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Shimeji Simulation has been mangaka, Tsukumizu's latest project since the completion of Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryoukou. Like SSR, it focuses on two ordinary (enough) girls in extraordinary circumstances, and like its predecessor, it is a Slice of Life+ story i.e. SoL framed by larger-than-life occurrences in the world.

Where SSR places our protagonists in a post-apocalyptic megacity, not unlike Blame! that has already seen its fair share of apocalypses, Shimeji Simulation introduces us to the normal, unremarkable town of West Yomogi. Of course things couldn't be farther from normal: the town's geography may change overnight, the laws of physics break every now and then, and of course ... it's not odd to see characters wearing random objects upon their heads as if being parts of the characters' bodies. Indeed, the main character, Tsukishima Shijima has Shimeji mushrooms sprouting from one side of her head, and her best friend Yamashita Majime is always seen sporting a fried egg.

The important distinction to be made about surrealism in this manga, however, is that characters, while not in complete ignorance of the surreal events surrounding them, react as they would to a heavy snowfall or a particularly rainy weekend. For example, when an odd occurrence befalls Shijima and Majime's school, we don't see mobs of reporters, police, and scientists crowding the area but school staff busily moving the students along to get class in session as best they can - all of course, to the chagrin of students who were sure they would get the day off. For a number of chapters, these things tend to happen like oddities of the month, and in less-skilled hands, this structure would quickly grow stale, but surrealism is only one aspect of the manga.

I have recently taken to calling Tsukumizu a "Master in melancholy". His writing is sad but rarely outright tragic and lacking any single object of sadness that one can easily point a finger at and quantify. Shijima acts as the narrator, and through her commentary, we see each strange development through an existential lens: ruminations about the human experience, the meaning of humanity and life, and at times, dancing around the idea that there may be no inherent meaning at all.

With no prior knowledge of the manga and mangaka, readers may be rightfully surprised by the dissonance between the very moe art and very moody tone. In terms of style, Tsukumizu has taken aspects of moe nearly to the level of self-parody. Characters resemble potatoes that possess the properties of flan. Normally when I see this big a difference between visuals and tone and/or theme, such juxtaposition was intentional in order to serve the narrative, but this is simply Tsukumizu's style. Any existential dread, elegiac resignation, or whatever ennui he chooses to communicate is again, just his style. In this fashion, Shimeji Simulation is a work of great sincerity.

It's as nice to look at as it is to ponder in the late hours of the day. It's also a manga I highly recommend to everyone.