Runway de Waratte
Smile Down the Runway

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The first serialized work of the fledgling mangaka Inoya Kotoba, Runway de Waratte (Smile at the Runway) is a captivating work that narrates the encounter between a girl who aspires to become a supermodel in spite of her detrimental stature and an unassuming boy with a hidden attachment to making clothes. As each person finds encouragement in the other to continue pursuit of their ambitions, the two of them confront people who offer both ominous discouragements and impelling guidance. Regardless of hardships, the challenges that the characters took upon themselves are undoubtedly humanizing endeavors where each comes to realize his and her own inadequacies through ... supplementing for the flaws of others.

“True beauty is born through our actions and aspirations, and in the kindness we offer to others.”

There exists no greater complement to this manga than the words of model and designer Alek Wek. Amidst an era in which violent melees and cheesy romance dominate novels, films, and games alike, Runway de Waratte serves as a cherishable reminder that human virtues dazzle in the mundanity of everyday life with comparable, if not greater, brilliance than fantastical tales and melodrama. In applying a shonen format to a genuine modern industry, the manga has masterfully crafted characters that are both relatable and inspiring within a surreal narrative. Be it the grouchy mentor who stubbornly adheres to his lofty ideals regardless of criticism, or the father who hardens his heart to reject his daughter's ambitions, not a single persona is conceived superficial, nor is he conveniently imposed to shoulder the story line alone. The result of such portrayal of relationships is the blurring of distinction between protagonist and antagonist, between adversity and opportunity. The artistic rendering of thematic scenes and dialogues only serves to further elevate the struggle of the characters beyond mere physical or the mental conflicts, amplifying them into passionate messages that truly speaks at the audience.

Occasionally happening upon magnificent works like Runway de Waratte is what sustains my conviction in manga as a potential medium of quality literature as opposed to a source of cheap entertainment. Indeed, it is a fascinating epiphany in realizing how a well-composed story compels one to care so much for a subject he has no knowledge of. Reading the manga is an experience nothing short of mind-blowing, and I was reminded, yet again, how slight the line between fiction and reality truly is.

Story: 8/10
Runway de Waratte is technically about Fujito Chiyuki, a girl who is too short to become a model, and Tsumura Ikuto, a boy who wants to be a fashion designer, but seems to have given up on it. Originally, I thought this manga would be more similar to a shoujo style- with romance, school life, and drama, but it turns out Runway de Waratte is set up in a shounen way, complete with battle and training(?) arcs. It's a very engaging story, and it's evident how much hard work both of the main characters put in to realize their dreams. I use the term ... both main characters loosely, however, as it seems like the plot forgets Chiyuki halfway through. Currently speaking (up to chapter 37), Ikuto is the main focus, and as fascinating as it is, I do think Chiyuki's storyline should be explored more.

Art: 10/10
There is a good reason the art is rated so highly on this manga for me. Firstly, it is aesthetically pleasing to look at, however, good art in a manga should not just look appealing, but it should carry the attitude and the drive of the characters as well. It's amazing how dynamic the art can make sewing look, or how the character's will flows through their movements. The most interesting thing about the art are the eyes and the body positions of each character, and how that can reflect what the person is thinking and feeling.

Character: 8/10
I wish I could rate this category 10/10. I really do. All of the feelings and conflicts feel very realistic and there is character growth. However, while Ikuto's character is amazing, and you could see his character arc and how he was changing as a person, we barely get to see Chiyuki (Again, as of right now at chapter 37). Chiyuki has less time than many of the background characters, despite being listed as a MC. I hope to see more of Chiyuki and her struggles as well, because her problems (hinted at in chapter 36-37) are quite interesting as well.

Enjoyment: 9/10
This manga is really unique. It's rare that a manga can make me feel this excited about anything, but I think what makes it really special is the way that the stakes are real for the characters, and it shows the amount of work they have to put in. It was really enjoyable to read, and I can't wait for the next chapter.

Overall: 9/10

THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!









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Had a lot of fun reading and couldnt wait for each chapter to release.

