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After saying goodbye to the beautiful world of Aria and Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, I felt an empty void in my heart. Atmospheric pieces which really allow you to appreciate the little things in life are really hard to come by these days. After some soul-searching I decided to check out other works from the author, Kozue Amano of Aria fame.

Amanchu! is a slice of life manga written by the aforementioned author. Now I won't take too much of your precious time with the synopsis as MAL has their own synopsis, but I'll give a brief one as it will give my review a bit of ... context. The story tells the tale of two high school girls who are urged to join the schools diving club. During their time in the club they meet new people, learn more about each other, and as such begin a beautiful relationship. The two girls' relationship and how they inspire each other are really the focus of the story. Amanchu! will not blow you away with its plot and it doesn't intend to. Its very simple and moves at a very slow pace.

Amano is known for drawing breath-taking set pieces and cute characters with somewhat complex personalities. Amanchu is absolutely no exception. Taking place in the (real life) Izu penninsula of Japan we get gorgeous beaches and shorelines as our main backgrounds. They look great and really immerse you. With the theme of the manga being scuba diving, the author does an amazing job of recreating the pleasure (and slight fear) of being submerged into a body of water. As for the character designs, the goofy "chibi" faces that take over during comedic moments are back! If this was not your thing in Aria its ulitized even more in Amanchu! and feel like this style gives the manga is bit more charm but others may disagree. That being said the art is absolutely stunning.

The characters in Amanchu are pleasant. Dotty being a standout for me, as her shy nature and desire to improve her confidence is quite enjoyable. One of the best aspects of Amanchu is subtlety. Pikari's whistle and Dotty's flip-phone and what they meant to them was respresented perfectly. The quirks of these characters' personality and mannerisms give them a realistic vibe. Pikari and Dotty's relationship is what drives the story forward. Now, there is a bit of a "Yuri" undertone here, which may or may not turn a few people off. That being said seeing these two interact with each other is quite the delight.

NOW... I personally don't think its fair to compare this to Aria when reviewing this manga. But I'm sure a few of you want to know just how Amanchu stacks up. Now, while Aria focused more on world building, Amanchu focuses more on character and relationship building. This is where Amanchu falls short. Aria was able to build up a believeable world whilst being able to develop characters alongside it. Since Amanchu decides to focus on the characters more than the setting it doesn't have the the perfect balance that Aria had. Most of the characters in both series are very similar with Pikari and Akari being standouts. Not only are their names similar, these characters are able to find to enjoyment in even the smallest of things. As well as being quite influential to others without even realizing it. I could go on and on about the similarities but I'm sure you can grasp what I'm trying to convey.

I really enjoyed Amanchu! It was a fun slice of life with cute/interesting characters, a fresh premise in scuba diving, and quite a few memorable moments. If you're a fan of Aria and YKK OR if you're a fan of slice of life in general, Amanchu! is a must read!

Thanks for reading!!

*Note* This is less of a conventional review, and more of a analysis/my overall thoughts on this piece.

Do you ever wonder what your purpose is in life? If you don't have anyone in your life to care for or vice-versa, is living even worth it?

As for a quick synopsis, Legend of the Strongest Man, Kurosawa written by (Nobuyuki Fukumoto) features our titular character experiencing a hard-hitting mid-life crisis. Kurosawa has been living an ordinary blue collar lifestyle for the latter half of his life. As a man who's just turned 44, Kurosawa has decided he's had enough of being unpopular among his co-workers and will ... do anything to garner their respect.

As with his other main characters (Akagi and Kaiji), Fukumoto is an absolute genius. He is a master in creating a character that you want to root for, cry with, and celebrate when they succeed. Kurosawa of course, shines as Fukumoto's most multi-dimensional character yet. This is partially of course due to his very distinctive art style, which at first seems "unattractive", however I cannot see the story being represented in any other way. This art style allows the character to be very expressive and life like.The other reason Kurosawa was able to be such a compelling character was that I believe the author went through very similar circumstances in his life so he was able channel a lot his experiences into Mr. Kuro himself. I found Kurosawa to be very relatable myself actually. Now, I'm not going through a mid-life crisis or anything as im only 22 years old, but I often find myself wondering if I'll ever find a purpose in life or if I'm on the right track to happiness. Kurosawa is a man who I wish to never become, a man who has watched time fly by him without having done anything eventful. I think that's what the author was trying to convey in this story. Life is short so you should cherish your youth and follow your dreams before its too late.

Now as inspirational as the story was a whole, its not perfect. Like Kurosawa himself, the stories got quite a bit of excess fat that could've been trimmed.

Not going to spoil the ending whatsoever but I was very satisfied with how the ending turned out. I have not read the sequel manga, but I was little surprised they continued the story as i felt the story had comeplete and utter closure.

I could honestly write several more paragraphs talking about this story spoke to me on a personal but I feel like i would be rambling at that point...perhaps I'll make a video on it who knows...?

To conclude this piece was a masterful coming of age story with a roller coaster of emotions. I had an absolute blast reading and I actually shed a tear near the end. I would recommend this manga to anyone.

Thanks a lot for reading =]