Gin no Saji
Silver Spoon

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

tl;dr: A manga that has good character development and makes agriculture interesting, but drags on too long and meanders into its ending.

This manga is about a boy named Hachiken who due to having a mental breakdown due to the pressure of trying to keep up academically, abruptly decides to attend Ooezo Agricultural High School. The thing is, having lived in a city all his life, it’s an entirely new world to him. Thus, he very much feels like a fish out of water, finding everything that comes across his path as surprising and having to get used to everything. However, he’s also “the man that ... can’t say no” so despite how hesitant he is, even fearful at times, he still ends up being pulled into various things and due to his serious personality, he gives everything he does his all. He forms a lot of bonds, casual acquaintances, deep friendships, and even a romantic relationship.

In doing all this he goes through tremendous character growth. He starts off the series with a very narrow view of the world, unsure of what he wants to do with his life, and unsure of what he could even do. And furthermore, he has a complex about being so unsure about things and just directionlessly doing whatever he gets pulled into, which compounds on itself for an even stronger feeling of pressure. But over the course of the series, he overcomes that, coming to view his lack of a dream as the presence of endless opportunity. He comes to view his inability to refuse getting involved with things as a major asset and proactively tries to broaden his horizons. And eventually that leads to him finding what he too wants to do with his life and pursuing it at full throttle.

Furthermore, while this is a story of major character growth, even at the start of the series Hachiken is far from a lame protagonist. He’s pretty unique in his class due to the fact that he’s attending despite not having a background in farming, that results in him having skills that others don’t and bringing a fresh perspective. He has moments where he does things that no one else is capable of doing and where he definitely shines. And just as much as others bring about character growth in him, he’s a key part in the stories of those around him as well. There’s an assortment of very unique characters that surround Hachiken. Most don’t really get much in terms of character development, though are still pretty likable and feel worth getting invested in due to the general group dynamics. But a couple, Mikage and Komaba, have very strong development during stories of their own.

The agriculture aspect was also very interesting. It’s not a topic that I have a lot of knowledge about, with the anime adaptation of this being my first introduction to pretty much all the subject matter. It’s also not a topic I’m particularly fond of as, to be frank, I kind of hate nature in general and am a city slicker through and through. Despite that the writing in this was very appealing, written in a way that avoided getting too textbooky while also providing a lot of information. Hachiken being a newcomer to everything but immensely curious and very expressive about everything he learned helped tremendously with that. It was also well paced going through things fast enough that they didn’t get boring but slow enough they were easy to understand. And of course, the constant comedy sprinkled throughout was also definitely a plus. The manga also tackled various controversial farming related topics, such as factory farming or international trade, through a pretty realistic lens, wherein it presented a reasonable take on the different sides of the issue without getting preachy about anything but still allowing Hachiken to have his own opinions.

My main problem with the series is that all of this applies to the first two thirds of the manga, the first year of high school. The last third, which went through the next two years with an epilogue carrying beyond that, was nowhere near as good to the point I’d say it was bad even. The first issue is that it essentially felt like everything was pretty much decided by the end of Hachiken’s first year. Character arcs were still going to a degree, but they had already passed through all the core parts so the trajectory was clear for the rest and in the last third it pretty much just follows through with what was already established in the first two thirds. As such, it’s not able to hit emotional highs anywhere near as strong the first two thirds. It kind of felt like it was just going through the motions of showing the characters as they continued to live their lives without actually trying to tell much of a story with them.

The second issue is that Hachiken isn’t really much of an outsider past his first year, so there just isn’t anywhere near as strong a sense of curiosity or discovery, and it starts getting somewhat repetitive. The agricultural subject matter it delves into I also found to be far less interesting, being less general and more focused on narrow business uses without really tying all that well into character arcs. It also spends a lot of time focusing on things completely unrelated to agriculture, like college exams, which are pretty generic and weren’t written particularly well here so they were pretty dull.

The third issue is the pacing, which was all over the place. It goes through time skips to go through the following two years within half the time it went through the first so it feels rushed in a broader sense, but in doing so it also feels like it often lacks a sense of direction or focus and thus at times it felt like it was moving too slowly. Because of the final stretch not being very good, the ending and epilogue, while really solid in and of itself, just don’t carry much impact and thus it kind of feels like the manga just fizzled out really slowly. Personally, I think it would have been better to have crammed a bit more into the final stretch of Hachiken’s first year and then gone straight from there into the time skip epilogue.

