In episode 1, Cryptte delves into the manga, Solanin by Inio Asano. He discusses the plot, art style and everything in between, not forgetting the book recommendations. So do make sure to follow the link in our bio to listen to this new podcast.

Story 

Solanin is a story about Inoe Meiko, and her boyfriend Naruo Taneda, as they try to figure out how to find happiness, what happiness. It also covers the lives of their friends, who I shall not name, but their dynamic is particularly nice.If you've ever been to university or secondary school, any kind of environment where you're away from home, living among friends and strangers, that's the kind of setting you'd see here. And I think a lot of us can relate. Because a lot of us have been in those types of environments before. Naruo and his friends are in a band called Rotti and Inoe is probably their biggest fan.

The story revolves around how, like I said, they're trying to figure out what to do with their lives, what direction to head in. Same questions every young person asks themselves after they finish school, once they enter the job market, just stumbling through life, trying to make things, make sense, and figure out where to head to, how to achieve their dreams. Figure out what their dreams are. I can relate. I think everyone can relate, but then there are other themes too, besides the pursuit of happiness. Like a coming of age story about the mundane. Asano-san is known for character driven, realist stories, and that's exactly what Solanin is. 

Now to write something like that, your characters need to live and breathe, and that's exactly how they are in Solanin. Inoe is like your scatter brained best friend or something. Taneda is the guy that had big dreams and everybody thought was cocky and probably is. Then he has his silly friends that are always fighting and always making noise and always cracking jokes. Characterization is good. Like you fall in love with the characters. They'll become your friends. They'll become your family, but then it's not just the characters. It's also the situations they find themselves in. They don't feel fake or forced. They're situations that any one of us could have found ourselves in, or might have found ourselves in at one point in time of our lives.

If you'd like to grab your own copy of Solanin, follow our affiliate link below. Doing so would greatly help show.

• Solanin - https://amzn.to/3QT7Vxs
• Solanin: An Epilogue - https://amzn.to/3dLNUKm

Other manga to look out for by Inio Asano;

1. Goodnight Pun Pun (volume one) - https://amzn.to/3KpHfC6
2. A Girl on the Shore - https://amzn.to/3RfNnPz
3. Dead Dead Demon's De De De De Destruction (volume one) - https://amzn.to/3CtQZcj
4. Nijigahara Holograph - https://amzn.to/3pJPbEq

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Thanks for listening.

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