Subarashii Sekai
What a Wonderful World!

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La siguiente reseña está en Español e Inglés (traducida con el apoyo de DeepL)
La versión leída es la traducción al español por Robelais

Español

Es una antología de historias, cada capítulo tiene un protagonista en una situación específica, uno que otro aparecerá en otra historia como personaje secundario. Si bien cada situación es única, el carácter del compendio se puede generalizar, son las vivencias cotidianas de personas cualquiera, con cada quién enfrentando a su manera las circunstancias tan comunes que le suceden.

Sea una relación de pareja, familiar o amistad, el inevitable proceso de crecimiento o la convivencia en tu ambiente; ninguno de los protagonistas está en un ... buen punto al comienzo ni necesariamente lo estará al final, más es subrayada la idea de cómo podría llegar a estarlo, citando al mismo manga “mientras vivas, algo bueno te pasará”.

Subarashii Sekai es el primer trabajo serializado de Inio Asano, de ahí que la calidad de las historias es notablemente irregular, en algunas su mensaje será plenamente transmitido a nivel narrativo y artístico, en otras es difusa la disposición de los elementos. Entiendo lo tentador de atribuir esas lagunas narrativas al autor en la línea de “invita pensar al lector” pero teniendo en consideración que corresponde a un trabajo casi “de debut”, factiblemente se debe es a un joven mangaka en proceso de entender que quería realizar y cómo.

En está antología están las semillas de varias de ideas, temáticas y estilos que le conseguiría su reconocimiento, sea un capítulo casi prototipo de Solanin, su humor irónico, la percepción de que cada personaje secundario está lidiando con sus respectivos problemas o las pinceladas de pesimismo entremezcladas con sinceridad y esperanza.

Tampoco quiero implicar que su valor sea únicamente histórico o comparativo, sin duda hay genialidad, tal como he mencionado, varios de los capítulos transmiten su mensaje de positivismo frente al devenir siempre y cuándo estemos dispuesto a cambiar en favor del mismo, consiguiendo que en pocas páginas sintamos empatía por el protagonista y valoremos su lección. Donde lo consigue (en general) es en las historias menos “oscuras”, de adolescentes intentando ser adultos sin saber cómo.

La cotidianidad del manga tiene una excepción, hay contados elementos fantásticos en la narrativa que no llaman la atención sobre sí mismos, al contrario, se entremezclan con la normalidad del resto del mundo, consiguiendo plasmar un rudimentario realismo mágico. Su inclusión conseguirá varios de los mejores momentos y paneles del manga, sin embargo, similar al resto de los elementos, son un punto de partida a ser perfeccionado en futuras historias.

Respecto al apartado artístico, Asano en sus veintitrés años ya exhibía una notable habilidad para la composición, donde utiliza el posicionamiento de los personajes y el ritmo del panel para implicar interesantes reflexiones. Particularmente, me han gustado los sentimientos implícitos en su manejo de las miradas como también en lo expresivo de las emociones en su estado puro, ambos consiguen dotar de corazón a las historias.

He leído bastantes reseñas de la obra, varias encuentran diferentes reflexiones de diversa complejidad en lo social y filósofo, considero que la mayoría se realiza en retrospectiva, es decir, atribuyendo al Asano que un día será en vez del Asano que fue; y no debería ser el caso. La mejor forma de corresponder a la antología es ver y reflexionar en los elementos tan sólidos que tiene, a la par que reconoces el proceso de descubrimiento que tenía su autor consigo mismo.

English

It is an anthology of stories, each chapter has a protagonist in a specific situation, some of them will appear in another story as a secondary character. Although each situation is unique, the character of the compendium can be generalized, these are the daily experiences of any person, with each one facing in their own way the common circumstances that happen to them.

Whether it is a relationship, family or friendship, the inevitable process of growing up or living in your environment; none of the protagonists is in a good place at the beginning or necessarily will be at the end, but the idea of how it could become so is underlined, quoting the same manga "as long as you live, something good will happen to you".

Subarashii Sekai is Inio Asano's first serialized work, hence the quality of the stories is notably irregular, in some his message will be fully conveyed at the narrative and artistic level, in others the arrangement of the elements is diffuse. I understand how tempting it’s to attribute these narrative gaps to the author in the line of "inviting the reader to think", but considering that it corresponds to an almost "debut" work, it is probably due to a young mangaka in the process of understanding what he wanted to do and how.

In this anthology are the seeds of several of the ideas, themes and styles that would get him his recognition, be it an almost chapter prototypical to Solanin, his ironic humor, the perception that each secondary character is dealing with their respective problems or the touches of pessimism intermingled with sincerity and hope.

Nor do I want to imply that its value is only historical or comparative, there is undoubtedly genius, as I mentioned, several of the chapters convey its message of positivism in the face of the future as long as we are willing to change in favor of it, getting us to feel empathy for the protagonist in a few pages and value his lesson. Where it succeeds (in general) is in the less "dark" stories, of teenagers trying to become adults without knowing how.

