River's Edge

Mar 23, 2021

Recommended

If you found an abandoned corpse, would you come stare at it whenever you needed to feel better about your life?

River’s Edge is the kind of manga I love to find. While Okazaki Kyoko is one of manga’s foremost and greatest josei authors, she’s tragically under-known in English-speaking communities. Her stories capture a kind of realism that’s both tragic and comedic. People suffer, are victims of their own self-imposed complexes and worries, self-destruct, and yet there’s always a sense of nihilistic levity. To worry too much about the horrors before them is to take life too seriously.

Even then, out of the stories of hers that ... I’ve read, River’s Edge is the darkest. Pink was gleeful and flippant in its slice-of-life portrayal of how much easier life is when you don’t worry too much. Helter Skelter was a grand tragedy, of a larger-than-life celebrity whose facade began to break as she flew too close to the sun. And River’s Edge is grounded, focusing its tragedy on ordinary people, with an air of realism inhabiting every way in which they hurt each other. Unlike those other two, River’s Edge is a study of a larger ensemble cast.

The protagonist, Wakakusa finds herself torn as her reckless boyfriend Kannonzaki bullies the secretly gay Yamada. In helping him, she becomes embroiled in the web of relationships with Yamada’s unsuspecting girlfriend, Kanna, and the young bulimic model Yoshikawa (who you may remember from Helter Skelter). There isn’t a singular goal to this narrative — they carry on with their lives, have conversations, and clash for reasons that feel natural.

Is it really realistic? That depends. No story truly can be, but River’s Edge shows one side of how Okazaki views reality, and I think it’s an interesting one. Most high-school manga are written to embody certain fantasies of that era of life. Okazaki is here to explore its flaws, not in the system, but in the people themselves. There’s certainly a realistic flair to some of the dialogue, in Yoshikawa’s eating disorder, or in Yamada’s sexuality. There’s a great conversation where he calls Wakakusa out for thinking that just because he’s gay, it’s appropriate to ask him overly sexual questions.

It’s the same kind of drama that might seem like it could be fully resolved if everyone just communicated, but this is not your shonen or shojo where they fail to do so just to force conflict. River’s Edge’s characters wouldn’t feel like themselves if they truly told each other how they felt, and that would probably make them hate each other more. It captures the imperfections of people who don’t understand what they really want.

You want to see Wakakusa call out her boyfriend. You want a climactic confrontation where she breaks up with him, pledges to never have anything to do with him again. You don’t get it, and it’s not because this manga is realistic. It’s because Wakakusa is a teenager who was never quite aware enough to realize that would be an option, much less go through with it. That’s not to say it’s a tragedy. In the end, her life goes on in a way you can accept, no longer affected by Kannonzaki’s behavior.

The end is woven surprisingly tight, though, for a story of this nature. Every plotline weaves together naturally, in a way that would betray the sense of realism if not for how well it’s done. It doesn’t feel like an ending Okazaki envisioned and contrived her story toward. It feels like the simple result of who the characters are. That’s the whole appeal of this manga. You won’t get the drama of heightened reality, but the characters are interesting, and they find themselves in interesting situations. It’s more about the people than the message, but the message is as simple as how important it is to treat each other kindly. What hooks you isn’t that simplicity, but the complexity that arises when people fail at that.

On a technical level, Okazaki is as competent as ever. While perhaps off-putting to those used to the stylization so common in the medium, with its simply outlined eyes and mouths, there’s still a careful aesthetic, and plenty of great composition and visual storytelling. The story can be a little more text-driven than it needed to be, and the flow of dialogue bubbles was sometimes unintuitive — flaws I didn’t find in Pink or Helter Skelter. But like those two manga, I would put River’s Edge on a list of great character studies that anybody should read if they’re interested in such a thing, in exploring josei, or in exploring what great manga can be found beyond the mainstream.

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Jan 21, 2023

Wupr

Mixed Feelings

When I first read this manga a few years ago, I thought it was terrible. I did not find any enjoyment in the themes explored, I struggled to relate to any of the characters, and overall I felt like the manga failed to make any kind of strong, powerful statement that would stick to me, seeing as this is the type of manga that appears to have something to say. However, now that I’m reading it again, I’m starting to see that maybe there is some merit to this manga after all.

Now before we delve into what made me reconsider my stance on ... this manga, let's first address what I still hold my grievances towards from my first read: the art. The manga's jarringly ugly art style, in conjunction with the unforgiving walls of text, makes the experience of reading this manga feel like a chore at times. This manga was not easy to get through for me, not because of the content itself but because there was nothing particularly inspiring with how it was presented. However, there are certain moments where you can see a lot of thought put into the timing of certain panels, such as the events that unfold in chapter 4. The juxtaposition of Kannonzaki's adulterous sex presenting itself as a symbol of life and pleasure with Yamada's dire revelation of his secret discovery and the pain he lives through everyday providing a somber contrast to that symbol.

