Not Simple

Mar 6, 2010

Ri-chan

Recommended

No reviews!? NOOOOO!

I read a review for this Otaku USA and really wanted to read it. Then, about a month later, it popped in the local Barnes and Nobles so of course I bought and devoured it!

not simple by Natsume Ono follows two men: One who makes the story and one who writes it. Even after reading it, I'm still not sure which one was which.

First of all, we have Ian. Ian is an Australian with a messed up family. His mother divorced his father and took him to England,even though she despised him, to get back his sister who was in jail at the ... time and who had done something unforgivable. His sister, Kylie, always spent as much time as she could with Ian for she loved him more than anyone else in the world. It was a shock for her when she got out jaill to find out her father and mother had split up and that Ian was in England with the mother who hated him. I took her a while to get to England and get Ian away from his alcoholic mother and by that time Ian was already scared. He then went back to Australia to live with his father, who didn't really care about his family at all, and made a promise with his sister (who was staying to take care of her mother) that he would see her again.

The main part of the book is about him trying to re-unite with his sister. He travels to Australia, to America, to England, back to America, all the while searching for the one person who ever cared for his existence.

The other main character is Jim, the homosexual reporter who wants to make Ian's life into a novel. He first meets Ian at an interview, way back when Ian did sprinting professionaly. He is fascinated by Ian's personality. He says that he is "a person unclouded by too much thought. someone who [is] simply themselves and nothing more... That's the type of person I [want] to be." He becomes Ian's only friend and learns to understand better than anyone else.

The story is tragic. There is no happy ending. No reassurance. Ian's life sucks. No if, and, or buts about it. But this seems to be a book where the story isn't the series of events, but the character who leads them. It's melodramatic and depressing but watching the character through it all, as he keeps coming back and moving forward is beautiful and hopeful. It simply breaks your heart watching this story unfold.

The art in this manga is very refined. It contrasts the stories complex and mature themes and characters by being incredibly simple and childish. You can tell, however, that the mangaka is incredibly experienced. The paneling is easy to read and flows well. Ono, despite the simple art, takes advantage of camera angles and textless panels in a very experienced and professional manner.

The only thing I can say against this manga is that the simple art makes it harder to read emotions, but it is a rare and minor irritation.

Overall, I think that this is a beautiful manga, that any lover of slice of life manga should read.

by the way, the scores i gave this manga where:
Story: 10
Art: 9
Character: 10
Enjoyment: 9 (because it's so freakin' sad!)
Overall: 10

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Jan 3, 2014

QuietDiscourse

Recommended

A void, a soft gust of wind, a sole lone flower with naught but to wither away. not simple is akin to a gleeless memoriam, a sorrowful take on one life that unfortunately could not be saved.

With the spine of a story gently brittling away, not simple takes you on a journey, a chronicle detailing the life of a young man named Ian. This tale is a dejected one—every event compounded onto Ian's misfortunes. Each moment, each flash onto not simple's stage is wistful, placing heart and soul into the stiffened dialogue at play. The bastard child of his sister and his father; an abusive ... alcoholic for a "mother"; and his father, a callous businessman who couldn't possibly care. Even child prostitution is but a casual topic for Ian. This irreparable lifestyle fundamentally warps his beliefs—a shadow that continuously haunts his search for happiness. But, there's a shimmering hope. Every scene you see Ian clinging to his innocence, clutching something so sweet that others can only look at him and cry out in solace.

not simple's plot is short and fleeting, but the passion behind its tale takes readers on an affectional journey. The miles each character sojourns across become a metaphor for their fleeting nature, constantly on the move and in search for that which would keep them happy. Moreover, each character becomes intrinsically wrapped with family, a motif (and overall theme) which becomes clearer upon every page. This message is a simple one, suitable to the length of the story. However, what is extraordinary is not simple's ability to render it so exceptionally—to realize unhappiness so tangibly.

