The unrealistic thing about this is how OTT the bullies are, but if you're reading this manga as someone who's just fat without an ED, then it's going to be off-putting. This is not a story of someone with normal day-to-day socially inflicted insecurity about their weight. Noko develops bulimia, which is an eating disorder. Actually, maybe you could criticize this manga as being too literally dictionary definition bulimia (my emphasis added): "an emotional disorder involving distortion of body image and an obsessive desire to lose weight, in which bouts of extreme overeating are followed by depression and self-induced vomiting, purging, or fasting."

From page one, we see something is emotionally wrong with Noko that is clearly being blamed on her weight. She fixates on her weight and consistently says "my life would be better if I was skinny." Noko also has some other things going on that feed into her issues surrounding her weight. For instance, extremely low self-esteem and a desperate need to feel loved...which likely caused her to seek out food as a comfort. We get some explanation of where this inferiority complex comes from.

We see glimpses that Noko only probably also needed just one good friend who was looking out for her. She reconnects to an old school friend that had an ideal body, but has put on weight & is generally ok, getting Noko to admit she stress eats and has been doing it for a while (since childhood). I think the author was trying to show here that Noko's stress eating differs from the average persons. I wish this old friend had stayed in the story, tbh because the people that "support" her from now on are creepy and either ambivalent or offer poor advice (Fujimoto, the john, and her batty "the reason you're fat is because of [a] disturbance in the lifewave" coworker Tabata).

By mid-point and after gradually losing weight and picking up an ED, these things are said by characters around Noko (the first one directly to her face and the other between two characters on the side):

"Nothing is going to change out of you losing weight." (- one of her co-workers to her directly)
"She'll probably repeat the cycle, because it's not about her body, really." (- the lady from the weight loss center, speaking to her assistant)

This is the point of this manga. Mayumi, the b*tch of a villain, who is thin & pretty & Noko aspires to be like, is miserable the whole time and that's obvious to the reader. The lady from the weight loss center goes on to say "it's her heart that's fat" -- which is a shitty thing to say (fatphobic, really) but I think the author meant that the thing that is making Noko so depressed isn't "fat", it's her own perception of herself that has nothing to do with fat. Unlike other mangas that feature weight loss, Noko's life is NOT better after losing weight. She sees "ugly" women discussing their love life in the bathroom and mentally derides them, eventually asking "So what allows them to act like they're all that?" Then in a hilarious effort, she insults them out loud and skips off happily...while the two women in the bathroom kind of go "lol wtf?? was she talking about herself or something?"

Skinny Noko's sad internal dialogue is "I'm stronger! I'm skinny! I'm okay!" and the author always juxtaposes it with her actual real life being an unhappy mess still. She's still compulsively over-eating anytime she's confronted with emotional stress, but now she has her self-destructive weapon of throwing it back up. Things come to a head when she sees her shitty ex with his fiance: "I have to eat and eat to become stronger. You can't lose...to reality. To reality. To reality."

Then finally she admits: "I haven't been able to become happy at all."

No one in this manga is happy -- not the random co-workers around her, not the beautiful bitch, not the crappy boyfriend, not Tabata. This is made very clear. However, the only one who has realized they are unhappy is Noko. This is her light at the end of the tunnel, this is how she "won." Yeah, the mega-assholes don't get their comeuppance but why do we care? They're gonna stay miserable and ultimately, joy should be derived from the self, not other people and their suffering (this is a big theme with her boyfriend and the villain b*tch.)

To me, this isn't a manga about the values of weight loss. It's abundantly clear that if Noko had just accepted her body and not listened to everyone who told her she needed to "lose weight" or "gain weight" (her ex and Fujimoto mainly) and made choices on her own accord, she'd be happy -- whether she decided to lose weight or stay as she was. This is a manga about an eating disorder. It doesn't have a happy ending. We do hear a nurse tell Noko to "chew her food properly" and "avoid extreme diets" as well as get the impression that Noko knows that she has bigger problems than her weight. But recovery from an ED is not linear and you cannot wrap it in a neat bow -- Noko's path to recovery is just starting. Recovery doesn't mean being fat or being skinny -- it's about fixing one's relationship with food and being healthy (a nebulous concept but Noko is not healthy at the end) and most importantly, happy in your skin.

Some bit are clumsy, it's kind of dramatic, some of the plot happenings are contrived, and the author seemed to want to do more with the lady from the weight loss center so she was an oddball character even though she serves her purpose. Overall, it tackles a heavy topic and has a message that isn't glorifying anything nor is it condemning anything. You end this manga feeling bad for Noko and wishing her the best, hoping she doesn't fall back into the toxic cycle of purging but also doesn't fall back into the toxic cycle of trying to derive validation from people who don't care about her at all.

edit: To respond to the person who suggested Cousin as an alternative to this...Tsubomi (the main character in Cousin) does NOT have an eating disorder. Cousin is one of my favorite mangas and I recommend it as a realistic depiction of the struggles of cyclic weight loss but Tsubomi just diets as someone else would & her self-esteem fluctuates but she's never super down on herself. Cousin is very uplifting & refreshing but it's not about an ED. As for Bara no Tame ni...that's a dramatic manga and I guess it's comparable to this, but I wouldn't say it's better? The main theme isn't really about ED and it's also a "ugly girl who everyone grows to like and turns out to be very pretty" kind of story....which isn't really what's happening here. Not all stories about weight loss and self-image are tackling the same things...