I thought this was a nice analogy with quite brilliant, thought-provoking execution. It makes me think back to the way Haruna described her first time with Kannonzaki (“Sex without the purpose of reproduction holds many contradictions and mysteries”). In this chapter, we witness the first of many contradictions: sex for the “fun” of it. Many people, such as Kannonzaki, seem to strongly hold this idea of sex as an inherent act of love, yet those same people have no qualms having sex completely devoid of it. Whether or not sex implies love is a question outside the scope of this review, but it's certainly true that people behave in incredibly contradictory ways when it comes to love. The way this manga observes Kannonzaki's attachment with Haruna and contrasts it with how he continuously acts in contradiction to this supposed attachment serves to illustrate to the reader a wonderful example of this phenomenon. This was a compelling theme and I think it’s quite well explored within numerous other moments of the story as well. I would delve into more of the nuances, but I'd rather not spoil any more of the story than I have to.

Getting back to Yamada’s pain, I want to get into how Okazaki explores the theme of bullying in the context of romance. Kannonzaki’s merciless harassment of Yamada is nothing short of being utterly disgusting. Haruna does try to restrain Kannonzaki in some ways, but for some reason she chooses to preserve her superficial relationship with him instead of following her moral compass and protecting Yamada. Personally, this relationship frustrates me to no end. Sure, Haruna has poured a lot into this relationship, especially considering that Kannonzaki is the person who she gave her virginity to. Yet, after the horrific acts of torture that Kannonzaki commits against Yamada, why would she do anything other than break up with this asshole? It’s simply something that I don’t understand. However, perhaps that’s the point of it all. I believe that with this complicated relationship, Okazaki offers quite a somber reflection about the limbo state of prolonged futility that many relationships exist under. This relationship exists solely to benefit Kannonzaki’s own ego and to the sheer detriment of Haruna’s happiness. And yet, what is there to hold Haruna back from breaking up with him? It's a question that many of us struggle to ask ourselves. Maybe there's some deep-seated fear of abandoning the status quo, perhaps the social repercussions of a break up would be too much for Haruna to handle, or it could be some other reason that only Haruna could ever truly know. Clearly, it feels like there’s a specific target audience that this manga seeks to relate to. This is a story about trauma and grief. But also, this is a chronicle of our many vices as fragile beings. The things we do to seek attention, the things we do when acting out of our deepest insecurities. A lot more happens in this manga, but again, I'd rather you read the manga for yourself and reflect on your own about those parts.

This manga seeks to tackle a lot, and it does so succinctly. Ultimately, this manga is a statement about how bubbling emotions and our self-obsessed egos work hand-in-hand to foster tragedy. Yet, despite my praise of the themes that I found were explored quite well, I honestly believe it should've honed in on one or two specific themes instead of attempting the Herculean challenge of crafting a multidimensional masterpiece in just one volume. Ideally, it'd be the themes I mentioned in this review. I haven't even addressed some very prevalent aspects of this manga, like Yamada's sexuality, his girlfriend, and anything relating to Kozue because I feel that these aspects weren't nearly as compelling or well-explored. Nevertheless, I enjoyed what this manga was able to accomplish and I’m glad I gave it another shot. Overall, I think this manga does a solid job at bringing up certain issues about love, both the love towards others and the love towards oneself, but feels bereft of much of its potential depth due to its tediously zealous onslaught of ideas and a general sense of over-ambition.

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Aug 19, 2020

-_-Val

Recommended

First I want to warn you that there will be spoilers, not much but there will be, I am not a native English speaker, and I am sorry for any mistakes I make. We started.

River's Edge, Netflix passed me by and recommended his film, I was going to start watching it but I realized that it's an adaptation of a 1993 manga, although it's not the eighth wonder of the world either.

Story 8/10
Well the story is “innovative” in the 90s because well... this kind of plot was very interesting and touches on taboo subjects for the land of the rising sun (knowing that they are ... very conservative), like homosexuality, I would have liked Yamada's homosexuality, Haruna and Kannozaki's relationship and other characters to have developed a little more (I will talk about this later). I also want to emphasize about the corpse, this had some symbolism or what?, what I understood was that 2 crazy people found a corpse and when they need to calm down, they go to the corpse and relax, WTF? Well, as I said, two crazy people, what can you expect? And about Haruna's reaction to the body... I don't know, she's just another crazy person like the two of them. Take a step back, don't let them know you're leaving and run to the police, I don't know if what I said makes sense but that's the way I see it.

