Shimeji Simulation

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Alternative Titles

Japanese: シメジシミュレーション

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: Unknown

Chapters: Unknown

Status: Publishing

Published: Jan 26, 2019 to ?

Genre: Slice of Life

Theme: School

Serialization: Comic Cune

Authors: Tsukumizu (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 8.16¹ (scored by 1,586 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #432²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #1897

Members: 7,911

Favorites: 366

8.16

Ranked #432Popularity #1897Members 7,911

MangaComic CuneTsukumizu (Story & Art)

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Synopsis

A girl who shut herself in a closet for the last 2 years of middle school realizes she has to go to high school. When she exits her closet for the first time in two years and looks at herself in the mirror, she notices that she grew shimeji mushrooms out of her head.

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Background

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Characters

Tsukishima, Shijima

Main

Yamashita, Majime

Main

Shijima's Sister

Supporting

Mogawa-sensei

Supporting

Majime's Mother

Supporting

Yomikawa

Supporting

The Gardener

Supporting

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Apr 29, 2020

28 of ? chapters read

Overall Rating: 8

Zurheide (All reviews)

31 people found this review helpful

I want to write a review for this that doesn't mention Girls' Last Tour, but I really can't figure out how, so bear with me.

Shimeji Simulation is the second major manga from Tsukumizu, the first being the aforementioned Girls' Last Tour. If you've read GLT or follow Tsukumizu on Twitter, you're probably familiar with their signature "touch of darkness;" everything they do seems to have a hint of sadness tucked away inside.

This was really easy to see in GLT. While much of the manga was comedic or relaxing, it was undeniably a post-apocalyptic manga filled with moments of sadness and melancholy. Because of that, what could have been a very surface-level adventure story with cute girl characters became something much deeper and undoubtedly more emotionally satisfying.

Shimeji Simulation almost feels like the exact opposite to GLT in terms of where that ever-present melancholy feeling comes from. Taking place in a much more normal school setting, and starring "normal" schoolgirls, that feeling ends up coming much more from the characters themselves than the world around them. Shimeji herself is a very reserved person, having a lot of thoughts about every situation but rarely offering them up in full. The recollection of her life up until the start of the manga, along with her general outlook on the world around her, provides a lot of the thoughtful and melancholic feeling in this manga. That goes double when we see her slowly start to change as she becomes closer with her new friend Majime. Despite the fact that seeing her open up more and have good experiences is an inherently uplifting thing, the way they're presented makes perfect use of that built up feeling. I want to say it makes the reader continue to view the world and Shimeji herself through the same feeling they had before. I've never gotten this feeling from anything but Tsukumizu's works before, and whether or not it's intentional, I can't get enough.

That's not even mentioning any of the oddities in this manga. Many of the characters have seemingly random things attached to their bodies (shimeji mushrooms, a sunny-side-up egg, an octopus, an eggplant, a teddy bear, etc.) that pass for being "normal enough" that they encourage conversation but don't cause major alarm. That feeling of general acceptance of the odd goes a long way in making you wonder what's actually happening in this world, especially when Shimeji's older sister starts doing weird science things that make even less sense. The entire world of this manga seems like a complete mystery, but Tsukumizu writes it in a way that lulls you into a sense of acceptance just like the rest of the characters.

There have only been 15 chapters of this manga so far, and I wanted to wait until there were more to write a review, but I'm already very attached to it. I don't know if this will be better than GLT, but it certainly carries the same feeling I loved from it, while feeling entirely new in every other aspect.

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Nov 1, 2021

30 of ? chapters read

Overall Rating: 10

RedRockRun (All reviews)

11 people found this review helpful

Shimeji Simulation has been mangaka, Tsukumizu's latest project since the completion of Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryoukou. Like SSR, it focuses on two ordinary (enough) girls in extraordinary circumstances, and like its predecessor, it is a Slice of Life+ story i.e. SoL framed by larger-than-life occurrences in the world.

Where SSR places our protagonists in a post-apocalyptic megacity, not unlike Blame! that has already seen its fair share of apocalypses, Shimeji Simulation introduces us to the normal, unremarkable town of West Yomogi. Of course things couldn't be farther from normal: the town's geography may change overnight, the laws of physics break every now and then, and of course it's not odd to see characters wearing random objects upon their heads as if being parts of the characters' bodies. Indeed, the main character, Tsukishima Shijima has Shimeji mushrooms sprouting from one side of her head, and her best friend Yamashita Majime is always seen sporting a fried egg.

The important distinction to be made about surrealism in this manga, however, is that characters, while not in complete ignorance of the surreal events surrounding them, react as they would to a heavy snowfall or a particularly rainy weekend. Indeed, when an odd occurrence befalls Shijima and Majime's school, we don't see mobs of reporters, police, and scientists crowding the area but school staff busily moving the students along to get class in session as best they can - all of course, to the chagrin of students who were sure they would get the day off. For a number of chapters, these things tend to happen like oddities of the month, and in less-skilled hands, this structure would quickly grow stale, but surrealism is only one aspect of the manga.

I have recently taken to calling Tsukumizu a "Master in melancholy". His writing is sad but rarely outright tragic and lacking any single object of sadness that one can easily point a finger at and quantify. Shijima acts as the narrator, and through her commentary, we see each strange development through an existential lens: ruminations about the human experience, the meaning of humanity and life, and at times, dancing around the idea that there may be no inherent meaning at all.

With no prior knowledge of the manga and mangaka, readers may be rightfully surprised by the dissonance between the very moe art and very moody tone. In terms of style, Tsukumizu has taken aspects of moe nearly to the level of self-parody. Characters resemble potatoes that possess the properties of flan. Normally when I see this big a difference between visuals and tone and/or theme, such juxtaposition was intentional in order to serve the narrative, but this is simply Tsukumizu's style. Any existential dread, elegiac resignation, or whatever ennui he chooses to communicates is again, just his style. In this fashion, Shimeji Simulation is a work of great sincerity.

It's as nice to look at as it is to ponder in the late hours of the day. It's also a manga I highly recommend to everyone.

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May 2, 2020

15 of ? chapters read

Overall Rating: 9

Robin997 (All reviews)

16 people found this review helpful

Melancholic moe comedy with surreal decaying brutalist feel.

In its core it's a standard laid-back 4-pannel gag series and a nice one at that. Most jokes aren't great, some are very miss, others fairly too absurd for some people's liking, but it's all about the atmosphere and that it has in spades.

It acts like any other cute girls in high school manga, but adds contemplative tone and fittingly under-explained semi-surreal setting. The world is eerily empty and seemingly vast and complex. Strange anomalies get hand-waved and nobody seems to know or care about what's going on, the manga included. All the while it adds more comically read more

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Sep 5, 2020

18 of ? chapters read

Overall Rating: 9

Akihiro_yamada (All reviews)

7 people found this review helpful

A manga that I've been looking for ever since I finished reading Shoujo Shuumatsu. Simple, moe, kinda deep, and pretty funny for me.
When I saw the manga at first I thought it might be a backstory for Shoujo Shuumatsu but no, it seems like a sidestory or a new series. IDK
Seeing weird things on their heads made it funny for me and it's a unique art design, I really like it.

It's my first time reviewing an anime or manga, but this manga series by Tsukumizu is simple and comforting. I've been reading Shoujo Shuumatsu multiple times and I saw this new series last read more

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