Umibe no Onnanoko
A Girl on the Shore

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Known for the acclaimed "Oyasumi Punpun" and "Solanin", Asano Inio has established his talent with both imagery and the written word. His stories are most noticeable for their oppressive and perpetual sense of melancholy, and "Umibe no Onnanoko" is certainly no exception.

Umibe no Onnanoko (lit. Girl of the Sea) is a brief tale of two teenagers' sexual frustration. Where most anime and manga draw the line at a simple kiss or confession, Umibe no Onnanoko starts its first chapter with a sexual encounter. There is no build-up, no confession: the two just decide to share their loneliness by having sex with one another. It is ... not a story based in the ideals of romance; Asano knows that the real world is not quite so innocent.

Following the experiences of Isobe and his long-term crush, Koume, the story quickly falls into one of despair and misanthropy. Koume was betrayed (a truth she does not want to admit to herself) by her previous boyfriend, used as a source of sexual pleasure rather than being loved and cherished as the kind-hearted person she is (or was). She knows that Isobe has feelings for her and soon finds herself exploiting his feelings to make herself feel like she is appreciated. She does believe another person would ever love her for her personality, so she uses the only thing she is a certain a boy would love: her body.

Unsurprisingly, things do not turn out well for the two. Isobe has his feelings betrayed and sees the girl he once loved exposed as a fake, manipulative nymphomaniac. His ideals of love and romance are destroyed in front of his eyes. He grows to hate Koume for it and devolves from an innocent boy into a depressed, hateful misanthrope. Eventually he does not even want physical intimacy with another person.

What is most appealing about the story is how natural it all feels. Everyone (well... nearly everyone) has known what it is like to be rejected or lied to by somebody they love. Sex is a natural part of an intimate relationship and sometimes it is not always a romantic experience. It can be heart-breaking, painful and even empty.

Asano uses dialogue well throughout the manga. Like its portrayal of sex, the conversations between the characters feel authentic. Teenagers curse with their friends and gossip about how big a girl's breasts are or how hot a certain boy is. There is none of the 'idiot friend' or harem set-ups common in anime. When two characters talk to one another, it feels like something a real person would say. This allows the reader to empathise with the story around them, but also brings something much more relevant: emotional resonance. There is a powerful scene where Koume asks Isobe what kind of person he doesn't hate (owing to his blatant misanthropy), and he simply responds with "Kind people." Everything the story had been buildings towards was encapsulated in those two words of text.

There is also a bit of side-story about Isobe's deceased brother, but it mainly exists to develop Isobe's character rather than simply existing as a distraction from the overlying story. The story is focused, and thankfully, given its short two-volume length. There is plenty of dialogue between background characters as well, which expresses that the world around the two main characters is alive and moving. They inhabit the world but they are not the world itself. They are just two dirty cogs cycling their way around an infinite world.

The artwork of Umibe no Onnanoko is beautiful, though that should come as no surprise given the author. Each character is given life and emotion in their facial expression, including even the background characters who appear for just one or two panels. There is no scene that feels lazy. There are even gorgeous, intoxicating scenery shots spread throughout each chapter (much like what is found in Oyasumi Punpun), though they are never there to take the reader's attention away from the story. Asano Inio is surely one of the best mangaka when it comes to putting images to paper, but he never neglects the story in favour of glitter and glamour. He conveys both the beauty and anxiety of life in his imagery.

If there is one major criticism to be had, it is that the ending feels abrupt. The characters had been steadily falling downwards and downwards, so far down that it seemed they would never be able to get out of their mess. And then they suddenly forget all their troubles and decide to live for the better. I suppose it could simply be rationalised as human beings being whimsical creatures, but it did feel lacking compared to the endings of some of Asano's other works. No doubt he could have expressed himself better.

Umibe no Onnanoko is not always a pleasant manga to read. It challenges the reader's perception of sexuality, romance and sincerity. The two main characters and the world that surrounds them are deeply flawed, imperfect existences. It is less concerned with ideals and more with providing a believable setting that the reader can understand and empathise with. All human beings need a healthy dose of escapism from time to time, but stories such as this are just as necessary.

It will not change anyone's beliefs, and while it is hardly a 'fun time', it is difficult to come out of reading Umibe no Onnanoko without the feeling that something a little bit more meaningful was gained.

I feel like "Umibe no Onnanoko" is the most telling of inio asano's issue in his writhing. Which is that if you don’t have some sort of direct connection to the ideas he tackles you are never going to like the story. Unlike most stories, where the point is to introduce an idea to the reader. Asano's writing feels more like a depiction of feeling that use the experiences of the reader as a way to connect them to it.

This is why "a girl on the shore" is so impactful for me, while being so boring or disgusting for other people. I feel drawn ... to the story of 2 people so desperate to feel wanted in a world that rejects them, while being unable to accept each other, because I understand those emotions and have felt them. But for a person who has not felt these feelings before, or has felt them but does not feel driven to them, the various depictions disgusting of sex scenes, the snail pace plot and the abrupt ending become unable to be overseen in order to enjoy the story.

Umibe No Onnanoko is quite possibly the worst piece of literature that my hands have touched in the past decade.


Now to be fair, I knew absolutely nothing about this manga prior to buying it. Perhaps I should have done my research. When the first sex scene came by I was surprised because, again, I knew literally nothing about the manga. But it was fine. Sex scenes aren't that bad right? I'm sure they have meaning. Oh look another sex scene. And another one. Another one. Another one. Dj khaled can't save me here this book is literally sex and bad story telling.


The actual story ... is quite ridiculous and while the characters hold resemblance to what real teenagers feel at certain times- how they act as a whole is entirely exaggerated and unrealistic. You'd think that the author is a dinosaur based on their interpretation of teenager relationships. Yeah yeah, maybe I was the only teenager in highschool to not have sex every 5 minutes, but to be fair their rampant sexual behavior isn't the only problem. These kids are assholes to each other and its a wonder why any of them interact with each other.


The only reason I recommend you to pick up this manga is if you want to watch teenagers have sex. Well.. that's actually a pretty sketchy reason to pick this one up. I found no redeeming qualities in this book- no deep symbolism (wow people get sexually frustrated 2deep4me) and in general this was a bad and awkward read.


This is basically porn- bad story and characters but okay sex scenes.