Art 7/10
Well, I'm not much of a critic of animation and this kind of thing because, well, I don't know anything about drawing but I can identify when it's a bad drawing and when it's not. This style of drawing is not the best but I like it, a simple and fresh drawing style for the year the story takes place and when it was published.

Characters 6/10
I have mixed feelings here... but of the bad
Well I would like to talk about each one individually but it would take too long, so I will do my best.
Yamada is a poor boy who is bothered, shy and quiet but surprise, surprise, it's GAY!... for me it's not interesting, I feel that he doesn't innovate much, I don't know if it's because this kind of characters are burned
Haruna is a normal girl, but she's got a screw loose in her head. Her friendship with Yamada is very rare for me, but she enjoys it, it's nothing big but GOD, when I say that this girl has a screw loose in her head it's because I say it with reason, first you have a boyfriend who likes to hit everyone who crosses him, he hits your BFF, possessive, he has relations with your other BFF, you say you don't love him, but they have sex and the worst, he rapes you and the 2 crazy people are watching that and leave her alone, that is to say, bad friends, with those friends so that enemies. Anyway, the hypocrisy. What kind of girl goes around with a guy like that?
Yoshikawa, a girl who didn't really make sense of the plot. A crazy girl who likes to see dead bodies like Yamada and kills cats too, what was the point of her being part of the main characters? That she turns Haruna into a lesbian? We'll never know.

Enjoyment 7/10
Like I said, it's not the wonder but it's not the swill either, it's enjoyable, you want to read something fast? This is for you buddy.

In conclusion, a good manga that could give more, had an interesting story but as long as we advance little by little it declines, either because of its characters that lack more development or because it's an open ending. What I did like about his epilogue is that as he makes it very clear. In life, we know thousands of people but there will be a moment when they will no longer be there, even if it hurts, it is the law of life.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day

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Feb 4, 2021

rti9

Recommended

When we read stories about adolescence in manga and anime, we usually see idealized bits of how exciting life could or should have been. River's Edge does the opposite and focuses on the harsh and bleak existence of pubescence.

The cast is composed of deeply flawed characters who are intertwined in a web of complex relationships. We witness the cruelty of children in growing bodies, trivial gossip, vapid affairs, and the desperate search for love and some identity. This is the modern teenage life.

A peculiar friendship is formed among Haruna Wakakusa, Ichiro Yamada, and Kozue Yoshikawa. Wakakusa is a proactive girl who befriends Yamada due to ... him being the bullying victim of her boyfriend. Yamada, a handsome quiet boy who is secretly in love with another boy, takes Wakakusa to see something he treasures: the body of a dead person he has found. Strangely enough, this corpse is not only cherished by him, but by Yoshikawa, a beautiful student who has lately become famous due to her acting and modeling gigs. It is impressive how rich and elaborate the characters are. They can be brilliant and right after do something incredibly stupid. They can be gentle and then do something brutal. The characters here are more realistic than what we usually see. They contain both logical and irrational traits at the same time.

While reading I couldn't help but keep asking myself why does Wakakusa keep going out with her boyfriend? She hates his bullying nature, does not seem to enjoy his company, and doesn't seem to find much pleasure in his physical contact. But then I ask myself, how many couples have I known in real life that don't seem to match at all, and they persist in an ephemeral state. The problem is that most of the time we don't know the history of their relationship to understand what kind of bond they truly have. We only have a partial perspective of their connection. We can only guess what is going on in Wakakusa's head. Does she feel lonely due to her parents divorce and needs a boyfriend even if he is someone she doesn't love? Does she not want to be like her parents and doesn't want to let go of this insipid relation in fear that she will end up like her parents? Is keeping him as a boyfriend a way to protect her newfound friend by keeping checks on his bully? Does she feel like having someone to interact physically better than feeling nothing at all? Or is this just a typical teenage misjudgement that after a few years she will look back and question why the hell did she do that?

The art-style is expressive and does seem to fit the raw emotions and the rough existence the characters live in, but it is definitely a bit too simplistic to be appreciated. It seems rather to emphasize more how good the writing is as opposed to the art.

This manga is more for people who don't expect a nostalgic or escapist look towards the modern teenage life. This is a bitter tale of three unusual friends trying to find some meaning in life in own their juvenile ways.

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Feb 22, 2022

bitterpapaya

Recommended

This is one of my favorite manga, i love the story, i love the characters, i love how it leaves me in this melancholic feelings.