Each character is so dolefully a result of their environment. A once enflamed romance is now all withered away; both mother and father see others and do not give so much as a glance towards their fallout children. The loving sister as well is in prison for dire needs to take care of Ian. Each experience within this life is a wicker, passing so ephemerally from Ian's grasp. The work also adds an alternative perspective. The reporter named Jim becomes ever so fascinated by Ian's life, so much that he aims to write a memoir of him. Every one of Jim's actions is just the same as Ian's—sorrowful, analytical, and expressionless. Always wearing slate black in style, Jim's presence stays ever so distinctive, placing readers into his shoes as much as one would consider Ian alone.

What dances so mournfully into this atmosphere is Natsume Ono's impassioned hand. The paneling is wonderfully imaginative, with speech bubbles constantly defying panel lines, and diagonals slashed across non-conventional layouts. The vertical diagonals place the focal point less on the storytelling in so much as on the characters themselves. This flocks attention toward each character's lanky poses and vapid inscrutable faces. Shadows as well take a heavy effect onto dispersing this melancholy so acutely; Ono regularly crafts opposites in tonal shading. This fastens the minimalist artwork with a subtler depth beyond what most works attempt to express using even more tools.

Natsume Ono's iconic character designs take its place here again, always the same with cylindrical eyes and clean charcoal outlines. The minimalism in Ono's artistry persists as a fascinating juncture. Panels often span expressions and slow rigid movement, lacking dialogue page after page. This gives many of the characters a subtle rueful expression, surveying the atmosphere with pensive thoughts and unspoken aversion. It's bleak in taste, like crying out for help in a forest with no one to hear.

Just an hour or two is all it takes to complete not simple. This is a beautiful story, like a melancholy that can only (and fervently) clasp its passion. not simple subdues readers and places them in utter despair, offering a slight shimmer of light with a humble message at its end. Page for page, this journey is certainly not one to miss.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This review is written by members of the club Quiet Discourse. For more details, please see the club frontpage.

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Aug 14, 2010

silentsennin

Recommended

"What I really want...is to feel the warmth of the people who should be closest to me." - Ian, "not simple".

"not simple" is a manga whose title should be taken only semi-literally. The main character Ian is a complex individual whose respect of life's subtleties tends to have a major effect on those around him. However, at the same time he is also very much a simple individual, a person who is simply looking for that one thing which so many of us take for granted; that being, family. This yearning makes Ian very much conflicted, however, his interactions and advice to those around him, ... allows him to seek some sort of solace in the fact that he can help others.

Only one reporter known simply as "Jim" in the manga, ever realizes just how complex and fascinating the personality of Ian is, and his revelation causes him to become fascinated with Ian, prompting him to write a novel about the young man's experiences. However, Jim slowly begins to take a liking to Ian, eventually becoming one of the few people that Ian could ever call a "friend".

The interesting thing about "not simple" though is that, while the manga does focus on Ian and his journey to find his family, the other characters end up sharing the center stage with Ian- beginning to realize the errors of their ways when they come into contact with him. Consequently, the character development is incredible. There are not very many characters in the manga, but this serves as an advantage to the story, giving those characters chances to realize how they have been living their lives and sometimes exposing their faults in the process. Because of this then, some of the characters end up leading happier lives in the end. However, whether or not the same can be said about Ian...well, you have to read the manga for that answer.

The manga artist (Natsume Ono) does an incredible job of illustrating the scenes within the manga. To show this, one only needs to think of this- during the majority of the time when I was reading the manga, I kept on mistaking it for a novel, mostly because of how well I was able to imagine each and every frame within my own mind. That may just be me though, since I have found that with many of the manga's that I have read, that I can never "feel" the story as much as I can when reading a normal novel. In fact, for the majority of the manga, I thought that I was playing the part of Jim- observing Ian silently from the sidelines, wanting to help but powerless to do so. Ono's usage of facial expressions and angles were the main reason for making me feel this way, and frankly, I have never read or seen anything quite like it. Its somehow unique, but in a way that I cannot quite understand.

Ian's story is one that I feel should be told to as many people as possible. Far too many people forget just how important their families are and how much they should truly mean to them, even if your family does have issues- they are still YOUR family, and nothing can ever replace that fact. They may effect you in ways that you wish they didn't but in the end, there is something so beautiful about family, so human. And while its humanity may very well make it flawed in some ways, there will always be something fundamental and glorious about "home" and nothing can truly change that fact. This is essentially what I think one should take from "not simple".

