Undercurrent

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More than the waves we see...

I talk a lot. A whole lot of nonsense piled upon a fragment of truth, I tend to confuse people whenever I talk. Or that's what I think I see in their eyes but how would I know? You feel so insecure about your little truth so you deceive yourself with words and actions, and hear people say you are this and that. Before you notice, you depend on those words, you depend on those responses, their thoughts, and you get consumed by your fake personality so much that one day you look back on your little truth and regret ... was it ever worth all the lies you've built.

"Undercurrent" talks about the little truths we tend to hide from people, how that effects us and everything around us. Kanae takes care of her bathhouse, the community treats her as a strong woman who's living by while having her lovely husband disappear. Why and for what reason he was gone, she never imagined why someone like him disappear on her, but as her lonely time goes on, she questions about whether she really know anything about her husband.

Understanding someone
What does it truly mean to understand someone? In a time where everyone has more than a mask to wear, how do even understand someone? Or what does 'understanding someone' would mean in this context? "Undercurrent" warns you that the ocean is more than the waves you see, people are more than the faces they use. You can declare you know someone for your entire life, yet your 'close friend', your 'girlfriend/boyfriend', your 'family', could one day just leave you for reasons beyond your control and comprehension.
Kanae is a strong married woman who takes care of her bath house, while dealing with the unexplainable disappearance of her husband. She suffers and anguishes over why this has befallen on her, while simultaneously acknowledging the fact that she herself is running from her little truth. A rather disturbing truth she keeps on carrying for her whole life which she never talks about even with her husband she loved so must. Pain and guilt are worth expressing out because you give them a chance to be forgiven. Hiding it will only sink you into its depths until you suffocate and die.
Much like Kanae, kanae's husband and the new guy in bathhouse also suffer with their buried little truths. Though one lies along with it, while the other simply turns their eyes away from it.

At this small shore...
The entire mood of this manga is simple. It doesn't intend to be some grand message I might have explained so far, but it does so in a way that feels personal and oddly normal. The simple art and character designs works in its favor as well.

Conclusion
It's dramatic, tragic, a bit goofy at times and wants one to be a bit open with others. You never know when someone might disappear in your life so why not see more of them, and say your true feelings?

This is my first review and English is not my native language

I read this because a beginning manga youtuber recommended it in a video saying that it was super deep and super mature. I even bought the manga and read it while I was in the train on the way to my faculty, and once read, I returned the manga and cancelled my subscription to that channel.

Story: 5
The story doesn't exists, or in other words: there is no present story. When I watch an anime/read a manga I want to see things happening, not things that had happened: the only plot motors comes from the ... past, nothing relevant happens in this manga: the main character hires a guy and... that's all, they try to find the disaperared husband and the final explanation is like "ok, i don't give a shit". I know this is planned so but IT'S BORING.

I know it is mature, for example: in Mushishi there are bugs doing thing to people, but Ginko doesn't explode in rage to kill all the Mushis, he accepts the reality, something that a mature adult would do. Shingeki no kyojin, in the other hand, tells the story of titans doing bad things to people, and Eren is all the time screaming "i'm gonna kill all titans, i'm gonna kill all titans", yes, they kill his mother before him but anyway it's a very childish behaviour. So once explained what is for me mature and what not I can say that Undercurret has a mature plot because the main character tries to face the fact that she has been left by her husband and also because there is no ecchi, otaku-comedy within, there are no plot holes and there is not Freud shit without fundament to look smarter than it is, but also there is something important that every story has to have in mind and that is "be entertaining", and it can not be addictive but the first thing I want when i read/watch something is that I get amused. There is no hook and in the end I had to thank for at last only be eleven chapters.

Art: 6
I don't remember very well but it hasn't a bad background work, it's light years behind Inio Asano's but it's decent.

The characters anatomy is... good, but the design is very idle, I guess that it's due to it's a slice of life but please: THE (female) MAIN CHARACTER LOOKS LIKE A MAN, I can't with that

Characters: 6
The characters are the best part of the manga, but "better than" still doesn't mean directly "good". All the character have all the time a poker face except for a pair of cases. There is no charm or charisma, I don't give a shit that the character change if before anything they are not interesting. I say that they are the best part because at last they transmit the atmosphera they try to give.

Enjoyment: 3
I DIDN'T LIKE THIS MANGA. Be mature doesn't always mean be fucking good, I have enjoyed a lot of animes that have a minor level of maturity but they are one hundred times entertaining than this. At the beginning i was like ._. then I was like ._. and in the end I was ._.

Sometimes I was lazy to take the one-shot and read and that is not good. I swear I have no problems with the "slice of life", my favourite anime manga is Oyasumi Punpun and if you go to my Anime and Manga List I enjoyed and enjoy a lot of slices of life like Yotsuba, NHK, Genshiken, etc.

Overall: 5
I DON?T RECOMMEND THIS, it's not bad but is it's far away to be something I could consider amusing.

Thanks for reading

Being left all alone, abandoned and not even knowing if the person is still alive can be frightening for anyone especially if that someone is one you love wholeheartedly.

Undercurrent is about an espoused couple who owns a bathhouse together and lives jubilantly. But one day the husband vanishes without any trace, without any last message. He's gone... but where is he? This manga does an a good job with describing the emotions one can feel or in this situation the wife and the phrenic conception process one can posses when faces in this situation. Is he fed up with me? Am I not ... good enough? Did I do something to insult him? Is he meeting with another woman? Is he even alive? Did he get in an accident? You clearly tell just how devastated the wife genuinely is. But, deep down in her heart she wants to know the truth which basically is the story. She hires a detective who searches for clues and information while she waits and continues taking care of the bathhouse she owns.