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"What now?" is the dilemma some fresh graduates experience. On the surface, the issue seems extremely trivial and somewhat privileged. The graduates who experience this must have the luxury to hesitate and question the world around them instead of just plunging headfirst into the cool and foreboding waters of society to make ends meet and survive. Which, I acknowledge, is fair criticism. However, that does not invalidate the legitimacy and emotions felt by those graduates. There is actual meat to what they contemplate over. It is a question of meaning. And it's a personal question. Feeling trapped in a dead end situation because the path ... you chose wasn't the one you were passionate about; it was the practical decision. How does one deal with that feeling? That's what Solanin is all about.

Enter the main character, Meiko. She's the girl who's looking for an answer. She's not happy with her job, her coworkers suck, and her boss hits on her in his spare time. The story starts in the critical moment when Meiko realizes that she needs to get out of her ditch, which she does. The problem is that living in a big city like Tokyo doesn't come cheap and this puts pressure on her boyfriend, Taneda, who hasn't really gotten into the habit of integrating himself with society yet.

That's because Taneda also suffers the same blues Meiko has except there's a sense that he's been ignoring it. He lives in a nebulous state where he's only working part-time and still jams with his college band. He's got one foot in the "real world" and another one in the past, reluctant of letting the easier times go. He has a hint of passion for music but isn't all too sure about himself, which is why things go topsy-turvy once Meiko breaks it to him that she quit her job. Now, it's a question of whether he goes for a stable job or risks it all on music.

It's a search for some faint trace of fulfillment in the face of such an unflinching world. Yet, this alone does not make Solanin good. That's just the set up; the heart of the story lies in the way it ticks. How the characters interact and speak with each other feel natural and real. There are enough quirks to differentiate when someone is talking to a friend or someone they're not too close to. There are moments when the dialogue is a bit too contemplative for casual talk, but it never comes off as out of place or pretentious. All their actions and conversations organically flow with their personalities.

The typical Asano visual flare is also there to spark enough absurdity and kookiness to give the manga some levity to balance out the overpowering rawness of the emotional scenes. In those scenes, the emotions rush and pulse feverishly without restraint as if to burst out in an explosion of anxiety, melancholy, and frustration. But then, the manga also knows how to step back to let you breathe and allow the heavier moments to sink in.

All of these factors give real depth and power to the endeavors and experiences of Meiko and Taneda. It allows the audience to relate, or at least empathize, with the struggles and heartaches in this manga. Whether or not Meiko and Taneda find an answer--whether or not any of us find an answer--we can find solace in the fact that these emotions and struggles are not artificially strung. They're real. The pain, the hardships, the loses, they all stand as evidence that we feel and our feelings are real. If anything, this manga gives us something genuine to anchor ourselves on.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a college student, a fresh grad, or a high school student, as long as you’re looking for meaning, give this manga a read. It doesn’t have the answer you’re looking for, but it’s going to be with you until you find it.

[Quick Review] (for the people who don't have the time to read lengthy reviews)

Medaka Box, a manga written by Nisio Isin, is a satire disguised as a Shounen Battle manga. It mocks every aspect of the shounen genre as well as extending its mockery to include even ecchi and "perfect-girl" manga (if such a thing exists). Every part of this manga is intentionally bad and exaggerated to emphasize just how ridiculous and poorly executed most (but not all) shounen manga are.

If you have not read enough shounen, you won't get it.
If you like a lot of shounen, you won't like it.
But if you're open-minded and ... enjoy a good satire, then Medaka Box will be your cup of tea.


[Actual Review] (an over-analysis of the manga for people who have the patience to read lengthy reviews)

This manga is bad. Really bad. The thing is, it intends to be bad. While you lie on your bed, reading the pages that comprise this manga, disgusted at just how generic it is and laughing at how this manga can drive the shounen battle genre to new extremes (extremes that not even Dragon Ball could reach), the manga will be laughing with you. It is self-aware on how awful it is, and actually quite proud of it.

The best part of this manga is its characters.
Medaka is a parody of not just the shounen protagonists, but of perfect-girl characters (most notably Haruhi from TMoHS). She starts off as a perfect little student council president, hell bent to reform everyone who she deems as delinquents, then BOOM, sudden tone change. Medaka is now your usual overpowered protagonist, who gets more and more powerful as the manga progresses. Her perfection makes her into an irritating character (this can be seen as a critique of the shounen heroes).
Hityoshi Zenkichi, Medaka's long time friend, is basically a shounen battle version of Kyon (from TMoHS). He complains about having to be with Medaka, but actually cares. He later becomes the bitch of the series, but I won't get into that.
The rest of the characters are very distinct from each other (a trait Nisio Isin perfected in his continuous quest to create the oddest characters). Although, their distinction can't make up for their lack of depth (another critique on shounen). They fill a singular role (without any groundbreaking development) and function to play that role well at the same time to parody it. The manga also illustrates one of the most basic traits of shounen battle manga, big villains get bigger and badder. Each villain is stronger and more overpowered than the last. Heck, at one point, God was a villain. GOD WAS A VILLAIN. AND GOD WAS HOT! (note that this is not an actual god from any religious text nor any from mythology. Just a chick strong enough to be considered god. A chick who could make Goku her foot stool and Vegeta her jester while nibbling on Luffy cookies).

[. . . .]

And how could I not mention Kumagawa Misogi? In my opinion, his arrival marked the point when Medaka Box became a grand manga. He is a one-dimensional character, the villain of a later arc, and an overall amazing add to the mix. He is the Joker of the manga (that is, if the Joker was a loser.)

The story is a gem in terms of satires. It is the perfect satire of the shounen genre (although perfection in this field doesn't mean that it is good). The first arc establishes the student council, the main characters, and that Medaka is too perfect. That arc demonstrates just how bland shounen can get when setting up. It's so bland you don't need to read it. Just go read a synopsis then skip to the battle part. After that, the story takes a bumpy change in tone, shifting from being a slice-of-life shounen manga, into a battle manga (kinda like KHR). Here's where things pick up. The pacing becomes faster once they introduce Unzen (the first villain) and the manga goes from being unusual to illogical. And it doesn't stop. It gets crazier in the next arc, introducing Kumagawa Misogi, and further demonstrating why the powers in Medaka Box easily trump all other powers in shounen.

But I think I fell in love with this manga after Kumagawa's arc. The arc that follows challenges the Weekly Shounen Jump. It bites the hand that feeds it. It is filled with 4th wall breaking, which is used not just to mock Shounen Jump, but to challenge it. Sure, this arc dragged on for too long, but don't most shounen drag on for way too long? This arc concludes in spectacular fashion with troll-like humor and every trope you pull out of the book of shounen.

[The art is nothing special so I won't talk about it (maybe it was intentionally mediocre?)]

To wrap it all up, I think this manga is a genius at what it does. A masterpiece in terms of manga satires. This alone will not justify how bad the manga is, but is sure as hell makes it worth the read.