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The depressing reality of a middle aged manga artist. Vulgar, intimate, rough. Everything in his life is going wrong, the only hope he finds is in young prostitutes. It is just a short glimpse into this life, so short that I personally gained nothing from this story. The best thing about this genre is that it usually makes you feel emotions, but it did not do that for me. It is Asano, so it is written really well, you will be captivated and have no problem reading it in one go. I would only really suggest it to people who are interested in manga artists, ... even as someone who is a fan of this genre and artist.

A lighthearted comedy slice of life centered around one joke- a berserk yakuza turned househusband. There is no storyline, every chapter is an excursion in Tatsu’s life. There is no depth either, nothing to make you care for these characters. The charm is how the author makes everyday mundane activities fun and entertaining. Even with all these flaws, you will not be bored. The art and dialogue are above average for this genre. If you are a big fan of these genres, this is probably an 8/10, but if you value emotional power above all else as I do, I think you will have close ... to the same rating.

I think the strongest point of solanin was its relatability. It’s a story of people in their early 20s trying to find their way through life, revolving around the classic debate of the hard, uncertain or easy, stable path, whether it's in their career or romance. In other words, the fear of following your passion. To me, the story is nothing special, but that’s the whole point, the characters, plot, world is nothing unique, and Asano wanted it that way. I think he wanted to make a manga people could fully relate to, even at the deficit of entertainment, to impact them in a way ... other works could not. That is the métier of Inio Asano’s work, he will put realism over everything.

Part 1:

This is the pinnacle of masculinity. The entire show is based on the pillars of it, I don’t think I could watch a show with a clearer, simpler definition of manliness. The art and music is fantastic, but the downside is the characters and story, which are usually.. the most important parts. The characters are extremely simple, there is no realness between the fantasy that creates relatable, and it does not even have a compelling story. It is truly, just two guys trying to kill each other for 9 episodes straight. But there are no other major flaws, like bad dialogue or storytelling, which ... makes it feel even simpler.

Part 2:

The second part was much more fun to watch. The characters had better backstories and dynamics, the plot wasn’t as basic. Episode 20 was amazing. But this is not a show for people who want a realistic portrayal of humanity, it’s for people who want to watch attractive muscular men have epic battles with some of the best art and music in anime. The biggest problem with the story is the fact it is based on exciting ideas with some added justification of depth, instead of it being based on emotional depth portrayed in a fun, exciting way. This can be a good thing for people who don’t care for pretentious art, and just want to watch an adult version of what they watched as kids. In short, it can be fun to watch, but don’t expect depth.

I’ve never read a story narrated like this one. It appears there is no structure, not even a well organized and hidden structure, no scenes to show you this, no dialogues to show you that, it is simply life. You see a part of a boy’s life and then you leave. There is no dramatic ending, only characters moving from one stage to the next. This is not to say it’s random and badly written, but it’s played so natural to the point where it feels as if you are living through him. It is flawless. You can hear its music. You can see the ... flowers growing and limbs falling. You know these characters, their faces and body language, the soul in their eyes. But the layers of art is what makes this narration special, language may limit our explanation of the human experience, but for our every sense to be used in an art explaining said situation, how much closer can you get?

I loved this anime. It portrayed a feeling of melancholy and realism, but with the combination of comedy for entertainment. It made a hard pill easy to digest. The characters are relatable and easy to get attached to. It’s very personal, it does not hide the realistic quirks of the characters and that makes it so much more easy to relate and connect to. This is not simply an explosion of humanity and their emotions, it was a fun and depressingly relatable glimpse of life. This is a good anime to watch when you in a similar situation to the main character. It will ... make you feel seen.