Chichi to Hige-Gorilla to Watashi

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td:dr on bottom

This manga sits among some of my favorite because it accomplished everything you would expect it to, and more.

The story focuses on Michiru and her new household consisting of her father and uncle coming to be more like a family after her mother passes away. I say that it focuses on Michiru, but it honestly focuses on the stories of all three members of this household. The story deals with the themes of romance, family, moving on from loss, the importance of thinking of others and oneself to name just a few. And even though the manga tackles all these different themes, ... it never gets lost in it's main message of the importance of relationships. The relationships are key throughout this entire manga, and it's a joy to see each one of them grow. I did find that the story slowed down at a few points, especially with certain characters, but I believe that these were necessary to show more about each character and the relationships they have.

Tonally, this manga keeps it lighthearted for the most part with its soft humor, yet it is not afraid to hit you with other ones too. Every so often it will throw a wrench in everything and make you understand the sadness that the characters feel under all the happiness, or it will make you sit with a grin when you see a relationship progressing to the next phase. Yet in all of this it never comes off as abrupt or unwarranted. It just feels real. In daily life people can experiences the small joys of being with the ones they love, yet still feel the undertones of sadness, love or uncertainty.

Character-wise, all of the mains are pretty lovable, and the secondary cast all have their own quirky personalities that make them a treat too. Each of the main characters (and also side characters) go through their own arcs of change, and each of them are left in a different place by the end from where they started. Each faces their own personal struggles that feels very real to the point where I could see people that I know going through very similar situations.
The one gripe that I do have to say here is that the author did introduce a few characters that got very little development or have very little relationship with the main cast, which was puzzling. It was as if they were meant to be expanded upon more, but the author ran out of time. That being said, it's a minor problem that doesn't take away from the story at large.

The art style fits the overall tone of the manga well, so there's not much more to say about it

Overall i really loved this manga. It didn't always move forward toward the goal it set, but every pitstop it took let me enjoy the characters as they were. There were times that I wanted to tear up from the reality the characters had to face, times where I would chuckle at the antics they got themselves in and times where I just wanted to cheer on my favorite couple. Everything it does it does so well its crazy. Such a wild ride of a story definitely deserves to have more people talking about it

tl:dr- sweet story about a family filled with laughs, tears and love. Get ready to be hit by feelings you wouldn't expect from a 4-koma.

tl;dr: A mostly lighthearted 4koma that has just enough depth that it makes it disappointing that it isn't better fleshed out. 

This manga was a pretty light hearted 4koma with a bit of depth to it. The premise in terms of background is pretty sad, but it doesn’t dwell on it too much, focusing moreso on where things would go from there. The general feel of the manga is the standard feeling you get from a lot of manga that feature an adult and a kid with them both going through growth, though the difference here would be that it seems to focus on a number of characters just ... as much as said two. Obviously, this includes Kouji, but the highlight was actually a different character that also ended up getting close to both Souichi and Michiru, and who actually stole the show in terms of being the most amusing character in the manga as well. The relationship between Kouji with Souichi and Michiru actually wasn’t really focused on much at all. I think that may well have been a symptom of my issue with this manga. There are a lot of relationships and such, but none of them really get as fleshed out as they feel like they deserve to, including the one previously mentioned as the highlight, which while done better than the others, still didn’t feel like it was done as well as it deserved to be. It is kind of hard to do well at that in a 4koma format, to be fair and the length might have been an issue here, but it can be done, and this didn't really pull it off. Furthermore, while this does have the heartwarming flare of showing little kids just being little kids, beyond that everything felt kind of shallow. It touches on some deeper topics like how the children of single parents are pitied but don’t want to be, or what exactly it means to move on from a loved one’s death, but it felt pretty superficial. Once again, this might be unfair considering it’s a 4koma which aren’t really known for having such elements as their strength, but the plot was just good enough that the lack of there being more made it overall feel kind of lacking. The comedy was decent enough throughout. The art wasn’t very good. 

Chichi to Hige-Gorilla to Watashi was such a wholesome read! I'm gonna be short since this story doesn't have any complex plot development, BUT it doesn't make the story poor or bad. It's a kind of manga, that shows how it is important to move on and live your life in the present, not keeping tied up to your past. Even now, writing this small review I feel like crying because the topic of death is so hurtful to me, but with stories like this one I can feel gratitude to be given a chance to live, to gain memories over memories with different people ... and places.

But not about me! You should read this manga simply due to:

- relatable characters
- peak humor
- deep topics and easy explanation
- heartfelt messages
- happy ending

This is exactly that ray of sunshine we need in the dark place.

P.S. - I was in a reading slump, and it got me back.