Solanin’s story at it’s core is the clichéd, or perhaps universal, account of a group of friends uncertain about their future. The spectacular accomplishment in how the story sets out in achieving its purpose through the skillful use of narration techniques enables it to be a successful and acclaimed manga. In a Japanese context, manga are varied in genre and the artists and writers have a history of being able to create exceptional literary works through skilled artwork and narration. Inio Asano’s work of Solanin can be analyzed by identifying Aristotle’s key elements in plot and Gerard Genette’s questions regarding the act of narration itself. Through the use of varied focalization, narrators, packaging, time, and representations Solanin is packaged together as a meaningful work of art and literary accomplishment that many people are able to thoroughly enjoy and relate to.
According to Aristotle’s interpretation of the narration of a typical story, the character goes through the stages of having a fatal flaw, a moment of self-recognition and finally a reversal of fortune. The manga by Asano could be interpreted that the protagonist, Meiko, goes through these three stages. Her fatal flaw can be recognized near the beginning of the book when she thinks, “I have no idea what to do with myself. And while I wait for my epiphany, I feel the toxins collecting in my body” (pp.7). This flaw is echoed in the other characters who question their happiness in the monotonous lives they are leading. The second stage of a moment of self-recognition can be found at several points including when she decides to quit her job, and Taneda telling her she doesn’t know what to do, so does nothing and forces everything on him (pp.173). Then the reversal of fortune comes when the band rejects the offer to become the band for the swimsuit model, without any advance in their lives. The general familiar flow of the key moments of plot serve to connect it to other narratives that the reader understands and identifies with. It establishes a strong framework that is not overly obvious and is enhanced through narrative devices in both words and art.
According to Gerard Genette, the importance of a story can be found in how it is told through the act of narration. The process of telling the story Solanin uses both mimetic and diegetic narrative techniques to portray the plot with both vivid details of specific conversations and imagery, coupled with overviews of the situation, which summarize and capture the overall idea. The mimetic style shows events while they are happening throughout the story with images of people interacting, speaking and includes specific details. For example, the story brings in the element of vegetables with specific details related to them. The opening image of the deliveryman, with Meiko’s reaction to receiving them and Taneda also noticing and reacting gives the reader a sense of comfort and familiarity with the characters. The vegetables may also serve as a connection to home and symbolize a different lifestyle, which the reader is left to contemplate. On page 181, Rip and Kato dramatically reveal a potato that has been neglected and growing due to Meiko’s emotional state. The mimetic portrayal of small details such as the vegetables tie the story together, which gives the story significance through substance. Further, the use of language such as random common phrases also adds to the story with particulars, which make the characters easily relatable to the reader. For instance, when Rip asks Meiko, “did you curl your hair”, it is giving the reader details that later are revealed to be that he has a crush on her. The details of the story tie together the overall theme and make it a worthwhile read.
Diegetic narration in Solanin is visible in several ways, both graphically and through dialogue. The use of diegetic narrative throughout the story may follow a character but does not necessarily follow realistic pacing. For example, while following Naruo’s thoughts, he is riding on his bike thinking, followed by an image of him standing next to the river. The thoughts would not have taken as much time as was provided in the images, and therefore the scene had cut out and moved ahead in time without any specific mention or explanation of it. This narrative style functions to cut out unnecessary unrelated images that do not have importance or follow the plot, and provides smooth transitions from locations and situations.
The narrator is primarily Meiko as the central character that alternates with the secondary characters, who are all homodiegetic narrators that are present in their own stories being told. The story combines internal and external narratives as the thoughts of the characters provide internal focalization while dialogue and images constantly provide external focalization. However, the internal focalization is sometimes illustrated to provide the reader with a more detailed understanding of the characters mind. For example, Taneda’s inner monologue is amplified through the detailed depiction of his nightmare and his “Me Summit” with each version of his emotions wearing a labeled shirt of “negative, positive, suspicion, apathy, and so on (pp.118-119). The importance of his thought process was brought to the readers’ attention in a highly dramatized and graphically interesting way that could not be achieved through text alone. Further, to a lesser extent throughout the story, Rip’s dreams of himself are represented in thought bubbles, which provide a more comedic effect rather than insight into the plot like Taneda.
