Solanin is a slice-of-life story about a recent college graduate, Meiko. She's been working as an office girl for two years, and she hates it. Her boyfriend, Naruo, has a part-time job as an illustrator, but his real dream is to become a rock star. They live together, but she mostly supports him because he can't get a full-time job. The band isn't really going anywhere, but after Meiko quits her job, she realizes that Naruo has a dream, and that he should chase it.
I just love Inio Asano's work. Sure, there have been plenty of movies, comics, and TV shows that have captured the "slacker" generation, but very few that I have seen have captured that generation in Japan. I can relate to the characters. While I like my grant writing and my editing, my true passion is reading comics and writing this blog. At some point, endeavors like this go beyond hobbies and become micro-careers. I remember when I first started making money teaching piano, guitar, and drum lessons. I thought I'd MADE it. Then, after six months of singing melody lines along with 9-year-old kids taking lessons, my voice gave out. I couldn't teach piano lessons anymore, and I started writing novels. I still do, although the only remuneration I get from that is the rare stranger actually reading one of my books.
Solanin is a sad story; it speaks of loss and depression. Meiko, right after quitting her job, suddenly finds that she has a lot of time on her hands but doesn't know what to do with it. Meanwhile, her friends in Naruo's band are experts in killing time, employing a technique I once used on my days off a long time ago: getting drunk at the zoo. The artwork is somewhat reminiscent of Tin-Tin, with hyper-realistic backgrounds and iconic characters. Naruo's Fender Mustang guitar and Vox amplifier are drawn to exacting detail, while Naruo looks cartoonish. I love this book.
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