Thus, in the end I really enjoyed this manga, its themes and its motifs shine gloriously and are of the type that everyone should be very much familiar with. However, at the same time they may very well be alien to the reader, since many people have lost touch with what the word, "family" truly means, and that my friends, is what makes "not simple" so beautiful. It reminds us of a meaning which has been somewhat lost in today's rough and tumble world, and yet, it still presents us with hope.

Cheers.

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Oct 23, 2016

BlueKite

Recommended

Not Simple, a title that fits the description of the story well.

I have always been a fan of works that are depressing in nature. But when I try to revisit a story, it just seems to have a less impact to me. Maybe it’s the realization that the story could have proceeded in a less tragic direction. Some just lack the essence of catharsis, making it feel like the whole story is just a misery fest for the reader. You get overwhelmed the first time but it doesn’t feel special anymore the second time around. However, Not Simple has been a very rare exception to ... this trend. Even after reading it for the fifth time, it still manages to widen the gaping hole it initially left within me.

The structure of the storyline is like a downward spiral, as it transitions back to the start after you reach the end. There are time skips, emphasizing only the key events while subtle implications of lesser details are still relevant story-wise. We witness the life journey of the protagonist Ian, a boy who comes from a complicated family. His childhood is no ordinary, a constant wreck to the point he’s completely desensitized. You might expect that he’s pessimistic because of his tragic backstory when in fact he’s the opposite. He is an aspiring athletic runner and strives hard for that goal. He eagerly travels across America in search for her sister. He makes a promise to a stranger he met in his journey to see each other again three years later. It’s that sense of optimism and innocence slowly being burned out as the story progresses that makes the story a real downer. Life just seems to be consistently screwing him over, like bashing him with a board sign “Your existence is a mistake”. However, he doesn’t give up easily and seeing him trying to live out his fractured life is such a bittersweet experience. Perhaps his passion for running stems from his desire to reach a destination, a place where he can really call home. In it, he seeks a confirmation that it is alright for him to exist and live with hope for the future.

The idea of broken family ties is portrayed well in the story. The father lives in Australia and the mother lives in London, they are divorced. Her sister jumps between those two areas in addition to America and always gets into trouble for the sake of making ends meet. Ian travels between those places and it symbolizes a family drifting apart, once intact but now in pieces because he was brought up to this world. In order for Ian to reach either of his parents, he needs to travel a great mile to meet them personally. This represents that his relationship with his parents are far from close, not a trace of familial love. There are noticeable efforts to make amends, re-uniting individual ties, but the cruelty of life halts that direction.

One strange thing about this manga is that it tries to be self-aware being a tragic story. Jim’s character seems out of place but he represents the reader, an observer who is given the chance to be involved. Given all he knows about Ian, there reaches a point where he can decide the outcome of the story. Does he merely observe or interfere, as the protagonist gets ultimately swallowed by misery? If he interferes, then there won’t be a tragic finale at all. The world will continue to move without everyone acknowledging Ian’s existence. If he only observes, then we are grateful for him that we get to enjoy this incredibly saddening tale of a wandering Australian boy. Ian even says at one point that Jim is his only friend which can be interpreted as the character’s awareness of the reader’s emotional attachment. Whatever the real author’s intentions are, it crafts the “story within a story” scenario well.

Overall, Not Simple is a haunting tale of hope clouded with misfortune. A conscious effort to be positive amidst the negativity captures the idea that life is indeed unforgiving. There is however a merit in a life of suffering, the ultimate test of what makes a person truly human. There is an option to be either full or void of hope in the face of demise, and seeing how it all leads to a personal decision is an emotional rollercoaster. Raw and unforgettable, Ian’s story is one that appeals universally. Life is what you want it to be, whether you are to be restrained by life’s injustices is ultimately an individual choice. At death’s door, do you think you have led a horrible life? It’s not about who’s got the most difficult life, it’s about how one accepts both the ugliness and beauty of life. A motivational message hidden within a heart-wrenching story, the manga definitely delivers.

