Dec 20, 2022
Umisaki Lilac is a sweet little slice of life manga that joins the collection of weary office workers retreating to the countryside to 'heal' their work-torn souls. Still, this manga does have an element that stands out from its peers. Unlike something like Barakamon or Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari where the countryside kid is some kind of adopted child of our work-worn protagonist, here, the countryside kid is a romantic lead. Yes, this manga features a romance between a 30-year-old man and a 15-year-old girl.
While the atmosphere of the manga is calming and leisurely and does provide wholesome moments of slight nuance,
...
undoubtedly the very romance proposed by this manga is ethically questionable. Although my first thought reading the early chapters of the manga was that the story was heading into a bitter-sweet story about puppy love and youthful romance, the manga seems incredibly keen on sincerely pushing for this questionable romance despite being very aware of the ethical implications.
I'm not here to start a debate on this kind of matter, though I personally think there is an incredibly thin line of acceptability when depicting such a relationship. It's very easy to romanticise such relationships, something this manga crosses by not developing the relationship in a more 'realistic' manner (the girl's romance is depicted as utterly sincere which is difficult to take at face value considering that she has not 'loved' anyone else and has never been in a relationship prior) and failing to address the very real implications of such a relationship (the age-gap is readily accepted in the manga). At the very least I can say that the Male Lead's restraint within the relationship is relatively believable, with his actions being rather ethical within the constraints of this story.
The manga's eventual decision for a 3-year time-skip near the end subsequently does rectify some of my complaints (though the girl still looks the same...). At the very least it's a little more acceptable now?
Still, questionable ethics aside, Umisaki Lilac is quite a sweet slice of life that nicely develops its characters and provides a feeling of rest with its calming narrative. I would argue, however, that its decision to not dive further into the 'feelings of youthful inadequacy' that it attempts to develop with some of its characters ultimately feels detrimental to the manga's premise of young characters leading their daily lives. It doesn't feel developed enough to truly round its young characters. At the same time, the manga's thematic conclusion of 'love conquers all' is way too saccharine. It also personally feels quite questionable to me within the context of its age-gap romance. Only depicting the lovable and wholesome without going into the real world messiness that can potentially be devastating to all the parties involved.
All in all, this is a rather readable manga. But it does have some material that may urk certain readers who are not initiated to the wacky world of accepted Japanese culture.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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