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DISCLAIMER: this review was written before I learned that this is a collection of true stories which largely changes how one interprets the story ofc so a large majority of this review isn't really applicable anymore but I spent enough time writing it that I don't want to just erase it from existence

I really do wish I could say that I enjoyed Yomawari Sensei more than I did but throughout a good chunk of my reading experience and time reflecting on it after I've finished it, just feels like a work with so much genuine heart that just couldn't live up to it's potential.

The ... main cause of that sense of missed potential largely comes from it's nature as a collection of short vignettes. That's not an issue in and of itself; plenty of great stories have been told in that format but when this manga tells it's stories, which contain many sensitive and nuanced topics the short-form comes back to bite it because it robs a lot of these stories of satisfying conclusions. Compounding on this is the issues with the main character Osamu Mizutani. For the most part Mizutani is a good character, his personality is well characterised, his motivations are clear and his drive is admittedly actually pretty inspiring especially when it's juxtaposed with the times we see him fail or doubt himself. That being said unfortunately he often comes across as quite one-note most of the time like he was written to just be the fix-all for whatever kid is going through hardships this time there really isn't anything you can nail down about who Mizutani is besides his relentless pursuit of cleaning up the streets and helping all the children he can, you really don't get to learn anything about who he is outside of that. There are a couple of chapters where there's a little ending portion showing you his childhood and even a full chapter dedicated to him during an earlier period in his teaching but it never really amounts to anywhere near enough to get a clear picture of who Mizutani is. Ending out the bad is just a little minor personal complaint about how the series handles it's more sensitive topics in specific cases, the manga often presents the same simple solutions to really complex issues the characters are going through, it can feel a bit mishandled at times.

Onto the good though, when the manga does afford itself some time to stick with one story instead of immediately jumping to the next you end up with some of stuff that's stuck with me more than anything else I've read recently. The simultaneously best and most disappointing part about that is, that these stories are all so well written and so emotionally powerful they really don't need much time to be so incredible especially in comparison to other manga which would usually take way more time and focus to deliver the same impact. Yomawari Sensei really only needs 3 chapters at most to give you story with significant emotion and lessons to consider. The art and atmosphere of the manga is also worth mentioning, the characters facial expressions are rendered with so much care and nuance, helping make them feel as real as possible which really aids the manga during it's many emotional highs. The environments of the night school and all the locals within Yokohama are drawn in such a way that they really stick in your mind and feel significant with all the stark black everywhere given that the manga takes place mostly during the night time.

Overall, Yomawari Sensei is still a story I would recommend to more people than not; only because the incredible high points of emotion and lessons about how precious life is and how it's important to persevere through struggles are worth sitting through the all the stories that unfortunately miss their mark and fail to deliver in that same way.

I don't really know what to call this story other than a bitesize truly disturbing experience with some good really unique art, which in the end fails to really say or do anything of substance in it's runtime.

I didn't gain anything from this experience nor did I feel much enjoyment in my short read time, perhaps as a result of the short length of the work as well as the low average amount of content per-chapter due to most of it being taken up by the admittedly good art it fails to establish a coherent plot or purpose/message for all the disturbing violence that goes ... on in these 11 chapters aside from maybe the notion that people like the main character will continue to be born into the world as long as society exists but that as far as I'm concerned isn't a statement of much value, it doesn't offer any commentary for example on how disturbed individuals like this are viewed by society or how their actions effect others. Because of that I find it hard to visualise what the goal of this work was, and hey maybe there wasn't one and the violence on display is simply meant to shock which it definitely succeeded at.

I wouldn't say I hate this work however rather in terms of it's quality I would argue its rather inoffensive and in terms of it's themes it fails to say anything of substance and it's simply carried by the art and the shock value that keeps you interested. Just a thoroughly average work.