... Last updated on May 14th, 2022, 1:02pm

Everyone in this comment section berating the protagonist is furthering the isolation of people who struggle with eating disorders. The truth is that this is how society treats fat people, and this is how many fat people try to cope with it. The lead doesn't get anywhere because weight loss 1. doesn't work without an eating disorder, and 2. eating disorders thoroughly mess with your head.

I found the world the protagonist lives in to reflect mine, and her actions to be similar to what I went through. "She isn't realistic at all!" You're right, she doesn't act like a normal person! Because eating disorders rob you of your sanity! That's the point of the whole manga!

I normally despise manga that include weight loss as a plot point because they always glorify it, or it will actually make the protagonist's life better. This shows the genuine thoughts of a fat person undergoing a diet, and the extremes they have to go to in order to succeed at it, and how it affects them. How it does not make their world better, but now they've ruined their psyche because of it. Ending where it does provides the reader a chance to reflect on themselves, and while it may be a bit disappointing for an ending, I think it leaves the reader with a taste of what it is like to be in someone like her's shoes, with no clear path forward.

My biggest critiques on the manga are the strange, creepy sex scenes. While they add to the story in a way that is, again, somewhat relatable, I personally just am not really comfortable with it. To each their own, I suppose.

I get it, it was meant to highlight how food anxiety in 1990s but character wise just like what other have said: it's worst, dreadfully unrealistic and dry. It was always either bad or good ones, no in between. Pathetic. If anything, the dietitian and her lover was the closest real thing I could tolerate.

I was here to understand 1990s manga aesthetic simply because the poster whose strong colors got me into clicking it in first place, knowing the premise which isn't my cup of tea. But this whole ridiculous thing kept distracting me and left me nothing to be impressed.

I don't get why the hell does this manga have this much good ratings from 5-10, I guess they really did have interest in weaklings and sad "realistic" stuff to cry for.

... Last updated on December 26th, 2019, 4:36pm

I read this one after seeing a glowing ANN review and well i agree with yuno19 100% as this manga is a mess from top to bottom. The author has no idea how weighing or loss works at all and the tale s about cruel people only being cruel to each other for no reason and the eating disorder subplot couldn´t have been handled worse because all the protagonist were sick in the head. Why do the hang around each other or do the things they do i don´t know but good drama this is not. The ending was predictable and nonsensical and what is left is a bad aftertaste and very creepy sex scenes i now must forget. Read Bara no Tame ni (8/10) or Cousin (8/10) to get a manga about an actual eating disorder and i can´t recommend the author overall ether as she may have a few fine art tricks in her pocket but little writing talent to back them up.

Not my kind of story at all, but i could not stop reading. It is short (1 novel) and all the characters may seem over simplified in goals, unreal etc, and I'd agree. But I don't think that was the aim when it came to the manga. To me, all I paid attention to was the warped perspective of the characters, and their subseqeunt actions.

Again not my kind of manga, but I couldn't put it down - it has the appeal of train wreck

neither the story nor the art is special. only thing it could be used for is educational how not to diet or maybe at a deeper level (if you stop and think a bit deep on the story) how happiness has more to do with how you think rather then how you look. also it was depressing from start to end however some psychological aspects are epicted rather right kudos on that point (somehow most psychological mangas are rather far from reality.. psychological problems that are written are very extreme cases or impossible ones but it was not the case here mostly. made me think this can happen) all in all i don't recommend this there are better out there if you search for them.

The story is so dry; its like you eat some something but it can't go down your throat easily. The cause, maybe, is overly simplistic characterization. There are characters that can only act one way but not another. Heck, I found everybody there can only know one way to act -- one philosophy, one behavior toward the main character. Lack of complexity made me unable to identify myself with any of them, making the story feel like coming from another universe, not ours. I don't think this one can be considered a good read.

The way the story was told was sooooooo amazing!
The pathetic, weak and insecure character Noko was just so sad...she spiraled down to the depths of binge and purge. It was just really sad to see her go down and have such a crappy life.
I cried loads of tears (for like 20 minutes)...it was that sad D:
Darn it...

it seems like the author really understands the psyche of the characters. i can feel the echo of my own being from the characters, even from the bitchy mayumi. i understand how fulfilling it does feel stepping and grinding on the people below you just because you can. i also understand how fear can make you isolate yourself from the world. i love that in the end nothing is resolved, but the readers still able to extract important messages from the plots happening around the protagonist. these kind of stories make me love josei more.

well... i just had to comment cause the ranking everyone posted was like too high 4 me.. i think the plot has potential.. it does... but that doesn't mean that it was fully used. When i started reading, i though it will be a story about how superficial people is... and how much people should be strong and step up to those who are so stupid and bully others!!, i really thought i would enjoy this manga.. but i didn'!!... The lead doesn't kind of gets anywere ¬¬' in the story , and i know that every ending doesn't have to be a "perfect happy one", but at least they could've put some closer! ...i think i put my expectations to high, cause it's as depressing as on the beginning, in fact..

... Last updated on January 29th, 2012, 9:10pm