Forum - View topicWhat to read after "Solanin"...
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oost_the_great
Posts: 6 |
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Intro::
Ok, so it's been about, I don't know, 6 years since I really got into manga. After working for a local comic book store for 2 years and making enough money to buy what ever manga I wanted, I cut myself off. I had been on a binge of manga (subscribing to about 12 series at once). It has been about 2 years since I really got into anything. Feeling guilty recently for just dumping manga all together, I decided to pick up a volume and found a one-shot called "Solanin" by Inio Asano. For those who haven't read the title heres a synopsis (pulled from viz.com because I'm not a great writer): "Meiko Inoue is a recent college grad working as an office lady in a job she hates. Her boyfriend Naruo is permanently crashing at her apartment because his job as a freelance illustrator doesn't pay enough for rent. And her parents in the country keep sending her boxes of veggies that just rot in her fridge. Straddling the line between her years as a student and the rest of her life, Meiko struggles with the feeling that she's just not cut out to be a part of the real world." The Point:: I need suggestions on a manga to read next! Similar to Solanin. This has probably been on of the best and most heart warming manga titles I have ever read. I would love to find something to read, once I'm finished, that is somewhat similar. I'm aware this may be an unrealistic question, being that great titles are often few and far between, but I'm open to any suggestions! 
Also, even if you don't have suggestion, if you haven't read Solanin you may want to check it out. 
THANKS FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS! |
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Agoston
 Posts: 225 |
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Welcome to the NHK is in the same sort of slice of life category, but it has a lot of dark humor. Check that out if you want. I've read the novel and watched the anime but never read the manga, but I'd reccomend the novel and anime in an instant so the manga shouldn't be far off. And yes, I have read Solanin :p
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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Welcome the NHK wouldn't have been my first pick to recommend, or even on my list at all. Especially not the manga, I found that the last volumes of it were sort of all over the place and I actually ended up dropping the series. The anime is good, but not the same feeling as Solanin at all. I haven't read the book (which was the original medium) so I can't really say much about that but I would be surprised if it was much different.
I'm not generally a huge slice of life fan but I really enjoyed Solanin as well. The closest one that I can think of would be Honey & Clover. It does sometimes get a bit melodramatic but it definitely has similar themes and ideas to Solanin, though it is significantly longer. It's the only other series I read that I would call slice of life in the same way that Solanin is. |
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oost_the_great
Posts: 6 |
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To Agoston:
Thanks for the suggestion. I actually was reading Welcome to the NHK (this is one series I gave up ~ around volume 5), also I have the entire anime series fan subbed. It was an enjoyable series, but as you said it has quite a bit of dark humor. Thanks again for the good suggestion! 
To Marie-Antoinette: Also, thank you for the suggestions! I'll have to check out Honey & Clover! I used to be a big slice of life person, but all of the series I picked up seemed so predictable and, plainly, dumb. I loved the fact that Solanin has a deeper meaning and feeling. I really connected with the characters because they seemed so normal (which you don't see in alot of anime or manga). I hope we'll see more of this type of serious manga aimed at adults here in the US. Again, thanks for the info and suggestions! ^^ |
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einhorn303
 Posts: 1180 |
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You'd probably find much more like it in English graphic novels. Realist, serious stories are a much more thriving genre on this side of the ocean. For example:
- Local by Brian Wood - Ghost World by Daniel Clowes - Blankets by Craig Thompson - Black Hole by Charles Burns - A Contract with God by Will Eisner |
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4nBlue
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Don't know how similar my recommended manga are to Solanin, but I think that someone who enjoyed Solanin could enjoy reading them.
Ohikkoshi Tanpenshu Saikano Aqua/Aria |
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HellKorn
Posts: 1669 Location: Columbus, OH |
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The Welcome to the NHK novel is great, but it's not like Solanin in the slightest. ("Slice-of-life" is a major misnomer here.)
If you're looking for titles that are somewhat similar in tone and focus (though loosely for the latter, as there's nothing else like Solanin legally available in English), I'd recommend Emma, Nodame Cantabile, Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms, Ohikkoshi and Honey and Clover (particularly the anime, which will be released later this year; the original manga is also apparently quite good, as well, though). Blue and Monokuro Kinderbook might also appeal to you.
Definitely agree with this. Though of that list, I'd only recommend Ghost World and Blankets for something tonally similar to Solanin (though I haven't read Local). Black Hole and A Contract with God are definitely worth checking out, though don't go in expecting anything like the Inio Asano work. |
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Moomintroll
 Posts: 1600 Location: Nottingham (UK) |
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I second the above. As far as Local is concerned, I suppose it is somewhat tonally similar but it's not in the same league as the other works mentioned. Oh, and I'd add Box Office Poison to the list. In terms of manga, the "For Those Of Us Who Don't Believe In God" story in Volume 1 of Tanpenshu would fit the bill. |
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GhstDreamer
 Posts: 134 |
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I agree with the others on Tanpenshu and Honey & Clover. I also had to add Planet ES - it's set in the future and in space but the manga series is very grounded in reality. It's about a young man who wants doesn't want to live his entire life being a space debris collector and dreams of a space expedition. Great cast of side characters as well.
I just finished Solanin last week and loved it too! |
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