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Mar 21, 2021
Tetsuwan girl could have been many things.
It could've been a straightforward sports manga/underdog story with a cool historical setting. It could've been an inspiring feminist tale about women finding empowerment in their passions against an oppressive, conservative environment that brings them down at every opportunity. It could've been an anti-war story about the power of sports that transcends national boundaries and brings people together, even in the aftermath of war and destruction. It could have been a tragic character study about obsession, pride, and the crushing weight of ambition.
It's not any of these things.
Anti-war sentiments are nowhere to be found. Instead, we get a nationalistic
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power fantasy riddled with shoehorned crime elements, driven by a lead girl who appears charismatic and cool on the surface, but the author never really attempts to dig any deeper than that, which ultimately might be Tetsuwan girl's biggest downfall. The titular character, Tome (or the 'iron-armed girl') remains completely static throughout the span of 92 chapters. Despite having the entire story revolve around her, Takahashi never gives Tome the development she so desperately needs, because she's basically a goddess from the start; a complete natural at pitching, always confident, always unphased, she can silence an angry mob by yelling "shut up" at them, and she never wavers in her resolve. She has no self-doubt, no inner conflict, not a worry in the world, which is what makes her charismatic, but also a fundamentally boring character to read. There's a brief training camp segment in the earlier chapters, but we never see her skills flourish - ultimately, her success feels unearned because we never see her truly struggle.
Which brings me to the pacing, another key weakness of Tetsuwan girl. In one word, the pacing is fast. Tome isn't the only one whose development feels lackluster - that is to say, the rest of the main cast is two-dimensional at best, and the side characters are pretty much non-existent. The characters aren't the only ones who aren't given proper attention - there's no real buildup to anything.The worst offender is probably the romantic development between Tome and Katsumi, which plays out over the course of just a few chapters and then becomes the main driving force for the rest of the story. Just as we never get to know these characters, we don't really see them get to know each other either - it all feels so rushed, forced and out of nowhere. The same can be said about most of the sequences throughout this manga.
With all that said, i still gave Tetsuwan girl a 4/10. Anything below that is reserved for offensively bad works, which i don't really think it is; it's just painfully underwhelming and incompetently written. Despite all of its wasted potential, Tetsuwan girl still has its redeeming qualities, most notably the realistic, detailed and sufficiently dynamic artwork. It's not the kind of art i'd call beautiful, at least not in the sense that Tsuruta Kenji's, Mori Kaoru's, or Shimura Takako's art is beautiful. Nevertheless, it has a level of quality that's easy to appreciate.
That's all i have to say. Sorry, i'm not good at closing out reviews.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Mar 12, 2021
i feel like the term "slice of life" gets thrown around a lot in anime circles (i know i'm guilty of this), to the point where even something like Toradora gets labeled a sol even though it's a pretty straightforward romance show. i get that many things can take on sol traits without it being their main genre, but in the case of Stretch, we're definitely looking at a slice-of-life in its purest form.
the manga follows the daily hijinks of cool but impulsive Keiko and her busty alcoholic flatmate Ran. these two leads are a joy to read, they have genuine depth and their interactions
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are very endearing, you almost naturally get the impression that they are just meant for each other.
Stretch falls into what many would call 'subtext' yuri, though at a certain point i start doubting whether it's really just subtext. i feel like this manga balances on that line with an intimate grace that doesn't feel "baity" or forced.
the stretching exercises the girls habitually engage in are just a gimmick, let's be real here. they are a fun little addition (complete with instructions so the reader can follow along), but not much more than that.
there's also some underlying drama to keep you hooked that's presented in occasional little fragments which makes it really cool and interesting imo.
Higashiyama's art is solid, nothing flashy, but more than appealing enough to carry a sol.
the manga is also very short, with most chapters ranging between 8-10 pages, so the whole thing can easily be finished in a day.
pick it up, it's worth it
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 30, 2020
The currently displayed plot synopsis for this manga is very misleading, Musume no iede is, in fact, NOT "an omnibus of stories of various girls that have run away from home", but a slice-of-life drama centered around Mayuko, a highschool girl with a complicated family life.
The story gradually expands, giving way to more and more characters in its ever-growing ensemble cast which includes Mayuko's friends, family members and schoolmates, and we even get occasional brief looks into the lives of characters who are only tangentially related to the manga's main story.
In other words, it's the trademark Shimura Takako formula of juggling a bunch of different
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characters and plot threads while somehow giving everyone a proper arc and proper characterisation, except this time it gets cranked up a notch and is condensed into only 36 chapters.
The real feat here is that this doesn't make the progression feel less meaningful and the arcs less satisfying, because Musume no iede is just so damn well-written.
As far as i'm concerned, Shimura's dialogue is simply unmached, it manages to be true to life and entertaining at the same time, which complements the slice-of-life format extremely well.
It might be worth mentioning that this manga also taps into the LGBT themes of the author's most well-known works (Aoi hana and Hourou musuko), but doesn't focus on them nearly as much.
There isn't much of a plot to speak of, every character has their own set of problems to deal with, and they are all clearly the main characters of their own stories, which is how a slice-of-life should be.
Shimura's artwork is an acquired taste, it may seem a little simplistic and empty at first glance, but many will learn to appreciate the smoothness and gentle flow of the linework, and find true beauty in it. Or at least i did.
And that's pretty much all i have to say. If you like a good drama/sol, i highly recommend you to pick this one up.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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