Oct 7, 2023
Wanitokagegisu is existential and weird. 8.5/10
Our main character, Tomioka Yuuji, has lived isolated for the past seven years. For those seven years, he worked as a night guard by himself, wasting time away in the repetitive uneventful nights. However, due to a personal realization in the first chapter, Tomioka awakens from his perpetual loneliness, which he has become accustomed to. He makes a wish to a shooting star: for a single friend. His alone life is constantly disrupted by unforeseen events, some of which are joyous, and others incredibly gruesome and morbid. Whatever life throws at him, he picks himself up, reflects upon his own
...
morals, does what he believes is right, and faces the consequences, usually scared and nervous. He's thrown into facing both himself and life through the aforementioned awakening.
The art isn't the greatest, especially with the exaggeration of characters's facial expressions, but it does have a lot of personality.
In many ways, Tomioka reflects a growing sense of disconnect that many feel. He's simply been living life, wandering the path in front of him without any real understanding of where he's going, or having any awareness about those around him. He's very self-aware of this. Tomioka is very aware of how he feels, yet his struggle with fixing his negative feelings is why this manga is so fascinating to me. He's not particularly special, good-looking, funny, rich, or anything, and yet he feels all the more human because of his lack of uniqueness. His awareness of both himself, and those around him, and his lack of connection to them, is why Wanitokagegisu is an 8.5/10 for me.
People fade in and out of his life, fleeting moments and memories are made, and life moves forward. Tomioka finds comfort and dispels his loneliness in his connection to Hada. For this manga, there's no need for grand revelations or great suffering. Tomioka is just one of many in the world, and Wanitokagegisu is just a glimpse into how people like Tomioka feel in this world. Tomioka is a representation of loneliness and how connects to another and becomes... not lonely.
If you like stories that force self-reflection, I would recommend Wanitokagegisu. It feels very real and will make you think about your own happiness and how you feel surrounded by people.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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