Sep 11, 2019
At first glance, this reminded me strongly of "My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness" and its sequel - both are autobiographical manga about deeply personal, societally taboo topics (though this manga isn't about anything exceptionally societally taboo per se, just untalked about). Both covers prominently feature flat, character-focused illustrations with an emphasis on minimal color usage, striking typography, and overall minimalism. Suffice to say, this book isn't about being a lonely, depressed lesbian, but a lonely, depressed married straight woman.
I picked this up at a bookstore one day and thumbed through it intending to see if it was similar to My Lesbian Experience at all,
...
only to spend almost a half hour stood there reading it. It's engaging, funny, compelling, and makes fantastic use of the medium of comics and visual art. The main character, Togame, is one you can empathize with readily, but the husband doesn't feel like a 1-D character with no substance, either. Both of them feel like real people - albeit a bit mismatched in sex drive.
While the premise of this manga might sound silly ("I want to have sex but my husband doesn't!"), it takes the silliness and uses it to tell a moving story about Togame and her husband's marriage that doesn't try to sugarcoat anything with platitudes about "true love" or anything like that. And, while it's humorous, it doesn't make light of the struggle Togame, or the readers she later addresses, goes through.
Overall, this is a candid manga about a woman whose husband won't screw her and her frustrations with that issue that lead to introspection on body image, sexuality, and relationships. I'd recommend this to any adult, especially ones in relationships. If you're going through this issue presently, this manga offers comfort that isn't empty laughs or bitterness, and suggests different ways to approach this issue.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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