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A review by cosmonette
ヨコハマ買い出し紀行 1 [Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou 1] by Hitoshi Ashinano
5.0
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.