Mizu wa Umi ni Mukatte Nagareru

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This was such a pleasant read that after I had finished reading it, a few weeks later I went ahead to read the whole series again (it's not that long after all). This is one of my very favorites. While certainly no roller-coaster-esque experiential masterpiece of the likes of Oyasumi Pun Pun (I would argue this is still a 'masterpiece' in its own right), Mizu wa Umi ni Mukatte Nagareru captured my heart with its riveting drama that explores awkward relationships and family situations without exploiting its story for melodrama. It portrays these matters in a grounded, yet somewhat mundane manner to reflect a sense ... of our real world, never succumbing to simplified black or white moral situations or overly transparent emotional cues.

Aside from the sensitive approach to its narrative, it is the fantastically way that the characters have been written that ultimately steal the show. Characters here feel lived-in with their believable personalities that shift and react consistently to the changes of the story - however slight, their amusing quirks that serve to develop and provide characters with a sense of history instead of for superficial comedy for readers to laugh at, the believability of the character's thoughts that provide depth, where even the 'innocent' main character has some 'bad' thoughts, and the incredibly written dialogue and conversations (which consists much of the manga) that finely walks the thin line between humor and drama, reminiscent of how actual people talk, where we try to obfuscate serious topics with slight comedy to lighten the mood. Not to mention the mundane and slower pace of the manga helps give a sense of routine and life to the characters.

The art style is whispy and light. Lines sometimes look like thin pencil strokes, and character designs are incredibly simple. It has a... sort of minimalist storybook aesthetic to it. It's the sort of thing that is up to preference, but for me, I think it fits the unconventional tone of the story, at once being able to express lightness and comedy, but also a minimalistic beauty in the serious, dramatic moments. I also just really like how refreshing it is compared to the conventional anime-esque aesthetic that mangas usually shoot for. We need more unconventional art styles. I also just love the sense of distance the drawings appropriately provide in some emotional story moments. With the 'wide shots' and by occasionally turning the characters' faces away from us. It suits the narrative tone, and it never gets the reader too close to the drama to make things sentimental, but not too much to reduce our emotional connection from the character and their situations. It's a good middle ground is what I'm saying. Also, I don't know what's up with the paneling, but though deceptively simple, they flow incredibly well - they pick up the nuances of the characters and their personal dramas so darn good.

While the comedy here is perhaps not laugh-out-loud funny like in a gag manga, I found it incredibly endearing nonetheless, and it has some genuinely funny moments. The romance is at the same time very well-paced and believable. It does not succumb to overly cliched romantic developments that one might find in romantic works and instead develops in a rather realistic manner. Not to mention, the story ends when it needs to and finds no need to stumble around for another story arc. This is great, great storytelling. It may not have the one million dollars, conceptually exciting story idea, but by sheer finesse, in the way, the story was told and the way the characters were developed and written, this is, in my humble opinion a 'masterpiece' in its own right. (It does have its flaws, though the pros outweigh them tremendously imo) Anyone who likes slice-of-life, or perhaps is a little sick of the overly saccharine romance that anime and manga like to push for should at the very least give this a shot.

Initial review:

The demographic tag says Shounen, but with the story's themes, I think it would be much more appreciated by an older demographic.

Short but sweet, humorous but mature. I expected that I would feel the same as I would in typical drama; especially with the premise sounding like a typical affair drama. No, as I read through the first stages of the story, I felt I had this toneless expression (much like Sakaki-san) when their baggage are being slowly hinted. This is not to say that it was a bad thing, I'm not sure if I am/will be making sense when I say that I ... felt emotional while also looking emotionless. It might be because I speed through reading the 24 chapters (I wish I could have took my time, but the story was just too compelling to make me move from a chapter to the next).

I like my drama manga to stir me up, I love/hate how it hits close to home when the story tackled past traumas.

I like how characters are acting human in their actions. Although their words, especially a 16-year-old's, have a bit too much wisdom for their age.

I would like to reread this.

Proceed with care.

This review might have some mild spoiler to its content. So I hope you understand and still give it a try after reading this.


Mizu wa Umi ni Mukatte Nagareru, a mild drama-based story that takes place in a certain household that has many characters and people in there. The story starts when Naotatsu when entering a certain high school that demands him to commute a long distance from his house and decides to take his uncle's recommendation to live in his "house". Little did he know in the house that he boarded, there are a certain people there not just his uncle. The ... plot itself thicken when he met Sakaki whom he misinterpreted by saying that she is his uncle's girlfriend.

[Story: 10]
After meeting with Sakaki, he then knows everything that happens in the past and then he tried to be a big man trying to solve all of his feeling about what happened down in the line. Not to mention Sakaki's life does actually change from time to time when she splurged any details about their past. The plot does thicken from each chapter but nevertheless, their comedy is always spot on to relieve the tension in between. The formula that the author gives is so good compare to other mild drama series that I had toward the years of my journey, they give a serious vibe but never stopped giving me time to get relief in every chapter. I think this fact gives it 10 from my point of view.

[Art: 8]
Not that the art was bad, but the way it is like they are an HD rough sketch that is often still in the draft. It's not bad, but it's not the best. But not gonna lie, I actually liked this art and it's refreshing to watch that the author like gives this old style (in my opinion) type of art in this new modern type of series.

[Character: 10]
The characterization is very good by miles. Every character has their ups and downs in their life, but they keep supporting the main character to the point they have to give themself hard time to understand the other feeling and they had to reciprocate to every talk they have and put themself in other shoes. It's a good feeling for me to read and understand the characters in my own way.

Not gonna lie, when I read the first 2 chapters, I already know the reason that this manga ranked fifth in 2020 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! award. The depth of the story, the characterization and many more aspects that I don't remember because of my joy feeling when reading this have failed me in this review itself. The ending itself is not that easy to guess when you start the first chaps, and the author wrap that in a way that we can agree on.