Reviews

Sketchy 1 by Makihirochi

Only show reviews with written explanations

yellowbinge's review

hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

The book as a meal: I went out with my friends today and got some street food, it was crispy, salty, and delicious

The book left me: Feeling very much called out, this hit a little too close to home :--(

Why did this call out to me?

I want to get back into reading mangas, s I used to be an avid lurker on the free manga sites. So why not pick up the one manga that is very much a photocopy of my life?

Pick-up-able? Put-down-able?

Pick-up-able, binged it in one go. Already looking very much forward to reading the next volume.

Issues:

Formatting of the first few pages seems broken, but it is probably intended for a physical copy

Good things:

Shows different variants of the same type of story

Rep for girls with a different kind of hobby :--)

How did it feel to read?

It felt like a hug. I was right at home in this story. Empowering, freeing, very much what I needed in this moment

What mood would I read this in?

I would read this either before or after my psychiatrist appointment. As the theme is usually "how come you didn't have many friends in school", because I didn't fit in :--(

Where does this fall in my tier list ranking?

This is a good ole' A tier. Great and comforting read, will recommend to my other girlies

Content Warnings

I quite liked Makihirochi's other work, Is Kichijoji The Only Place To Live? so when I saw Sketchy pop up on NetGalley I went and requested it quickly! Hirochi has a great understanding and ease of communicating just, humans, humans living and working in the city and the little longings we all have.

In this work in particular, we meet several characters with chapters based around them and the inspiration of a surprisingly (to them) girls view on a new hobby, skateboarding: Kawasumi, a thirty-something who works in a dead-end job in a video rental store and dates her dead-end, no commitment boyfriend while everyone around her is getting married and hitting those life goalposts, her younger coworker Shiho who's not so satisfied in her own life after leaving behind a former career, and Takehana, a woman starting in a new department after a scandal. These three look as if they're going to be brought together at these skateboarding lessons, and between each chapter we get some deets on real life girl skateboarders!

It's a neat work that definitely makes me feel some human emotions adjacent to loneliness and the desire to do something, anything, to feel inspired.

Thank you to Kodansha and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for review! I already have volume 2 on my watchlist.

fireth's review

Go to review page

4.5

A skateboarding manga about young women who are having a hard time meeting societal expectations to be ‘normal’.

Being a middle-aged woman, I can relate to the different to the different characters, even though we don’t share anything similar, other than being female.

Thank you to Netgalley for an e-arc of this manga.

bgoodbookclub's review

Go to review page

hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

I've never read Manga before but I really enjoyed this! I've always been very interested in skateboarding so I think this was a great entry point. One thing that was kinda tricky is that I forgot for the first few pages that you read it right to left.

The artwork in this book is so beautiful! I also loved that it encouraged that you can learn to do something new at any age!

I think I'll check out Sketchy Vol. 2 this summer!

Thank you to NetGalley for the copy of this!

Content Warnings

ghoulythings's review

Go to review page

reflective medium-paced

5.0

larakaa's review

Go to review page

funny informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I've been excited to read this for months and it didn't disappoint. I can relate to so many things here. Being a woman in your mid to late 30s, looking for a direction in life, not meeting societies expectations, finding something new that's terrifying but also giving you the best feeling, a rush of happiness but this new thing comes with hurdles in its own.

This is perfect (for me).