Musume no Tomodachi

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Now that this manga has finally come to an end, I can now write a review on it.

Being reading, I want to address that I absolutely condone such a relationship that occurs in this manga. I didn't read it because I like this type of romance, but because of a controversy regarding it.

MINOR SPOILERS ALONG THE WAY

Despite the story being very controversial, its very tense and gripping. From a very suspicious romance with a big age gap, to an abusive mother and depressed daughter, this manga is for any of those who want to grip onto a pillow so hard, you tear right through it!

I ... don't really have much to say about the story and the characters and the art and etc. itself, but what i really want to talk about is how I got myself interested in this manga in the first place.

Back in late 2019, when the manga started publishing, it got a little bit of controversy and calls for it being canceled due to a "Very problematic" relationship that happens within the story. Two characters, a high school girl, and a middle aged salary man, slowly begin to fall in love, and from there it leads to the mans risk of losing his job, so getting some involvement with the police.

Now I can understand this is a very weird and, as much as I do not like using this word, "problematic" story, It's just fiction. Yes relationships like this can obviously happen in real life, but this one is just in a story, and with that I got interested in it and decided to check it out for myself just to see how creepy it actually would be.


Even though the characters make some really stupid decisions, the manga was actually good and had a good story line. Yes, it's weird, but I enjoyed it. It had some great drama and some really tense bits, such as the high school girls mother finding out about their relationship, and getting the police involved.

Now I know what your thinking: your thinking I liked it and i'm rooting for their love and relationship to continue. No, actually not at all. the main lead had so many chances to walk away and continue life as is, but foolishly kept wanting to pursue his love for an underage high school girl. I honestly wanted this relationship to stop, and because of the stupid decisions being made, I kept reading it to see what happened in the end.

All this being said, its just a work of fiction. I highly doubt its based on a true story, and not only that, before reading the premise and saying "eww, omg that's problematic. Yikes!", take a look at it, read it, and see for yourself.

To summarize this series in one word: PAIN

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD

Story

This is genuinely painful to read. In a great way. Musume no Tomodachi portrays the unblemished consequences of the societal taboos, namely age-gap relationships, and failure to follow societal norms. The darkness is much more relevant and empathetic than something intense like murder or rape, because many of us may struggle and question some of society's unspoken rules, making this series painfully relevant to our lives.

Whereas other slice-of-life, drama series generally follow plot structure, this series seems like it's in an infinite climb of rising action. The slow, steady, looming drama and excellent cliffhangers make for ... an unreachable climax. Just when I think shit can't get any worse, each chapter proves me wrong. The suspense and indefinite delay of resolutions really claws at my heart. Every time I see a new update, my heart always sinks and my breath tightens in anticipation for what else will go wrong.

I'm a sucker for age-gap series, it's always interesting to see how authors tread upon delicate, taboo matters. Musume no Tomodachi portrays the subject of age-gap relationships in a refreshing manner. The consequences follow through in the most dire manner and we see how their relationship affects everyone around them. There is not a speck of hope or acceptance, only hardship and disapproval.



Characters

The characters are, to put it simply, fucked up. It's clearly conveyed just how shitty their lives have been, so their questionable, sometimes downright "wrong", actions have never annoyed me. Instead, it just strengthens their character.

Kousuke, the main character. Lost his wife, has a shut-in daughter who won't talk to him, works like a dog and silently pressured by societal norms. So when his only salvation is Koto, a teen girl, he jumps at the chance at escaping his life temporarily. However, this seemingly rehabilitative relationship only worsens his mental/emotional state, tipping his moral scale and turning his life for the absolute worse. He's nearly never in a healthy mindset. Eventually, the only thing he yearns for is escapism from societal demands, in the form of Koto. Thus, he traps himself in an eternal downward spiral of despair and angst.

Koto, the main heroine and femme fetale. Initially presented as an angelic deus ex machina for the exhausted Kousuke, she's steadily characterized as someone the same as Kousuke. Someone that lives to maintain a constraining image. As opposed to Kousuke maintaining his image in respect to societal norms, Koto maintains her image in respect to her mother's wishes. Her family life is just as broken as Kousuke's. As opposed to Kousuke's family situation, where he's rejected by his only family, Koto is latched onto by and is necessary for her mother. Rather, she's an object for her mother, a mere possession to fill in the missing holes in their family. Koto is just as broken as Kousuke, and equally seeks out escapism in him just as he does.

Kousuke's daughter shut herself out from the world and her father after her mother's death. However, she eventually opens up again to Kousuke and their situation seems to have taken for a better turn. However, upon witnessing Kousuke and Koto's intimate relationship, her parent-child relationship was once severed. She isn't characterized by societal/familial pressure as intensely as Kousuke and Koto, but instead by her utter confusion.

Koto's mother, arguably the antagonist of this series. Left by her husband, her personality takes for the worst. Manipulative, controlling and selfish, she will do whatever it takes to keep Koto wrapped around her finger. Her character is defined by her chaotic love for Koto. Seemingly a more moral cause than what Kousuke and Koto possess, as a parent's love and nurture is expected, but her motives are arguably much more dark and worse than anyone else's.