It's the kind of manga that I keep coming back to, I read it in middle school, discovering it after I finished Helter Skelter. It changes how I see life, it made me realizes some things about life.

My favorite quote in this manga is;
"We had chattered endlessly after school, so that we wouldn't have to say something"

I like how the settings are so mundane, for a person who lives near industrial area of the town, I get this feeling that ...

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Nov 27, 2023

Galletita

Mixed Feelings

River´s Edge can be a painful read. Exploring sensitive topics ranging from eating disorders to sexual violence and abortion, it is a brutal yet sincere portray of the struggles of the youth in 90s Japan. The story is mostly told from the perspective of Haruna Wakakusa, a high school girl in an extremely toxic relationship disillusioned with her peers and and everything surrounding her life. She soon meets and befriends Ichiro Yamada, a fellow classmate viciously bullied by Haruna´s boyfriend and his friends.

Haruna´s and Ichiro´s shared struggles and bonding through their harsh experiences in this bleak society is the main narrative drive of the manga, ...

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Jun 30, 2024

LuxuriousHeart

Recommended

Another good read by Kyoko Okazaki. This is an accurate portrayal of the problems of the youth. It's similar to Kimi ni Todoke with the topic, but this is a grittier version. Much grittier. Kimi ni Todoke does talk about struggles of youth, but there's a light hearted aspect to that and an optimistic tone. Kimi ni Todoke is idealistic in a way. River's Edge is a gritty and harsh reality, and there's no optimistic tone. Just the dull and gritty reality.

The characters are actually fantastic. They feel like realistic characters, even if they have a ... few screws loose. You almost get a sort of second hand embarrassment when you see the actions of their characters, because they mirror the mistakes you've made as a kid. And not in a literal sense, but the overall idea. For example, I'm sure we've seen a friend do something morally wrong, but we never told the teacher on them. Or when that friend just does something so bad that you absolutely HAVE to call out their behavior, and it's just that sort of awkward moment where they know they've gone to far. We've probably held onto something that was actively making our life worse (a friend, a bf/gf, a hobby, etc). And yet, we just held onto it... And then you look back and wonder, why DID I hold onto it? Why didn't I just give it up? Looking back, that was stupid. That sort of moral dilemma is what makes these characters feel real. Even how it ends is realistic. Sometimes a crush is never confessed. I remember talking to a person in real life, and I told them that I had a loyal crush on someone and that I had never confessed my crush. The last thing I told my crush was "good bye! Good luck with college!" Life isn't the average romcom for most people. You don't get closure to every situation. Sometimes, there's no rainbow at the end. Things will remain the same. When they do change, it's never in a satisfying way. It's just a "well, that's it... Bye!"

The themes in this are so strong! You have the struggle of fame, bulimia, not wanting to upset the status quo, comphet, outward misogyny, internalized misogyny, being jealous of your siblings, etc. This shows all the struggles that teens hold in, and shows their bad sides. It's a perfect contrast with every scene. Sex and pleasure contrasted with the fascination of a dead body. A guy in a seemingly happy relationship contrasted with a guy that's annoyed with his girlfriend. The pretty sibling contrasted with the ugly sibling. The successful sibling contrasted with the screw up. The comphet that's due to people keeping their feelings hidden, but also due to society projecting an image on people. Like a girl assuming that her gay boyfriend is uninterested in her, due to him cheating with another girl. Or a guy assuming that his lesbian girlfriend is cheating on him with another guy. Two lesbians with a crush on each other not confessing, because they assume that the other is straight. A gay guy not confessing to his crush, because his crush has a girl friend. And there's never any closure to these situations. The lesbians are doomed Yuri. Holding these feelings for each other, but being separated in the end. The gay guy never able to confess his feelings, and being haunted by his ex girlfriend. The bulimia within the entertainment district. Having to deal with the fake and vapid world of show business, while presenting a pleasant smile. Internalized misogyny of sleeping with your friend's boyfriend and trying to break them up because they're not a good match. And she was right... But like... There were ulterior motives for that good advice. It wasn't from the heart...

I'm just rambling at this point tbh. Though the point is, the story is good. It's something that makes you think. It's realistic and so gritty and raw. Life isn't determined for us or an easy path for most of it. It's a step by step process. There isn't always a grand purpose to anything. Sometimes, the person you're meant to be with, is just not available for you to date for reasons. Seriously, I wanted a character to just break up with her boyfriend and be with her friend, and be the lesbian that she was meant to be. Though life doesn't always work out that way. That's the theme of the works of Kyoko Okazaki. Life doesn't work out the way you expected, some things are anti-climatic, and desires don't always get you what you want.

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