Overall the series was brillian except for the last arc. This was sadly rushed (from what i can only pressume was due to weekly shonen wanting it to be wrapped up) where there could have easily been another 2 oor 3 arcs in the story to finish the character development and tie up the story lines that were created rather tan what we got will it all explained in the last chapter with a forced time skip that could have been done naturally if they were given the extra 3 volumes to do so.

tbh, this was a really great read but three things dropped my rating: 1. the ending was rushed. we never really got to see chiyuki and ikuto's relationship develop but we do get A LOT of moments with these two that the author clearly hints at for them. 2. although i like open endings, i wished this one didnt have one. We dont know who ikuto ended up marrying but based on how much moments we get with chiyuki and ikuto, thats what many of us concluded. 3. the whole premise of the manga was to see chiyuki get to paris but we never really ... got to see that. rather, it was rushed and we only saw it in the last chapter which kind of makes the manga lose a little bit of its whole point. other than that, it was a great read!

## in short
This story's theme is making [b]REVOLUTION[/b], I suppose.
It describes that hero and heroine make dreams come true throughout any burden.
so protagonists is not only one but both two Ikuto and Chiyuki.


## why I highly recommend
To be honest, I think it as just romance-comedy at first.
However in fact, it is not just romance-comedy at all but also super ambitious and worth reading with insight of art.
you can see barely love scenes but many hot scenes in this work. I seriously think this work as my masterpiece that's why I put it 10 score.
...

## what is this
In the first place, each dreams Ikuto and Chiyuki have was desperate.
because the home environment in which Ikuto lives was so bad.
he was poor man and had to live in too small home with his three sisters and mom.
so we think he could not afford to do his best to make cloths.
While in case of Chiyuki, unfortunately her height finally stop growing by 159cm.
It is too small height to make it to run the runway in Paris.
There are quite harsh precises but they overcome them!

They meet all kinds of people and face various obstacles in the process of making dreams come true but they grow and overwhelm real problems by putting their tons of efforts every scene.
There are various people they meet (e.g. senpai, kouhai, gifted person, hard worker, industrial boss, fashion professionals)
Ikuto and Chiyuki learn a lot and grow so fast by being involved them.

There are many hard things than happiness thing.
However this story is so beautiful due to going through such hard things.


## where are great points
1. Extremely beautiful art and massive passion of art this author has
Art in this work is extremely beautiful because this author graduated from the design school.
You will see some artistic scenes without dialogues like painting.
For real, art level in this work is quite high just because of the subject matter of art.
You would have a fun just to see this art work. Therefore women drown by this author looks like goddess

2. Ambitious and active characters
Main protagonists are pretty ambitious and active. Would you normally think the ordinal high school student will be able to become designer who is famous all over the world? Of course not. But Ikuto make it
Also, would you think person whose height is only 159cm will be able to fashion model who appears the runway in Paris? Absolutely not. But Chiyuki make it too.

There are a bunch of obstacles that interfere them.
However the more obstacles are the more story gets exciting and beautiful.


## who is recommended
- who likes genre of [b]spokon[/b]
- who wants to see beautiful arts

thanks for reading. I hope this work will be great for you.

If you're into fashion, this is for you. If you're into solid character growth, this is for you. If you're into working/skill/real world profession based and/or slice of life stuff this is for you. If you're into stereotypical shojo high school romance stuff look elsewhere.

I loved the anime, bought the manga and have really enjoyed reading it through. I've got no love for the fashion industry, but i thoroughly enjoyed the characters progression and the overall story. I even found myself becoming fascinated by the industry.

If you enjoyed the anime give this a shot, it really is worth the time in my opinion.

everybody has their own taste in manga and this is definitely not mine. every single chapter up to 64 is full of drama and the struggle of the main character, it's seem good to some extent but this on is just pure drama. the story is quite complex and hard to predict, at least to me with little interest in fashion. the build up is good, and so is the pacing. we can tell the background story of each character and what is their problem. it's all started with really good story and introduction, but as i read further it become a problem. this manga ... is pure drama, it really has no 'seasoning' like comedy or romance or school life story. it just drama, drama, and drama about their sruggle in their life and how to overcome that to reach their dream. it might be good if i know fashion, but sadly i have no interest in it.

the art is looking good, it look clean too. but really, i just don't understand fashion, every character seem to have their own fashion in this one. also sometime there's full page about clothes but i don't understand what is going on, like is this clothes good or not, it look same to me. sometime there's some drawn effect that highlight some clothes or models, that want to emphasize this is looking good, but i just don't see it. also there's nothing to remember for background as this is fashion centered manga. the characters looks normal, nothing unique or different with other modern manga.