Art

Stylistically, aesthetically pleasing and works incredibly well. The art is finely detailed and wonderful to look at, but it's strength lies in the "show, not tell". The facial expressions never warrant explanatory dialogue for a character's feelings and motives. It's quite literally all there, plastered on the face, slight gestures and body movements. It creates the usual stuffy, tense atmosphere and smoothly conveys the internal. Sometimes, it's almost like I'm watching, not reading. The character designs are quite nice, as well. I especially love Koto's design. Her blush, big teddy bear eyes and soft looks exudes a feeling of relief and angelic ... but there's also something there that contrasts that perceived image.





Enjoyment

I love reading despite the pain. It's rare for me to not get annoyed by the characters' dumb actions in drama, but here? It's painfully enjoyable to see it all. Honestly, I'd put this on the same level as Oshimi Shuzo's works, like The Flowers of Evil and Blood on the Tracks. I love the dark empathy and immortality, the sense of catharsis is one hell of a drug, man. 10/10.



Final Words

If you've enjoyed The Flowers of Evil, Oyasumi Punpun, Blood on the Tracks and other heavy drama series, I believe you'll find great enjoyment in Musume no Tomodachi. Successfully creating a constant air of quiet tread and discomfort and portraying the dire consequences of societal self-images and taboos, I think this is one of the best on-going slice-of-life drama manga.

I'm currently writing this review after reading the entirety of the manga. I'll be upfront, I'm using this as a way to collect my thoughts.

How do the people around you shape who you are as a person? How many circumstances affect who you are? How much have you given up to uphold those faces? And with that, how much of you is really you?

The story is there, it's not great. It's merely there, to be a vehicle for the characters to move through the manga with. If you read this manga, you're here for the characters, how they adapt and react to what's thrown ... at them, how they choose and decide on the things that happen to them.

The art isn't spectacular either, though it is almost perfect for the manga. It brings to life the most important moments in the story, even if it brings you great discomfort while doing so. It is there to enunciate, nothing less and nothing more.

This manga isn't a masterpiece. Far from it, but it does give you a story led by a cast of characters that will make you ponder on the questions it's willing to ask. There will be discomfort, there will be a sense of wrong instilled in you when you read this manga, and after all that you will never get a satisfying ending.

I liked this manga, not for what it has in it's panels, but what it is willing to show me.

This story gave me the same emotions as a really good suspenseful horror movie. The tension rises with every chapter. It's a slow-motion car crash that's hard to look away from, and the story delivers on the actual car crash.

It's about a man that has lost his wife to an illness, is treated poorly at work while performing well and receiving recognition for it, has a mentally unstable daughter that has abandonment issues.

In all this misery he meets a classmate of his daughter perchance in a quiet coffee shop he frequents.

The main girl has an abusive mother that is stuck in a terrible relationship ... with a man that dislikes her and cheats on her with another woman so frequently that he's rarely at home.

Both of them see something in each other and thus begins that walk on razor's edge that is a truly uncomfortable relationship.

Nobody in this manga makes the best decisions, but they make decisions that are human. I was uncomfortable the whole way through, but I also couldn't stop reading. I was scared that the main character was going to compromise his morals as a decent human being, but I was also scared that he'd fall into a pit of despair.

I will now spoil if the story has a good ending or not, sometimes that's important for people to decide if they want to read something. Personally, I think you should go on this ride blind.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
Nobody goes to jail, nobody's life is totally ruined,
the main character never breaks his moral compass completely.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.

A story about broken relationships. This was a nail-biter from start to finish, and although the ending left a little to be desired, I still have to say that this was a pretty good read.

Musume no Tomodachi, or My Daughters Friend, is a story about a miserable man, and the miserable people he's surrounded by. His dead wife has left a hole in both him and his daughter's heart, and he tries to fill the void with work, selfishly escaping his responsibility as a father by destroying himself from overwork.

He finds solace in another miserable person, the titular Daughter's Friend, who I think sympathizes with ... the MC's inability to truly face responsibility. They bond over this. The manga is about this relationship.

This is not a wholesome story at all. This is a story about two people trying to repair the hell that is their life, and doing so through imperfect ways. It's frustrating to watch, but I think I can say they end up doing a decent enough job at it.

What matters is that the writing of the manga is done in a way that doesn't seem to condone this behavior. We see a realistic depiction of a very troubled situation, and the rest is sort of left to the viewer. It is not played for fan-service or anything along those lines. and that's what makes it good to me.

That being said, the content still left a bad taste in my mouth, even if it was well written.

Not gonna lie, the title sound suspiciously ecchi and thats the reason I read it. the story kinda makes me emotinal and thats good. from the title people already guess what kind of relationship in the manga gonna be. I'm trying not to spoil anything here...

The main story idea is just like Koi wa Ameagari You ni(Love is Like after the Rain) and Koi to Yobu ni wa Kimochi Warui(It's Too sick to Call This Love), the struggle about this kind of relation is pretty well describe and like I said above I like the story...

The Art..., oh boy. Its kinda misleading. at first glance, ... if someone told me this is an ecchi manga I'm gonna believe them without doubt. but its not ecchi. Oh and the art in Omakase is pretty good...

People who enjoy the two titles I mention above probably gonna like this too...

And thats all for my first review, hope this will courage some people to read this nice manga...