Nao saw a stage performance when she was in middle school and she was simply blown away by it. Now, a first-year in college, she very much wants to be an actress. Haruka, a second-year college student has just decided to quit acting. Unbeknownst to both, their lives will be bound together in Kimi ni Tsumugu Boukaku, Volume 1 ( 君に紡ぐ傍白).
This full-color manga by Yasaka Syu is a surprisingly gentle meeting of two people going in opposite directions past the same goal. It will probably not surprise anyone when it turns out that Haruka was the performer who so influenced Nao, but it did surprise me that their differences are not particularly a source of conflict. Haruka supports Nao’s choices and is happy for her when she gets the role. Nao is sad she won’t see Haruka perform again, but understands how that goes. And all of that is secondary to the relationship, the friendship into more, that is building between them.
Because there is so little conflict, I’d recommend this series for a nice girl-meets-girl story, but for one thing. The art is much too moe for my taste, the character look that timelessly infantile that simplified art style favors. I’d vastly prefer this story if it were graced with an art style that captured the actual ages of the characters as we are told them. If you like the uncomplicated facial features (and accompanying lack of facial gesture and expression of the oeuvre,) then you will probably enjoy this. I felt that it robs the concept of “acting” right out of the middle of the story, to be honest. They can’t “act”…they have only simplified faces.
What did honestly surprise me was that the series is not a one-and-done; this volume pretty much ends when it ends. I’m not put off by it, but I have to imagine that the story must shift away from meet cute /mate cute to something more substantial in Volume 2, which has been out since March, and Volume 3 which will be out next month.
Ratings:
Art – 6 Adequate, but not a style I feel suits the story
Story – 7 Pleasant girl meets girl
Characters – 7 Earnest
Service – 1? Bathing, some mild, partial nudity
Yuri – 8
Overall – 7
You will be able to tell me what you think in February 2022, when this series comes out in English from Seven Seas as Monologue Woven For You, Volume 1! (I’m still waiting on links from Bookwalker and RightStuf and will add them as they become available, but pre-order is up on Amazon.)
If we’re talking about live theater than body language is probably a more important component of acting than facial expressions.
I take your point, but really, we’re talking manga here and that does rely heavily on facial expression. ^_^
The conflict the story sets up is that Haruka is so traumatized by the reason she quit acting that she can’t bring herself to even tell Nao that she has acting experience, unaware that Nao has seen her perform. Nao realizes Haruka is avoiding the subject and dare not broach it.
Yeah, I gathered from the synopsis for V2 that something wasn’t being shared. But I’m always happy for the story to tell me itself in its own time. ^_^
I’m talking about what’s in volume 1. Chapter 2 is where it’s established that Haruka won’t tell Nao. Chapter 3 establishes that Nao won’t ask.
Okay. I’ll admit that that did not stick from the time I read it to the time I reviewed it.