You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.23 AVERAGE
4.23 AVERAGE
I am finally getting around to reading Yokohama Kaidashi Kiko ("Yokohama Shopping Diary"), and after finishing the first volume, I must say I'm completely in love.
A little background: the manga is set in the future, after some cataclysm seems to have wiped out most of the human population. The sea level has been gradually rising for some time. Cities have largely been abandoned, and people have returned to a simpler way of life.
The story is told through a series of vignettes that follow the everyday life of Alpha, the owner of a small coffee shop. She happens to be a robot, also. The scenes are poignant and the characters are very likable, Alpha in particular.
But I think where Yokohama Kadaishi Kiko really gets me is in its expression of setting. I have never read a graphic novel where the silence was so tangible. Ashinano gives us long stretches with no dialogue, characters alone, just moving through the backdrop of post-apocalyptic Japan. His art is beautiful, and it pulls you in. The setting is rich spatially as well as temporally—the images express a very real passage of time, which is contrasted with Alpha's apparent timelessness. I'm curious to see if this temporal dissonance leads anywhere over the course of the series...
Overall, I give Yokohama five stars. I highly recommend it and can't wait to read more.
A little background: the manga is set in the future, after some cataclysm seems to have wiped out most of the human population. The sea level has been gradually rising for some time. Cities have largely been abandoned, and people have returned to a simpler way of life.
The story is told through a series of vignettes that follow the everyday life of Alpha, the owner of a small coffee shop. She happens to be a robot, also. The scenes are poignant and the characters are very likable, Alpha in particular.
But I think where Yokohama Kadaishi Kiko really gets me is in its expression of setting. I have never read a graphic novel where the silence was so tangible. Ashinano gives us long stretches with no dialogue, characters alone, just moving through the backdrop of post-apocalyptic Japan. His art is beautiful, and it pulls you in. The setting is rich spatially as well as temporally—the images express a very real passage of time, which is contrasted with Alpha's apparent timelessness. I'm curious to see if this temporal dissonance leads anywhere over the course of the series...
Overall, I give Yokohama five stars. I highly recommend it and can't wait to read more.
I remember watching the anime of this one, and I remember that it was a pretty lovely anime. So I decided to check the manga, and I can just say that this one is also just as sweet. It is a slice of life, so it is all pretty slow, but that is no problem. You will be fully emerged in this world.
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Loveable robot! I wonder where the story will go next...
I like it here. Talking with oji-san like this, watching the sea...the busy times and the slow times; I like them all.
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou or YKK for short, is a post-apocalyptic heavens' scape where fishes swim in the fading dusk and a robot girl dreams of simple yet meaningful living in the small but vibrant town of Yokohama.
When I call YKK post-apocalyptic, I mean it in the most literal sense - it takes place after an apocalypse where the slow decay of humanity is envisioned, but from the lens of everyday people living in the lush countryside. It follows the story of Alpha, a robot whose origins are only hinted at at the end of this volume. After a young boy in town has odd dreams of a creature from a lake baring her fangs at him, Alpha explains that she's a being called "Mingo" that resides in this lake - an ethereal and terrifying creature, but a kind one who cares for children.
This isn't a manga for hardcore sci-fi fans, but rather someone looking for a quiet but evocative experience of simple human living. I would say that it's Battle Angel Alita without the battle part. The characters are all very real, from the loud but kind grandpa of the town to the brave but easily-embarrassed boy who spends so much time looking up to Alpha. Alpha is the real gem in this manga, however.
Somehow I started crying. Originally my tear ducts were only so I could moisten my eyes...It's sort of like when I play the Gekkin alone. This feels different, though. I like this feeling, too.
Alpha is saccharine, kind and just mysterious enough to keep the entire town engaged. No one questions her existence, but instead celebrates it.
None of us could remember seeing Alpha like this...with such amazing self-confidence. Did her dance last for a while, or was it only a moment?
Lastly, the style is absolutely haunting, but in the most lively way possible. It's simple but effective; cartoonish, but realistic enough for suspension of your disbelief. I'm a huge fan of older manga styles from the 1990s to early 2000s, so this is a definite win for me.
It doesn't usually feel much like winter. If I don't stand here in the cold and watch the first sun rise, it won't feel as if a new year had begun.
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou or YKK for short, is a post-apocalyptic heavens' scape where fishes swim in the fading dusk and a robot girl dreams of simple yet meaningful living in the small but vibrant town of Yokohama.
When I call YKK post-apocalyptic, I mean it in the most literal sense - it takes place after an apocalypse where the slow decay of humanity is envisioned, but from the lens of everyday people living in the lush countryside. It follows the story of Alpha, a robot whose origins are only hinted at at the end of this volume. After a young boy in town has odd dreams of a creature from a lake baring her fangs at him, Alpha explains that she's a being called "Mingo" that resides in this lake - an ethereal and terrifying creature, but a kind one who cares for children.
This isn't a manga for hardcore sci-fi fans, but rather someone looking for a quiet but evocative experience of simple human living. I would say that it's Battle Angel Alita without the battle part. The characters are all very real, from the loud but kind grandpa of the town to the brave but easily-embarrassed boy who spends so much time looking up to Alpha. Alpha is the real gem in this manga, however.
Somehow I started crying. Originally my tear ducts were only so I could moisten my eyes...It's sort of like when I play the Gekkin alone. This feels different, though. I like this feeling, too.
Alpha is saccharine, kind and just mysterious enough to keep the entire town engaged. No one questions her existence, but instead celebrates it.
None of us could remember seeing Alpha like this...with such amazing self-confidence. Did her dance last for a while, or was it only a moment?
Lastly, the style is absolutely haunting, but in the most lively way possible. It's simple but effective; cartoonish, but realistic enough for suspension of your disbelief. I'm a huge fan of older manga styles from the 1990s to early 2000s, so this is a definite win for me.
It doesn't usually feel much like winter. If I don't stand here in the cold and watch the first sun rise, it won't feel as if a new year had begun.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Read all 14 volumes in a day, wowie. Contemplative, forlorn yet hopeful, sentimental, everything I love. Lots of big ideas about human impact on nature and the traces we'll leave when things are said and done, the flow of time and growing up and growing old. How little things that drove you crazy when you were younger have become fond memories. How even when we're gone the world around us won't forget us, not just our physical impact but our attitudes, our thoughts, our values are remembered by the very landscape. Just a beautiful series filled to the brim with beautiful thoughts.
(Ignore the occasional sexual stuff almost entirely quarantined to the first volume lol, I have a feeling the author wasn't sure who the audience would be just yet and was covering their bases.)
(Ignore the occasional sexual stuff almost entirely quarantined to the first volume lol, I have a feeling the author wasn't sure who the audience would be just yet and was covering their bases.)
Solarpunk, slice of life and summer vibes are the best combo, I don't make the rules. And the retro vibes are simply the cherry on top!
Well it just so happens my dream is to be a charming android running a shop in a picturesque, quiet town along the water after the apocalypse so this is nice.
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes