La Quinta Camera

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Whenever I read one of Natsume Ono’s works I can help but feel compelled enough to write a review each time I finish one of them. La Quinta Camera appears to be the work that got her off the ground as a web comic before becoming a single volume manga itself. Before reading this I had already became enamored with her other manga Not Simple and Danza, both of which share similar themes this entry in terms of international travel, meeting strangers, food, coffee, and enjoying the simple pleasures of life, among other themes. I knew I was going to like this after the first ... chapter.

The premise of four middle aged men living in a place together who take in students coming abroad. It’s a very homey feeling and you gather a sense of coziness and warmth from their interactions and familial spirits. Each character has a distinct personality that becomes evident real quick within the first few pages each one is introduced. Watching them interact returns past memories of me and my friends, or even a collective of family members, interact in an evening. As the manga goes on you see how much their living situation changes and how friendships were even formed in the first place. There is simply a lot of change happening over the course of this one volume manga.

The art is pretty standard, or would be standard, as this was one of the first, if not the first, Ono worked on at the start of her career in 2003. The minimalist artwork achieves wonders for each panel and really emphasize that this setting and the characters feel much different than any other manga that is set in Japan and features an entire cast of Japanese people. You naturally believe this is set in Italy and the stylized drawing truly illustrate this.

The story, as I’ve went on about, is a nice one at that, but I wish it was only longer. I would have enjoyed so much if these characters and their lives were spread out along a few more volumes. This way I could grow even further attached to each one of them and had more opportunities to explore their lives. I don’t know if the webcomic happens to be longer, shorter, or completely different from this published material, but it begs the question of this story could have been milked a little more. I joke “milk” because the pace of LQC is already lovely enough as is... I just could have used more of it all and more time alone with the different characters and their time together. I wish I could have felt lived in with them. Give me more episodic moments with them all!

I cannot praise Ono’s work enough. My biggest critique for a great piece is, as cliche as it always seems to occur, is that there wasn’t enough of it. With that as LQC’s single big connotation, I see no real reason why more people are not giving this one a try. If you can gather a good ol’ time with any one of Ono’s other projects, anime or manga, then you should attempt the joy of LQC and all of its comfy life stored inside.