Since nobody posted a synopsis yet, here's the simple idea:

Slice of life with a young couple, Inoue Meiko and Taneda Shigeo, and how everyday occurrences affect their lives. Meiko begins contemplating whether freedom without purpose is really the same thing as boredom. This is a retelling of a very common real life situation, perhaps enjoyable enough for an older fanbase.

Art is different, there are no anime-esque deformations here.

I agree with most of the positive things about this manga. I don't want to regurgitate them so I'll make it simple. The one thing I like most about this manga is that you can relate to the characters. Another is that art is different. I rather have characters with noses and other distinct facial features than the typical ones you see nowadays.

I could only give this an 8/10. I felt that it was a cop out when the author created that tragedy part of the manga because it wasn't realistic to me. It felt like the author just did it to move the plot forward. In the end, I still liked it. I'm now a fan and will read his other works.

... Last updated on October 12th, 2014, 9:45pm

Oh God how i love slice of life!
This is really good, i enjoyed getting to know these characters, their flaws, insecurities and the way they manage to overcome tragedy.
It's life. With tragedy, happiness...everything. It really hit me because before reading this i was thinking about the same thing, and i'm about the same age as the characters.
Truly recomend it.

... Last updated on February 17th, 2010, 10:08am

Mangas like Solanin is why I read seinen. It deals with real life and all its sadness. I particularly love the way the author brings us into Mieko's struggle and shows a triumph of human spirit and hope over tragedy. Highly recommend this.

One of the very, very few touching dramas out there. Realistic without indulging on cheap tragedy, yet funny at moments. Like life itself. Asano brings an outstading way to deal with the characters' insecurities, providing a believable mirror for its readers.

The story is cute. It's slow and short and doesn't really do anything, but if you want an easy story with a bit of tragedy and the angst of becoming an adult, this one's for you. I wasn't very impressed otherwise.

Getting close to that quarter life crisis and this manga was very relatable in a bittersweet way. Equal parts uplifting and depressing haha

This is one of the best manga I have ever read. And I've read a lot.
It's wistful, but funny. Pretty crazy at times, but still laid back enough.
And, most importantly, it's about fairly normal people leading fairly normal lives. No super powers, nothing paranormal, no one being a huge musical prodigy even though they have a band and all.

It's just about people like the ones you know. Or, hell, people that could be you, for that matter. (Well, except for Taneda, for reasons that will become apparent once you actually read it...)

I thought at first I was going to connect with this manga & it's going to express feelings or thoughts people in their mid-twenties have. It kind of did but not in the way or volume I was expecting, in order to make it worth reading or remembering.

It's basically a story about a bunch of 20 somethings going through life, taking important decisions, doing mistakes. f****** up their chances in life and trying again. Way too early in the story, it proved really boring and a drag to read & it continued like that until the end. There's nothing truly inspired or original to be honest and what it does, it doesn't do particularly well.

On another note, the character designs are absolute crap. The backgrounds are actual pictures that have had the usual manga art touch-up and there's not a single scene or panel that was memorable or aesthetically pleasing. Sad situation overall.

Thank god, Inio Asano moved on and draws tons better now.

... Last updated on February 27th, 2024, 12:29pm

I'm happy to have read this story.
It doesn't make me feel like it's impossible to be happy because of how nothing in this story is extraordinary and I live through these stories..
It's like I got a glimpse of the life of these characters, and they were alive both before it and will continue on being alive after my view of it is over in the real world. Like some sort of a biography, but just in the sense how down-to-earth everything about Solanin is. It makes it so nice, makes it easy to consider that these perfect characters which don't actually exist actually can be found in real life.
Yeah.. I just wanna say I love it.