Solanin

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Japanese: ソラニン

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 2

Chapters: 28

Status: Finished

Published: Jun 30, 2005 to Apr 6, 2006

Genres: Drama, Slice of Life

Demographic: Seinen

Serialization: Young Sunday (Weekly)

Authors: Asano, Inio (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 8.21¹ (scored by 49,352 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #413²

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

Popularity: #106

Members: 120,323

Favorites: 5,493

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Wikipedia

8.21

Ranked #413Popularity #106Members 120,323

MangaYoung Sunday (Weekly)Asano, Inio (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /2

Chapters: /28

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Synopsis

Ever since graduating college, 23-year-old Meiko Inoue has believed in one thing: there is a demon lurking in Tokyo. This evil's presence has made her bored, aimless, and missing the excitement of her youth, leading her to contemplate what she truly seeks from life. Surprisingly enough, when Meiko proposes the idea of quitting her job to her boyfriend, Naruo Taneda, he groggily agrees.

Deeply inspired by his half-asleep words of encouragement, Meiko hastily leaves her old life behind, looking to begin anew, with Taneda soon following suit. Together, they look toward their dreams from their college days and decide to revive Rotti, Taneda's old band. As the two stand confidently alongside their old friends with instruments in hand, life throws the most unexpected curveball their way, leaving Meiko and her friends to pick up the pieces of what was shattered.

Solanin tells an intimate story about the trials and tribulations of love, loss, and grief centered around people in their twenties who often slip between the cracks of society.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Solanin was nominated for the 2009 Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material Japan. The series also received a live-action adaptation directed by Takahiro Miki which was released on April 3rd, 2010.

The manga was published in English by VIZ Media under the VIZ Signature imprint in an omnibus on October 21, 2008; in Brazilian Portuguese by L&PM Pocket from November 2011 to December 2011; and in Polish by Hanami since October 2009 to February 2010.

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Characters

Inoue, Meiko

Main

Taneda, Naruo

Main

Yamada, Jirou

Supporting

Katou, Kenichi

Supporting

Ohashi

Supporting

Ayukawa, Ritsuko

Supporting

Saeki, Ryuutarou

Supporting

Taneda

Supporting

Yamada

Supporting

Kotani, Ai

Supporting

Reviews

Dec 3, 2008

Beatnik

Recommended

Asano Inio's Solanin captures people in a pivotal moment in their lives. The early twenties. That awful precipitous moment of our lives when we are suddenly hit by pangs of self-doubt and uncertainty about our future, our path in life, all the more pangy because we've already been forced to study subjects we may or may not give a shit about and passed college and university and have been pushed into the wide world so there's no going back.

But there is going sideways. Speaking of sideways, Asano's stories feature elements that are so out of left-field it prevents his manga from falling ... into cliché, which is so easy to do because of the subject matter. The early twenties. That awfully awkward moment of our lives when we start consuming counter-culture entertainment like The Matrix and Fight Club endlessly reciting every bit of dialogue, reading Haruki Murakami, writing embarrasing poetry, dabbling in hobbies that could reap lots of fame and riches if we were to seriously pursue them but we don’t because it’s just a hobby that we're mediocre at. You couldn’t possibly make it to the big-time...right?

The character of Meiko is an office lady in this manga and she's at this stage of her life where she's sick of routine so she takes a leap into unknown waters and quits her job. An act that is more courageous in Japan than it is elsewhere, being that the country has such a rigid social order about it. Her losing her job puts pressure and a burden on her part-timer boyfriend who's dabbling in music with two college buddies. Could he pursue his hobby and make it big thus saving the both of them from impending poverty?

Her act of quitting sets in motion a collage of choices and events that propels the two through unknown waters, and although it’s scary it’s still life-affirming as in this century it takes courage to confront your own identity and purpose in life and ask yourself outright: am I happy? Can I change my life?

Asano's stories would drip with cliché and hackneyed nonsense in another author's hands; they are so ripe for rolling your eyes at. But Solanin is fresh, adult, funny, compelling and emotional. It manages to roll up those moments of our early twenties into two volumes of heart-felt drama presented in what is now a typically Asano fashion.

The humour is random and inspired, the dialogue is witty and honest, the story is realistic in scope and execution, the art is fantastic and full of memorable imagery that, again, avoids the easy and lazy route other authors would walk.

Asano's route is straight to your heart and his purpose is to make it sing Solanin. Read the manga with Shugo Tokumaru’s ‘Exit’ album playing and sing out loud.

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Apr 9, 2013

Dizmo

Mixed Feelings

Having read the 11 volumes of Oyasumi Punpun (by the same author), which I'd easily rate as a 9/10 or 10/10 personally, I decided to read this manga. Unfortunately I found myself disappointed.

Starting out, there wasn't really much in particular that hooked me into story, except for maybe the fact that the main character is somewhat cutely drawn. Regardless, having some awareness that something dramatic will occur later on during the story, I read on with an open mind. Ultimately though, I was disappointed by the twist.

Though the short two-volume format doesn't help matters, apart from the heroine, I feel that the characters were not ...

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Oct 16, 2019

kyr0s

Not Recommended

Oh god what did I just read.

It starts off well - the lead has just made a life changing decision, which is something anyone who is stuck in a dead end job can relate to. There's this group of friends and her boyfriend and everyone begins to react and it affects their lives.

That's where it starts and should have continued.

For some reason that only the universe knows, an event happens. And its all downhill from there. Its like, no one had a clue where this was heading so they turned into a story that has been rehashed again and again. All characters whom ...

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Manga 'Solanin' Gets Epilogue Chapter

It has been revealed that an epilogue chapter will be included in the new physical release of Inio Asano's Solanin manga, which will be the series' first ...read more

Sep 29, 2017 2:05 PM by Sakana-san | Discuss (18 comments)

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Poll: Solanin Chapter 28 Discussion ( 1 2 ) TuzoAnime - Feb 21, 2010	61 replies	by FarCritical »» May 16, 11:45 AM
Poll: Solanin Chapter 27 Discussion AlexSadist-sama - Dec 20, 2011	13 replies	by FarCritical »» May 16, 8:53 AM
Poll: Solanin Chapter 26 Discussion AlexSadist-sama - Dec 20, 2011	14 replies	by FarCritical »» May 16, 8:46 AM
Poll: Solanin Chapter 25 Discussion AlexSadist-sama - Dec 20, 2011	11 replies	by FarCritical »» May 16, 6:26 AM
Poll: Solanin Chapter 24 Discussion AlexSadist-sama - Dec 20, 2011	17 replies	by FarCritical »» May 16, 6:15 AM

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