Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou

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Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (abbreviated to YKK outside Japan) is an example of the proverbial “diamond in the coal mine”. Written and drawn by Ashinano Hitoshi, the manga was serialized in Kodansha's [b]Afternoon[/b] magazine for almost 12 years, and has gathered a number of devoted fans around the world despite the lack of licensed English translations. This comes as no surprise since it is one of the few series which deserves to be treated as a works of literature rather than of pop culture. YKK is a testament to the true potential of manga and the series is recognized as such, having been deemed worthy of ... Afternoon magazine's Four Seasons Award for debut works as well as the 2007 Seiun Award for Best Science Fiction Manga.

[b]Story (9.7) & Characters (10)[/b]

YKK is a science fiction story as it is set in a future after an unspecified large-scale disaster and the main character, Alpha Hatsuseno, is a robot who looks human. However, this is where any similarity to "regular" sci-fi ends. There are no spaceships, lasers, or mecha of any sort. Instead, older technology such as scooters, radios, propeller-driven aircrafts and the like, are very much still in use. This is reflective of the rural lifestyle that humanity has adopted in the story and adds to the easygoing pace of the manga. This tranquil, almost bittersweet feeling is reflected in the art style, the characters, and even the manner in which the story is delivered.

The story is told mainly from the perspective of Alpha Hatsuseno as she meets old friends, makes new ones, and casually explores the world around her. The most unusual fact about Alpha is that she isn't human, but a type A7M2 robot who looks human and is capable of feeling emotions. The story begins with Alpha taking a trip to Yokohama to buy coffee beans. She has been alone for some time as she waits for her "owner" to return from wherever he has disappeared to and, being immortal, she has decided that she can wait as long as it takes. In the meantime, she runs Café Alpha, a small coffee shop in the middle of nowhere which her owner left in her care.

Besides Alpha, several other characters also appear throughout the series. Some are shown regularly like Oji-san and his grandson Takahiro who run the gas station near the café. Others turn up less frequently such as the anonymous café customer and the mysterious Misago, an ageless wild woman who only appears before children. Next to Alpha, the other most prominently featured character is Kokone Takatsu, a type A7M3 robot. Kokone is effectively Alpha’s younger sister (production-wise that is), and as their friendship grows, she begins to develop romantic feelings for Alpha which later stir her curiosity about the history and nature of the A7 series.

Although the other characters do not enjoy as much exposure as Alpha does, several are given sufficient development to be memorable in their own right and their experiences serve as important reference points that highlight the passage of time. Through them, the reader is shown the great expanse of the story spanning the landscape and the era.

One of the most notable achievements of YKK is the manner in which the characters enhance each other throughout the series, and how Alpha gains a new perspective on life through her encounters with them. The interactions between the characters are often laconic and unhurried. Because of this, each encounter gains a languid, almost dreamlike quality that is far more memorable than what can be found in many other slice of life manga.

[b]Art (9.7)[/b]

The art in YKK contributes greatly to the relaxed atmosphere of the manga. Ashinano’s style is evocative of the simple yet fantastic nature of the world. In several parts of the manga, commonplace scenes are given an ethereal quality. This, together with the character designs and Ashinano’s unusual use of blank space, gives the art style a surreal characteristic that at times appears almost paradoxical. As with any long running series, the art style has evolved and improved over time.

Ashinano Hitoshi's character designs are perplexingly both spare and meticulous. Each character’s face is basic yet highly expressive; a stark contrast to their elegantly elaborate clothing and accoutrements. This unusual style is further enhanced by the picturesque backdrops and settings which the characters find themselves in. In addition to this, Ashinano has made wonderful use of blank space to emphasize the amount of detail in the characters and settings, something which is more prominently highlighted in the beautiful colored illustrations and panels that appear in the manga. This style of artwork focuses not only on the locations, but on the characters themselves and serves to enhance the reader's empathy towards each character.

From the most beautiful parts of nature to fantastic creations of Ashinano’s imagination (giant sunflowers, underwater streetlights, water gods, kamas, and many other wonders that Alpha discovers), each object and location in YKK helps to transport the reader more deeply into Alpha’s world. Not only is it easy to understand what she is feeling about her surroundings from the art alone, but the simple beauty serves as a way of deeply understanding not only the intricacies of her world, but of ours as well.

[b]Enjoyment (10)[/b]

Many readers have hailed YKK as the epitome of the slice of life genre and, given the premise, this may be no exaggeration. The series makes exceptional use of “mono no aware” (a Japanese term used to express the awareness of the transient nature of things, and the bittersweet sadness at their passing), and the time period in which the story is set makes the use of this especially poignant. In Alpha's words "It looks like the twilight of this age has quietly arrived. I think I'll be around 'til these twilight years end."

