the kids definitely lead the narrative while the adults get swept up in their actions. And given the fact that I find a humor and depth to these stories that you won't find on American Saturday Morning, I have to also conclude that Japanese kids are way more sophisticated than American kids, Pokemon not withstanding. It's also a welcome break from High School fanservice dramas, quite the pallet cleanser. Check them out.
Reader Comments (16)
Hello, can you please post some more information on this topic? I would like to read more.
I'm reading the French edition of "Usagi Drop", which is called "Un drôle de Père" ("A strange kind of father") and it's currently one of my favourite series for its dry style and understated humor and for the well-observed situations.
http://www.akata.fr/manga.php?id=90&vol=1
One thing, though: "Usagi Drop" is not a kids' manga, it's a manga about kids and parents (or rather: about parenting). It runs in "Feel Young", which according to Wikipedia is a monthly Josei magazine. That means the series is primarily aimed at (young) adult women. I also wouldn't say that the kids lead the narrative. They are definitely the source of most of what's going on, but everything is told from the parents' perspective (you only get to see Daikichi's inner monologues, not Rin's).
I was struck by how simplistic the themes of this manga were, at least compared to the over the top themes in other books. Not that that's a bad thing, it's a joy to see people deal with real life once in awhile. From that, I believe this is a story a child would relate to, given that most of the themes are focused on worries and dreams a child would have.
That being said, I bet a mother or father, or even an older sibling could relate to these themes just as well, so I'm gonna agree that this is far from a "kids only" story.
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