for the characters, this is the worst. i though there's 2 mc, but mostly for me it just around the male mc. which i don't mind, but how can i enjoy the story when i don't know whats going on with the other one. the male mc is portrayed as weak, indecisive, crybaby. while the women is more strong, blunt, and have never give up mentality. of course as the story progress their personality also grow, the male starting to become more confidence, while the female also start to showing some weakness. the support character however almost everyone has this one trait, negativity. almost all of them seem to be negative about the mc or life in general. which is adding more to the issue with the pure drama storyline. while other people might found this good, it just depressing for me.

score:
story : 3/10
art : 5/10
character : 4/10
enjoyent : 2/10

overall, i don't like this manga as it has pure drama story with character that don't really suit for my taste. not to mention the lack of comedy, romance or even youth event/school life make it no appeal for me, even more so when i have no interest in fashion. for you who want to see good design, process of making clothes and the struggle to sell their product with character development, maybe this is for you. and for you who don't like drama with no 'seasoning', better read other manga.

This was an interesting shounen manga, given it's topic and milieu. Who would have thought a manga about fashion designing and fashion industry would find a place in a magazine that catered mostly to the shounen demographic.

It was this unique spin that made it appealing to older readers as well. The story of a budding designer and a model of regular height determined to make waves in an industry that favors the beautiful and well-connected came about as well researched and lavishly illustrated.

Ultimately, even this manga that defied the odds couldn't win out against COVID and thus had to settle for option 2 when it ... came to ending it. The author revealed as much in their exit interview included in the last volume.

It is still a great read, but it could have been much more had it been able to fulfill its promising start. The ending had to do without the extra steps that could have made it more satisfying.

I would call my experience throughout the progress of the manga weird and unusual but not necessarily in a bad way.

Breaking down all the aspects of the manga, every single one of them is satisfactory in my belief, from the art, the characters, the story and so on. I did very enjoy reading. But put them all together, I find it hard to give it better than a 7. Because of all the imperfections that are apparently seen and reviewed by other readers: the rushed ending, the ambuguity of the main couple in the end, etc. Altho the reasons behind those flaws are all ... explained in the exit interview after the last page of the last chapter, I still wish it could have had another ending, less rushed and more complete.

If I had to answer if I would recommend this manga or not to anyone, I would have a hard time answering this question. This manga is revolving around the fashion world, runways, models, clothes and the process of designing and making them - which I thought wouldn't be interesting for me - I guess there might be lots of people who could relate to this. There is no sudden action, explosions or any other thrilling situations.

Then why? Why did I devour entire 22 volumes in 2 days?

Here is quick TL;DR: It's beautiful, it's captivating, it's interesting, it's understandable and approachable

The story depicts the ... challenges and struggle that Ikuto experiences during his way to become professional designer... Doesn't sound convincing, right? Few keywords: vibe, flow, emotions. Let's talk about the vibe first - mix of maturity, innocence and passion. Pursuing one's dream, experiencing failures, learning harsh reality, adapting, improving, acomplishing goals. The wholesomness of this process was sealed in Runway de Waratte by its Mangaka. You become captivated by the vibe and at some point, you naturally think "I want to cheer them on, I want them to succeed".

The pace is good - not too fast, not too slow, with various timeskips, showing how much characters improved, there is no boring, dragging on scenes that make you go "so when will be the good part?". The good part is always there - author shows us the fashion world in an approachable manner, so it's understandable for any layperson out there and what's the best part - it becomes more interesting with every page. Mangaka did a lot research on the topic and he presents us spectrum of things involved in making clothes for fashion shows, from process of designing,
importance of picking right fabric through making the clothes and ending on putting them on exhibition and presenting on fashion shows - and there is also even more to that.

The amount of content Inoya Kotoba managed to pack into his manga is impressive, but it's not its only good point. Characters, their backgrounds, their aspirations, ambitions, their personalities, their growth, their joyful moments, their anxiousness in some, one could say, without-a-solution situations, their emotions - everything makes you symphatize with them, makes you like or dislike them. I really am (mostly) satisfied with how Mangaka handled characters of his story, how lively and beautiful he made them.

