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A review by tsukinohana
Seaside Stranger Vol. 1: Umibe No Étranger by Kanna Kii
3.0
Seaside Stranger is going for a beautiful walk through and out of depression while dipped in summer colors, but it ends up falling flat on its face because it's running at a mile a minute. Characters grow up, mature, grow closer and apart all off-screen, which simply does not work in a character drama. What we're left with on-screen is just silly miscommunication, which holds the plot together with the skin of its teeth till the very end.
There was something interesting going on with sexuality and shame, but since it was all resolved with one or two conversations and then it was all happily no longer a problem, it couldn't hold much meaning. Instead, Mio's insistence for sexual relations at Shun's frequent and soft declines comes off as pushy at best and simply disrespectful of his partner at worse, instead of an artsy, empowering reclaiming of Shun's own sexuality and desire that Kii was clearly going for.
Seaside Stranger isn't bad at all; the art is soft and emotive and clean and outright gorgeous, with color work striking as particularly stunning, but her story just needed more page time to flesh out and breathe properly. Perhaps in the sequel/other volumes, when it does have that time, it will bloom into something more.
There was something interesting going on with sexuality and shame, but since it was all resolved with one or two conversations and then it was all happily no longer a problem, it couldn't hold much meaning. Instead, Mio's insistence for sexual relations at Shun's frequent and soft declines comes off as pushy at best and simply disrespectful of his partner at worse, instead of an artsy, empowering reclaiming of Shun's own sexuality and desire that Kii was clearly going for.
Seaside Stranger isn't bad at all; the art is soft and emotive and clean and outright gorgeous, with color work striking as particularly stunning, but her story just needed more page time to flesh out and breathe properly. Perhaps in the sequel/other volumes, when it does have that time, it will bloom into something more.