Reading YKK is without doubt one of the most unique and wonderful experiences in manga. Each chapter is filled with a calm, inviting feeling that pulls the reader into the story like a lucid dream. Alpha is without doubt one of the most engaging characters ever created, combining childlike innocence with reflective maturity. The story is remarkable in both its simplicity and its complexity as the reader is taken on a journey of discovery about themselves, the world around them, and the transient nature of things, whilst the art perfectly resonates with both of these elements to produce an atmosphere like no other.

Melancholy yet hopeful, exciting yet wistful, joyful yet sad, YKK is a singular achievement in manga that is deserving of the title "Masterpiece", and should be afforded a place amongst the great works of modern literature.



[b]OVERALL - 10[/b]



This review is the final result of a review team composed of members from the [b]"Critics and Connoisseurs"[/b] club. The team members were:

[b]Anomalous[/b] - writer and editor
[b]Archaeon[/b] - writer and editor
[b]Yuunagi[/b] - writer and editor

Here are their individual scorings for the Manga:
Category - Anomalous, Archaeon, Yuunagi

Story - 9, 10, 10
Art - 10, 10, 9
Character - 10, 10, 10
Enjoyment - 10, 10, 10
Overall - 10, 10, 10

[b]In the club wide poll held for Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou it received an average overall rating of 8.83[/b]

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is a pretty chill series .I would not call it special or something ,but it was a pretty nice read .I also liked the concept of time and growing up ,which were a big part of the series

The art was cute ,I really enjoyed the authors artstyle ,it kinda made me nostalgic for some reason

The characters were fun to watch , I can't say I disliked any of them.

Another really good thing about the series is that it can be read really fast as it has little dialogue.

Overall, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is a pretty decent and cute series,I would recommend it ,but ... keep in mind that there are no shocking moments ,plotwists and such

“The spaces between the lines on a page epitomize the bulk of your life… but oh does that not make for a banal narrative?” — Krunchyman

Has Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata taught us nothing about the art of slice-of-life? Over the years, I have entertained a myriad of the aforementioned genre in hopes of finding a relative facsimile of the famed Studio Ghibili. Shows like Mushishi, Haibane Renmei, A Whisker Away and A Silent Voice have been nothing short of utter disappointments and have soured my tastes for the genre. Even the preordained replacement of Miyazaki, Mamoru Hosoda, feels like an extremely ... watered down version of the anime master. Before the audience gets the wrong idea, Hosoda’s Wolf Children is probably the best slice-of-life I’ve seen outside of a Studio Ghibli project; that being said, the rest of his works are rather jejune and uninspired. The problem, however, does not rest at the doorstep of the genre itself, but the manner in which most directors approach the genre. And if we consider the creative process, it’s really an issue of apprehension. Directors and mangaka’s are fully aware of the infinitesimal attention span of younger audiences, hence they throw in sexualized scenes, prosaic jokes, and character quirks that do not feel natural in the least; which makes the whole notion of labeling numerous works slice-of-‘LIFE’ rather nonsensical; Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (YKK) does little-to-nothing to change my opinion on this matter.

YKK features a disaster-stricken world where most people live in sparse towns and spend their days lazing about whilst drinking coffee. While YKK is not a tale about mental health or nihilism, I couldn’t help but wonder if the manga panel featuring a gun sitting on the table while Alpha is sipping on her coffee was a reference to an Albert Camus quote, “should I kill myself, or have a cup of coffee?” Philosophical pondering aside, YKK is about the life of Alpha (an A7-M2 model robot) as she lives her cheerful life in her quaint town. As the reader quickly learns, most chapters are placid affairs and many of them contain little-to-no exposition whatsoever. This minimalist approach is quite rare these days and is generally encouraged to permit the viewer to enter a meditative experience about the conundrums of life; however, the conundrums of life are nowhere to be seen in YKK, making the experience in congruent to the human experience. In other words, the characters of YKK feel like idyllic, unrealistic versions of what humans truly are, giving the reader no base in which they can identify with the characters in a meaningful fashion. Life, after all, is about struggling with one’s inner desires and instincts, but when a work of art discounts the essence of life — it is already dead!

One cannot help to draw a parallel with Alpha’s existence and the surface world of Texhnolyze. Both of which are nihilistic ‘paradises’ in which comfort and security of prioritized over the grind of creating a better version of oneself. As a point of contrast, Isao Takahata’s, Only Yesterday, takes the ‘banality’ of human existence and brings to LIFE all of its good and bad aspects. The highs and lows of numerous Studio Ghibli films give the viewer a sense of purpose and fulfillment, even when purpose itself doesn’t exactly exist; whereas YKK is a symbolic representation of heaven, in which you must be comatose to ‘enjoy.’ This is why random scenes in which Alpha takes a bath with Takahiro or the transfer of information between robots through kissing (female kissing, by the way) are used to liven things up, if you will. But all this did was remind the reader that most ‘artists’ in the manga industry are rather indolent, and prefer to give the reader superficial experiences as opposed to literary depth.

It still boggles the mind, though, that YKK, Mushishi, Haibane Renmei, and the like have fooled numerous people into believing that this typifies life — let alone art.