Book Review: "Solanin" by Inio Asano

We invited Clair, one of our librarians,to review a book this week.  She chose Solanin, a wonderful manga.  Here are her thoughts:

     I unexpectedly lost a whole lazy Sunday afternoon reading Solanin, a graphic novel written and illustrated by Inio Asano. It is a coming-of-age story about a group of twenty somethings living in urban Japan. Initially, I just thumbed through the first few pages to see if it would be worth a read. I quickly found myself glued. 

4/5 Cute Bunnies with X's for Faces

Gordon’s Ratings Guide:

1/5 - Blech!  Don't bother

2/5 - Nothing special

3/5 - Entertaining and worth a read

4/5 - Amazing.  You should definitely read.

5/5 - Truly an outstanding title. MUST read!

Click "Read more" for the rest of her review.

Meiko, the main protagonist, is a very lost and unhappy young woman. She is living in a flat with her boyfriend Taneda. Meiko has a boring office job that she hates, but it pays well. Taneda works part time as an illustrator which he seems to enjoy-- but the pay is terrible. One day, Meiko decides she wants to quit her job and break away from how mundane life is getting. At first this act is very freeing and relaxing, but she finds now there is a lot of uncertainty in her and Tadena’s future. Both realize there are things they need to sacrifice and change in order to be happy, and both worry if that means their relationship is at stake.  Just when things are becoming clear for Taneda and Meiko, an unexpected accident changes everything completely.

This story really hit close to home, and I could really relate to how the characters felt. I feel Asano did a great job capturing the anxiety and frustration of someone going through early adulthood. There seems to be this predisposed idea of what an adult is, and how you should know what you want and how to get it. I’d recommend this read to anyone who ever felt self-doubt but came to terms with themselves.