Musume no Iede

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The currently displayed plot synopsis for this manga is very misleading, Musume no iede is, in fact, NOT "an omnibus of stories of various girls that have run away from home", but a slice-of-life drama centered around Mayuko, a highschool girl with a complicated family life.
The story gradually expands, giving way to more and more characters in its ever-growing ensemble cast which includes Mayuko's friends, family members and schoolmates, and we even get occasional brief looks into the lives of characters who are only tangentially related to the manga's main story.
In other words, it's the trademark Shimura Takako formula of juggling a bunch of different ... characters and plot threads while somehow giving everyone a proper arc and proper characterisation, except this time it gets cranked up a notch and is condensed into only 36 chapters.
The real feat here is that this doesn't make the progression feel less meaningful and the arcs less satisfying, because Musume no iede is just so damn well-written.
As far as i'm concerned, Shimura's dialogue is simply unmached, it manages to be true to life and entertaining at the same time, which complements the slice-of-life format extremely well.
It might be worth mentioning that this manga also taps into the LGBT themes of the author's most well-known works (Aoi hana and Hourou musuko), but doesn't focus on them nearly as much.
There isn't much of a plot to speak of, every character has their own set of problems to deal with, and they are all clearly the main characters of their own stories, which is how a slice-of-life should be.
Shimura's artwork is an acquired taste, it may seem a little simplistic and empty at first glance, but many will learn to appreciate the smoothness and gentle flow of the linework, and find true beauty in it. Or at least i did.
And that's pretty much all i have to say. If you like a good drama/sol, i highly recommend you to pick this one up.

It's hard to navigate with the plot when there's so many characters, but each of them has their own story, which makes it a little bit easier to remember. They intertwine with each other and are well thought out, so even though you might need a drawn scheme of their relationships, it's worth to give this manga a try.

This manga is simply inclusive when it comes to characters and themes - same sex relationships, divorces, cheating, violence, teen pregnancy, but also healthy frienships, wonderful relationships, cute scenes and interesting bonds... it has it all lol. Even though it deals with heavy themes, it's still an ... interesting and relaxing read.

Shimura-sensei has a type of humor that might not suit everyone, but the art is amazing!