The art I wasn’t much of a fan of. I suppose how it tackled the more technical aspects was somewhat impressive. But the character designs and art style in general were too simplistic and not all that high quality, and with the premise also being one where what’s being portrayed doesn’t stand out visually and is very grounded it very rarely had art that stood out.

Today's review is that of the second most notorious work of Hiromu Arakawa, "Silver Spoon". A comical, coming-of-age, agricultural-themed manga of which I grew really fond.

Its story revolves on Yugo Hachiken, a kid who following the failling of his high-school entrance exam decides to run away from his family to an agricultural high school at the very edge of Hokkaido, in Tokachi. There he meets a lot of new friends and learns to look towards the future with a smile on his face, unlike in the past. Comical and emotional scenes abound, being the former the most recurrent of all, and in my opinion, Arakawa's ... humour never fails to make me laugh in the oddest of ways. The passing of time in the manga was a little confusing to me, although that's a problem of mine. It's refreshing to see all the characters mature and evolve through their high-school days, so in the end it has been to my liking.

The art is simply Arakawa's. I can't think of any way to rate it, really. It's unique in its own way, and I just simply like it.

I've grown fond of virtually all the characters (except those who appeared as freshmen, they are pretty forgettable), since they could easily be distinguished for their personalities. I also have to say that I saw quite a lot of characters whose design was more or less the same as some Fullmetal Alchemist's characters. My favourite character is, without a doubt, the cheese girl, I can relate with her love for cheese.

Overall, I've really enjoyed the manga, despite the parts where the author gets technical about agricultural tecniques and concepts. It's interesting, but forgettable and sometimes tedious, owing to the amount of text per strip. I'd really reccomend it if you liked Fullmetal Alchemist and/or enjoy this kind of coming-of-age type stories.

Silver Spoon | Gin no Saji Manga Review. A manga made by the FMA author. Can it hold up to the fame and recognition that Full metal alchemist has made?

No.

Note: I watched the anime both seasons before reading the manga. Though i did also concurrently read the manga while i was at it.

S1 Review: https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=358718

S2 Review: https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=358855

Silver Spoon starts off with the the MMC who is highly academic joining a school focuses on agriculture. He later joins the 'horse club', which i refuse to write the official name, cuz you know he's got a crush on the main heroine like all main characters do. Throw ... in some situations. Parental issues, and character hijinks and you got yourself a slice of life series about farming.

The series actually starts of pretty strong. Making the main character very likable. The side characters funny and not the annoying kind (mostly). The heroine is fun and the series in general is wholesome. Much of the series being SOL is actually very good in trying to keep your attention while simultaneously being funny and important. Some of my favorite are the people working together on a goal.

For the first 2/3rds of the series (the first 2 seasons worth) I was pretty enthralled by the series. They were problems here and there but overall they weren't a big issue. The series was wholesome. The romantic tension was nice. The heroines adorable. The MMC's father had an incredible Chiseled jawline. Like damn. Making me question my own damn heterosexuality. (nothing like making the same joke twice).

But then the series starts slipping. When the idea of the starting there own company starts. The series starts slipping. The cracks started showing in S2 but it still wasn't that big of a problem. But in the last strech, nitpicks become issues, issues becomes problems and so forth. Its quite sad that the series just looses the magic of the original. Its not a lengthy series so i can't just forgive the final arc for being weak since the good part lasts so long.

Part of the problem was that the last arc just felt like it was draggin on and on. The romance felt like it was being extended just out of no reason. And overall the problems just felt like it was piling on and solving without real weight behind it.

They do dive somewhat into killing animals that you consider as pets but that part never really shocked me. I feel like the author was partially hoping seeing farm animals and the reality behind would keep the series more entertaining but honestly i have butchered goats myself. Killing animals isn't really unusual or shocking for me. Including animals that you have may have been a bit more attached too.

TLDR: As far as the farming aspects go its more realistic end. But in terms of power of freindship and everything getting a happy ending it just loses me. Its kind of tough but i just think with the mediocrity of the final arc i will have to drop my score from a must read. 6/10. Also if you think that my review isn't giving it enough credit. Maybe read the TLDR of my S1 and S2 reviews.