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Ikoku Nikki is by far the best, the most relatable real life growing up/ slice of life genre manga out there right now.

Characters: Every character has a strong personality, a reason why they are in the story, and the struggles and messages they are meant to convey to the reader. The network of relationships is nicely intertwined, and best of all - the characters have the subtlety and nuance you would find in people in real life, making them easily relatable. One wonders how Yamashita-sensei manages to integrate all of this into the minimalist conversations that happen, and why other mangakas are not doing the ... same. There is a depth to each character, and areas across all of them that the reader can connect with.

In particular, the character development of Asa, the protagonist, is nicely captured across the chapters. Her growth is shown, not told, which is amazing. It feels like we are alongside her (and other characters) as they progress in life.

Concepts: Manga/ anime have a tendency to either overplay on stereotypes or if meant to reflect reality, focus vastly on one realistic theme and exaggerate greatly. Ikoku Nikki, however, brings forth modern concepts in the most natural way. They float in on quiet stories, nonchalant responses, character self reflections. Everything is shown, not told. You know the manga is talking about concept X without the concept itself ever being mentioned. It’s amazingly well written.

(Plus points that concepts normally not addressed in manga are addressed in this manga, with no stereotypes at all. You can sense a calm acknowledgement of this and that concept rather than superficial opinions or stereotypes being forced. I can’t spoil what kind of concepts, but please read it!)

Art: The loose style of illustrations perfectly matches the mood and storyline of this manga.

Overall: A very well-rounded manga with emotional depth and clarity, and a good sense of the times it is being published in. I have revisited this manga over and over again to dwell on its words and muse on the concepts it shows.