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May 3, 2010

Greys

Recommended

This is a story that in review at least should be cut to the chase. This is a story about a fucked up family, in no way intended for children, and you probably shouldn't read it unless you have excess amounts of happy at the time.

It's told in a disorganized fashion, starting at the end and ending just before it. It starts off more autobiographical because it's the tale as Ian tells the author who's name escapes me, then as the story progresses it switches to the author's experiences and flashbacks of Ian updating the story; a good portion of the story consists of Ian ...

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Jun 16, 2023

Wupr

Recommended

“not simple” is a short story that invites us to be a witness to a total stranger’s life. Excluding the prologue chapter, the story is told in chronological order from the days of Ian’s early youth right up to his fateful meeting with a woman who “left her family”. Most fictional stories, especially in the world of manga, have at least one element that clearly separates it from reality and/or is written in such a way that the reader knows very well how detached they are from the world being presented to them. However, the storytelling of “not simple” is composed such that it almost ... feels like we’re having a conversation with a man telling us the full life story of a man he grew to respect. For me, it’s reminiscent of having a conversation with my uncle who would at any given moment bring up a fond memory of his closest friends. And, as someone who followed the advice of my friend and read the prologue at the end, this sort of atmosphere is established in my mind without even having realized just how close to the truth that is.

The title belies its minimalistic art style. If you’re a fan of the Nishioka Kyoudai siblings or you’ve read any of Okazaki Kyoko’s work then you’re perhaps already quite acquainted with how minimalism looks like in manga form, but if you haven’t then I hope you’re able to approach it with an open mind. Most people regard minimalism as an inherently inferior artform, or at least one that isn’t able to rival the epic peaks of realist manga like Vagabond or Vinland Saga or contend with the great scores of other unique art styles that thrive in the industry. While I do hold a strong personal preference in favor of those art styles as well, I would advise to avoid letting its minimalism deter you from reading it. The manga was drawn this way with a purpose. It adds a whole new dimension to the experience, one that serves to contextualize Ian’s story in the massive fabric of life. Horrific events proceed as if they were just normalities. The victim, the evil wrongdoer, the bystander, they are all reduced to their barest forms, stripped of the exquisite individuality that you may see in most popular works. No one has a shadow. Their chopstick legs only exist so that we can be sure that they’re still human.

At the heart of its tale, “not simple” is a narrative about coming to terms with tragedy and tackling the importance and role of family. Ian is a man with nothing to cling to. His life is one of undue pain and constant suffering. Yet, there is one hope that continues to inspire him: the promise he made to his sister. While Ian has a complex relationship with the rest of his family, his sister has always been there for him. She is the one unequivocal ally that he’s had since childhood, it only makes sense that he holds his promise to meet with her so dearly. However, as he chases his sister across the world she only seems to appear to grow further in distance and even more impossible to contact. Ian refuses to surrender. His sister is the most important person in the world, how could he not? Family is not the only complex tragedy explored within these simple panels, but I’ll leave it to you to read the manga and delve into the other themes. Regardless of your attachment to your family, I hope that you do find something of substance here.

The world is cruel, ruthless, cold, and unforgiving. We chase our hopes and dreams only to find disappointment. This is the life of an ordinary man with extraordinarily awful luck. But, there’s something about his reluctance to give in and submit to the injustice of the world that is just so…beautiful. I’m not sure what this manga is trying to say, I’m not sure whether it really has a message to begin with, but if there’s one thing I can be certain of it’s that the world truly is “not simple”.

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Sep 28, 2010

alexalgebra

Recommended

10s across the board! The art is awesome in this - very different from other manga. The eyes all are very expressive and sad, which fits the tone of the book. The characters are very well-developed and I was sucked into the story from the first page all the way to the end.

This isn't a happy story, which the reader learns in the very beginning, but it's a great slice-of-life. It's a little confusing because it jumps around from present to past, and after I'd finished the book I went back and read a couple of parts over again to ...

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Feb 10, 2021

BrotherMeSoftly

Recommended

As the title suggests, this manga is far more intricate than it lets on to those who only read book covers. The cover alone was what drew me in. It’s not too often you see a manga that’s all good ways an elementary schooler attempts modern abstract expressionism — it’s not simple, it’s minimal. The art easily the best thing about the manga but that’s not to take away from its story, which you will easily cling on to thanks to the nature of this being.

