Apr 28, 2020
[Introduction]
Mizu wa Umi ni Mukatte Nagareru is a different kind of story from the action-packed, fast-paced shounen's or the overly exaggerated SoLs one might have grown used to.
In this review I won't be doing too much into the details of what the story revolves around, nor will I dig too deep into each of the characters as individuals, but I'll try to give my honest opinion and feel for this title as a whole.
[Story][8/10]
First of all, by focusing the story around a single event it gives the entire story flow and allocates some kind of meaning to everything that is happening in the story. With
...
this, every chapter seems fresh and it contributes to the story somehow and gives a form of excitement that we can share with the characters moving into the plot.
The only downside to this would be it makes the pacing very slow, and given the fact, each chapter spans no more than 21 pages, progression comes slowly. Though in some ways this contributes to the story at other times it doesn't.
[Characters][9/10]
One of the advantages this manga has is its limited cast and fixated settings. The main story centres around 5 different people living under the same roof, but the main conflict actually involves both our main cast and the people related to them from outside places.
The reason this is possible is that all the characters have some kind of connection with each other, other than just simply living under the same roof. Whether it be family as in the case of our protagonist Naotatsu-kun and his Uncle or if it's due to Sakaki-san's mother that has a history with Naotatsu's father, these bonds bring the entire set of characters together, both for the better and for the worse.
The main story also focuses a lot about how the characters progress in relation to each other, this chaining of events in terms of character development works very well to push the plot forward.
This also means that the variety in the characters no matter how deep they might be (their backstory, feelings etc.) is somewhat limited due to their connectivity.
[Art][7/10]
This is one of the things that is very subjective. From a personal standpoint, I absolutely adore this style of drawing manga Tajima-sensei uses, the clear black outlines to the clear backgrounds and messy hairstyles. But coming from different art styles (typically those from more popular manga) I can see the reason for maybe not feeling all too motivated reading this.
In the end, the art very much matches the words spoken, so I can only recommend you to get used to it and learn to enjoy it. There is a certain charm about the art in Mizu wa Umi ni Mukatte Nagareru.
[Conclusion][9/10]
This is far one of the better slice of life manga out there, and the topics discussed combined with the very realistic approach to life, makes a perfect blend of a Monday wake up call to reality. There isn't really anybody I wouldn't recommend this too, as long as you can have peace with it's not some action-packed laser-shooting shounen, and I definitely look forward to how the series will be concluded when it reaches that point.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