The story contains a central frame narrative, which constitutes Meiko’s point of view for the majority of the time, with the embedded narratives of Taneda, Rip and Kato to a lesser extent. Meiko as the main narrator constitutes the majority of the story, with the lives of the other characters deeply connected to her and serving to reinforce the overarching theme of the story. The intermingling of the stories with the frame narrative and meta-narratives creates variation and fills in different perspectives for the reader to gain a closer understanding and deepen their connection to each of the characters. This narratological device is implemented intermingled with strategic flashbacks and jumps in time to generate an appealing story line for the reader to follow.
In identifying Genette’s acts of narration, a central feature is the strategic use of time, which Asano uses effectively in a non-linear fashion. Time is handled in several ways, including use of analepsis and jumps in time such as characters narrating the time difference by stating how time has passed. For example, Meiko narrates that “it’s been five days” (pp.181) after Taneda leaves, creating a sense of prolonged waiting for the reader to understand that following a steady timeline could not achieve. Coupled with the diegetic storytelling device, the jumps in time serve to omit assumed information while the flash backs serve to fill in important situations in the past that enable a deeper understanding of the plot and the motives for the characters. The flashbacks of the Music club deepen the relationship the characters have with each other and the readers’ perception of their current circumstance in the stories timeline. The time shifts serve to give information to the readers at varied intervals to create a more interesting and revealing narrative.
The story is told by depicting aspects of these peoples’ lives in several ways including speech, thought and visual representations. The story itself is told through thought and speech are both included throughout the story from the main characters. A square box characterizes their inner thoughts that provide a narrative throughout the manga, and sometimes also small ‘thought balloons’ for short thoughts. Spoken words in Solanin are shown with speech balloons, and other less important thoughts and sound effects do not have a shape and are written freely next to the character they are related to. The reader understands these conventions as an established method of conveying speech and thoughts in a graphic form. The mimetic speech coupled with the transposed thoughts conveys the characters interaction and intention for the readers’ optimum understanding of the situation. Further, as it is a graphic novel, the characters thoughts are echoed or reinforced through their facial expressions and through the scenery. As repetitive images of cityscapes can reflect a characters feeling of being trapped, the repetitive sky scenery symbolizes their freedom.
Narratological techniques in the manga are used to show how emotions are represented such as happiness and uncertainty show through in the artists’ illustrations. The facial expressions, angles, lighting, poses and backgrounds all serve to enhance the emotional portrayal of the situation. The humor intermingled throughout the story in the artwork also adds to the mood of the story, as Asano creates a world unto itself which the reader can feel a connection to. When Taneda and Meiko are discussing how the band doesn’t pay the bills and Taneda suddenly throws up in the middle of the conversation, it breaks up the seriousness of the situation without taking away from the importance of it (pp.34). Meiko’s internal grappling of her own sense of what is going on constitutes the layout of the story, establishing an ongoing questioning and uncertainty that makes the story worthwhile.
Solanin uses narratological techniques that enable the story to come together as a functional and flourishing story. As the protagonist goes through the stages of fatal flaw, realization, and self-recognition, the plot develops meaning through her actions. The elements used to narrate the story, both visual and written, stop the story from becoming a clichéd story of a group in their early twenties struggling to find their place. The realistic portrayal of the events of significance is accomplished through allowing different embedded narratives and internal focalization of each character. The use of time flowing at different speeds and the inclusion of analepsis highlights essential situations and thoughts without overloading the reader. As a psychological realist novel through a narratological understanding of how the complete story is put together, Inio Asano moulds together a prime example of a richly created narration through artwork and writing, without it being a conventional literary novel.