Yes, beautiful - this word leads us to the art which I tried to avoid in this review until now... Astonishing and magnificent - I think that these two words are best possible to describe the art, especially during fashion shows moments in the manga, but even if they are 'best possible', it doesn't mean they are enough to depict how beautiful and impactful are the images presented by the author. Even if I was not interested in fashion in the first place I was really excited waiting for another walk of a model on the runway, just to see how she would look in the designed clothes, what scenery would she show us by wearing 'mere' clothes, what 'aura' would she emit.

I guess my review might sound generic in a lot of places without any examples straight from the manga, yet I don't want to use any spoilers here (hopefully I managed to avoid spoiling at all). If you feel interested I can just tell you one thing: Just read it! If you are not interested I suggest giving it a shot anyway. I really enjoyed this manga from the very beginning to the very end. That being said I think Runway de Waratte is worth your time - yes I'm talking to you right now, my fellow reader.

A little summary:
If you are looking for fashion related manga - Read it!
If you are looking for good character development or if you love when character improves (be it personality or their skills) - Read it!
If you love 'Work towards dreams' theme - Read it!
If you are striving for beautiful art - Read it!
If you look for light yet rich and captivating story - Read it!
If none from above - still I humble suggest you to give it a try I think you might love it anyway!

I hope I helped you decide if it's worth to read it or not my fellow reader - I know I talked about it in superlatives and there aren't any flaws mentioned which I apologize for, but I can't come up with things I could call a 'flaw' when it comes to this manga. Simply put I loved it. Thank you for reading this review!

This is my first review, and I honestly couldn't have picked a better story.

I know next to nothing about the world of fashion or modeling, but this story pulled me in so tightly I never wanted to let go.

The way each character goes through each challenging moment of their respective career was the reason why I didn't want to put down this manga. From the drama, the romance sub-plot, and the GORGEOUS art during runway scenes, it captivated me like no manga has really done before. I found myself wanting to see more, and the more I read, the more I didn't want to ... stop.

Even if you don't know anything about the fashion industry, this story does an amazing job at explaining what each style means, the backlash of not meating requirements in the industry, and the setback of when you can't acheive what you're reaching for. This story is for everyone who loves fashion, drama, romance, and the slice of life atmosphere.

This story was amazing, and I don't think I can recommend this manga enough.

I'm rating this highly because it actually made me interested in fashion and modeling, something that I used to look down upon/didn't care about. I even ended up watching some tutorials on YT about making and designing clothes, as well as some recordings from Paris fashion week. It's pretty rare for a manga to capture my attention as much as this one did, to the point where it makes me want to learn more about the topic at hand.

The characters are a big strength in this manga, everyone is unique and I never forgot anyone's quirks. Some play nice, some play dirty, but you kind ... of end up liking everyone anyway. Our male lead is one of the nicest people I've seen in all of manga, and I usually dislike the typical Japanese nice guy main characters, however Ikuto didn't rub me the wrong way at all, even when he acted nice towards people who deserved to be punched in the face. It's weird, but it suits his character and the concept of his clothing brand very well. His positive outlook ended up infecting me and I ended up liking the characters that were supposed to be the antagonists, and then when I went back and thought about the actions of said antagonists, I noticed that they were actually trying to be nice in their weird convoluted ways, however they were just too awkward to show their care and concern properly.

That being said, I found the ending to be mediocre at best. There was too much focus on romance for my liking, and I would've preferred if the mangaka focused on the technicalities of the outfits, the concept, and the images the models portray while wearing the clothes instead. It also felt rushed, there should've been at least 20 more chapters to wrap things up nicely and everything would've been perfect, but that didn't happen. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with where the characters ended up, I just don't appreciate the fact that we skipped the process right at the end and instead of having a couple dozen ending chapters they just gave us one chapter where they pretty much said "This happened, and they lived happily ever after".

Despite the weak ending, the journey was way too enjoyable. We see Ikuto and Chiyuki go through various stages of character development, learning, and becoming great at their jobs. You can enjoy this story without bothering to try to understand the technical jargon that appears a lot throughout the chapters, and the side-characters are unique and interesting. There's little focus on the dark side of the industry (but it's not non-existent), making this manga a pretty light-hearted read that will make you grin from ear to ear and root for our leads. And finally, the art is absolutely breathtaking at times, especially the eyes, and it fits the theme of the manga to a T.