Gabai: Saga no Gabai Baachan

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In my humble opinion, this manga is the perfect definition of the Slice of Life genre !

We grow up at the same time as the young little boy, while reading it. We saw him growing, learning from his mistake. Gradually, the reader and Akihiro, grow to love and appreciate the grandma. It is a lesson about life. We learn about what it is like growing poor in the Japan after the war. The difficulties of a country destroyed by war, the generational difference between the grandmother who has probably experienced several wars and little Akihiro who has always known Japan like this.

Despite the fact ... that the subjects can be very dark, it remains light. The relationship between the grandson and the grandmother is heart-rending. On the one hand we have the innocent and amusing thoughts of a child and on the other the sarcasm and dry humour of his grandmother. It is a really touching and moving story, the Character are amazing and very human.

This manga is also really interesting because it is from the child point of view, but years later, a retrospection of his childhood. We read a mix of childish thoughts with the conscience of an adult.

It is a quite accessible read, which a child over 9 years old can read without any problem.

Anyway, It is a perfect manga to read whan you want to take a trip back in time !

Warning: this is my first review ever, and english isn't my first language.
Due to the lack of reviews of this series, i decided to make one myself (but it's probably going to be clumsy, sorry for that).
Gabai is, in my opinion, a wonderful series, and i hope you'll think that after reading my review.
First of all, lets begin with the best:

Characters:9
I only gave it a 9 because of the grandma. She is the single most mature,yet kind individual i've seen in fiction. She is truly respectable and hardworking, and is a role model .
The other characters are nice, but not as well written as ... her (altough i'm fairly sure this manga is based on a real story, so the term "well written" is a bit awkward to use).

Story:8
It is about finding happiness in the small things and being optimistic, even during the hard times. It is told in a true slice of life way though, so i wouldn't recommend this manga to people who don't really like the genre. The only reason i didn't give the story a 10 is because some of the chapters feel really childish (by that i mean, poop jokes and all of that). However, if you can get pass that, i can garrantee this series is absolutely worth it, because of the life lessons provided by the grandma.
In a way, its construction is pretty similar to yokohama kaidashi kikou, so i wouldn't be surprised if people label gabai as iyashikei.
Art:7
The art is detailed but feels really old, so it took me quite a bit of time to truly be involved in the story. I didn't regret it though.

This manga is quite hard to find on the internet though, i was able to read it because i can speak french. That being said, i'm fairly sure there is a TV adaptation of this, so it might be easier to find.
To conclude, gabai was very hard for me to get into but i didn't regret it

If you are looking for the meaning of life; feeling nostalgic; stressed and deprived because of the fast-paced capitalistic world, this is the manga you are looking for.

I did not choose to read the manga voluntarily at first, because the art style was not necessarily my taste. But I read it after it was recommended by a friend, and oh boy was it a life-changing experience!

The manga mainly was about the life of the main character with his grandmother, experiencing day-to-day life in extreme poverty. Every chapter was full of hope and happiness. The story commented on the meaning of life, happiness, family, ... and friendships in a personal, heartfelt way through the mundane stories of life in old-days Japan. It's calming but entertaining, realistic but hopeful. There are many moments that would make you laugh uncontrollably, but also moments that would let you cry even when you felt most numbed.

Great manga overall. 10/10. If you did not read this, you are missing out on one of the greatest slice of life manga of all time.