Not simple does with it a nonlinear progression in its story telling. You essentially know the outcome of some of ... our characters before even making it to the first chapter, and that’s what’s so interesting about it. Having a story, like this one, told in an correctly ordered fashion breaks the pressure shoved on to certain pages and it creates a deeper tragedy as you like up the pieces and put two and two together. It’s admittedly not a very complex story and some character’s feel like they’re bordering on tropes, but you’ll make it through just fine, especially seeing how some of our characters interact in certain settings. There is corruption, fraud, trafficking, violence, drugs, and other unforgivable moments involved with those characters that we wish weren’t surrounded by those. It all gets dark. Real heavy stuff to flip through.

This was the first manga I had read and finished in awhile. If it weren’t such a quick read, with there being more panels dedicated to only visuals than there are word blurbs (or so it felt), I probably would go back to being intimidated by the rest of the Berserk manga I need to catch up to. I hadn’t written a review here in awhile, and with all the time I spend staring at two purgatorial drafts of game reviews I’ve been meaning to finish for GameFAQs as well as a bit of encouragement from SuperTails, I had to give this manga a review to make up for not getting back on the wagon sooner.

To reiterate, at the risk of sounding like a broken record: I love the art in Not Simple. I don’t think I can stress that enough. No, it’s not the prettiest thing I’ve ever looked at. It’s certainly easier on the eyes in some cases, but it doesn’t have any panels that give me goosebumps quite the way some do in Goodnight Pun Pun. But, again, it’s very visually appealing because of its aesthetic identity. It kind of gives it an art house feel. It reminds me so much of an American graphic novel and on paper that doesn't even sound like something I'm interested in, but it works here. If the art is enough for you to not give this a second glance then you must not like interesting, different things.

The story was pretty interesting. The story was ever changing, and normally that would throw me off and set me unsure of what is going on as well as worried for if I may forget anything along the way, but Not Simple doesn’t try to ruin your good time with that stress. It’s pleasant to follow and hardly obstructive in its own narrative. It’s pacing and story telling style was something I wasn't expecting and when it became that way I liked what was given to me. This, along with the art, play up on the idea that the title is self aware and plays into itself well of being surface level simplistic.

All that said, I'd love to get my hands on more of Natsume Ono’s work. The read itself was quick and easy and a good excuse for anyone else desperate to add more manga to their MAL’s completed manga list. The way they bookended the story, with the couple of the prologue and the epilogue was a nice sendoff for our characters and helped add just a bit of clarity to an otherwise depressing app-the-way-through manga.

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Mar 19, 2020

Mangodog

Recommended

Not Simple is as the Title Suggests. The story in this is simply a complicated Manga. As Much as I wanna talk about how great it is as a depressing story, However, I feel like it should be best left spoiler-free as Your first reading as its fun to piece it together on your own.

All I can say about the story is that it's just simply Fuck'd up and Depressing to watch everything come together. That said you can expect how the Characters may behave kinda. They are well put together, they all have motivation for there actions in a more realistic sense. You'll grow ...

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Jan 24, 2023

ashuulinksu

Recommended

Just beware that this story has a lot of trigger warnings, though I won't list it down since it would possibly spoil the story

“What I really want...is to feel the warmth of the people who should be closest to me"

This one-volume manga is such a quick, but definitely not an easy read. Dark, emotional and distressing, it deals with a lot of heavy, messed up topic. Yes, this story is short but definitely a messed up one, And that depressing and tragic vibe has a such great impact, atleast to me. I didn't even realize that this little story can cause a massive heartbreak until ...

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Apr 2, 2021

Kakeru2Kurosawa

Recommended

"Not Simple" by Natsume Ono is anything but simple. A beautiful story about a brother trying to find his sister through various hardships and family struggles. The story keeps switching back from the present to his past and shows us various times of his life. With only a very handful of characters, Natsume was able to flesh them out well enough and with only 14 chapters she was able to tell us such a beautiful story. The art might not be the best thing you see but it has its aesthetics and with easy-to-draw characters, she was able to focus more on her story.

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