The everydayness of the manga has an exception, there are a few fantastic elements in the narrative that do not draw attention to themselves, on the contrary, they are intermingled with the normality of the rest of the world, managing to capture a rudimentary magical realism. Their inclusion will achieve several of the manga's best moments and panels, however, similar to the rest of the elements, they are a starting point to be improved in future stories.

Regarding the artistic section, Asano in his twenty-three years already exhibited a remarkable ability for composition, where he uses the positioning of the characters and the rhythm of the panel to imply interesting reflections. Particularly, I liked the feelings implied in his handling of the looks as well as the expressiveness of the emotions in their pure state, both of which manage to endow the stories with heart.

I have read quite a few reviews of the work, several find different reflections of varying complexity in the social and philosophical, I consider that most are made in retrospect, that is, attributing to the Asano that one day will be instead of the Asano that was; and it should not be the case. The best way to correspond to the anthology is to see and reflect on the very solid elements it has, while recognizing the process of discovery that its author had with himself.

"I look up into the clear blue morning sky. It makes my eyes hurt. And suddenly, I feel something nostalgic underfoot. It's the dawn of a new day, and the first thing I do is step in some shit."

Asano Inio's serial debut Subarashii Sekai is an interesting anthology of loosely linked short stories about people caught between prolonged adolescence and adulthood, trying to resist the pressures of a fast-paced society as they stand in the midst of their failing aspirations and relationships.

Protagonists include a college dropout, a bullying victim, and other characters that many readers will be able to relate to on some level. At ... the opposite end of the spectrum, we are presented with a mob fugitive in a panda mascot suit and Tepodon, a pet turtle that, upon realizing there are times in life when we must "move on, despite everything", even at the risk of making mistakes, flees his tank to become a half-man, half-turtle-like creature. Well, Tepodon might be explained as a manifestation of the college dropout's subconscious. But surreal elements like this are an integral part of what is otherwise a brutally realistic setting. Perhaps distracting from the overall realism, they illustrate how life can be strange sometimes while providing a bit of comical relief. In a twisted sort of way, a few of these stories are rather on the funny side.

The manga ultimately refrains from judging its characters' actions and in some cases teases the reader by having them come back for a cameo in a later chapter. It is implied that the dropout went back to school, but we can't be entirely sure of it. Either way, she seems to be doing okay. "Wonderful World" depicts the world as a cruel place, but all things considered, the title is not meant to be ironical. As a matter of perspective, the world can be wonderful.

With a series comprised of nineteen independent stories, there are bound to be chapters which stand out and chapters which pale in comparison. However, this is a manga about how we are better off focusing on the good. And at its best, Subarashii Sekai is nothing short of brilliant.

Asano Inio is a bad writer. But he's the best writer for the MAL. I don't mean this to be a condescending review but the fact is he writes for 15 year olds. You know the 15 year olds who just recently learnt what "nihilism" meant or that the structure of society isn't perfect? This is his core philosophy and audience. And teens love it. When I was a teen I loved it!

The issue with this style of writing its that it is shallow, so incredibly shallow. I'll get in to spoilers here. There are five characters who suicide in this work. Suicide is thrown ... around like a plot device. It's so unbearably childish. It's just a thing people do, they say "oh screw it I'm done" it's done with literally no subtetly. I think David foster wallace put suicidal ideation best "“The so-called ‘psychotically depressed’ person who tries to kill herself doesn’t do so out of quote ‘hopelessness’ or any abstract conviction that life’s assets and debits do not square. And surely not because death seems suddenly appealing. The person in whom Its invisible agony reaches a certain unendurable level will kill herself the same way a trapped person will eventually jump from the window of a burning high-rise. Make no mistake about people who leap from burning windows. Their terror of falling from a great height is still just as great as it would be for you or me standing speculatively at the same window just checking out the view; i.e. the fear of falling remains a constant". And this view on depression and suicide marks the difference between a poor writer and a writer who has the ability to look at something and truly see it and bring new and thought provoking conclusions.

The writing also falls in the same trap I think we all had as 15 year olds, dark = mature. If I saw a movie with gore then it was for adults and super mature. But that's not really true. In fact it is more often than not the opposite. It continually aims to introduce these large concepts and winks at the audience saying "deep and and dark right?". Some people say this is due to the fact it's a short story style of story telling that it doesn't expand on these concepts more but a good writer can explore concepts with depth regardless of length as I already showed with DFW.

Overall a very weak work that is kind of insulting.

Time for a bonus round for the cringiest moments.
-tone of suicide for the edgelords
-absurd bullying scenarios. Kids can be mean but they're not insane
-drug addicts who think they've workd everything out
- the same mentality rick and morty fans have is all over this work "its so tough being smart am i right fellas :)
-weird borderline pedo relationships
-bad imagery and symbbolism "a raaaiiiinnnnnnboooowwww"
-everyone's parents are dead like everyone's
-high school students who have the vaguest understanding of existentialism
-teens looking at the sky philosophizing and saying things teens would never say