Wave, Listen to Me! Vol. 1

I love the art of Hiroaki Samura, it was his name that helped me decide to pick up this series initially. His art is impeccable as always, even if the characters aren’t engaging in crazy battles with complex motions like in Blade or Die Wergelder. The reason I’ve decided to stick with the series is because of the interesting characters and their oddball sense of humor.

The main character had a snarky attitude I liked that she got from working at a small curry/bread restaurant. Are you tired of isekai, slice of life, shonen action, and other stuff typically found in manga? Then this is a series for you because it had none of that while still being good (or maybe because it doesn't have that stuff). It's written by the guy that wrote the manga "Blade of the Immortal". If my 15-year old self found this series he would've thought it was boring because it didn't have shonen-style battles, but my 26-year old self enjoyed the main character's snarky attitude. I bought it because I've read so many manga in the past but none of them included radio stations in their premise. This does. It turned out good. There are a few references to 1980s Japanese pop culture but the notes in the margins explain them. Notice I said the "pop culture" not "anime culture". There are no references to anime in this. He does, however, make a side comment criticizing the Japanese government. You don't see that in manga everyday.

A rare manga about adults for adults, this is a comedy about a mouthy waitress whose drunken rant about her ex is broadcast on a radio talkshow and gets ratings, putting her on the path to becoming a radio talkshow host. Unlike most manga that gets translated in the West that's about awkward teenagers and superpowered fights, WAVE, LISTEN TO ME is about ordinary people and their hope and dreams, hangups and foibles. The heroine is a brash but goodhearted waitress with romantic woes and a job she's not completely satisfied with,a boss who would have fired her if she wasn't a popular waitress and a would-be cjef boyfriend she's not completely sold on. Her drunken rant about a horrible ex gets her a lot of unwanted attention that she's surprised she doesn't totally hate, and the producer who broadcast it offers to nurture her natural, freewheeling way of talking into potentially lucrative career on late-night talk radio. The art here is more realistic than the usual big-eyed cartoon look of most manga because this is more for and about grownups. Instead of fights and bloodshed, this is about everyday people shouting at each other in funny ways, making bad calls with their lives and trying to work with the consequences. There are no easy answers here. Emotions are contradictory and messy. The characters are flawed and relatable. The situations feel true. Creator Hiroki Samura has a soft spot for messy, hardscrabble characters who are sometimes their own worst enemies but do the best they can. Give this book a chance. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Wave, Listen to Me!, Vol. 1 by Hiroaki Samura is a free NetGalley e-comicbook that I read in early May. Quick to jump into the story, this manga is drawn in textured greyscale with witty bon mot asides in tiny wee font. An extremely outspoken, smart-aleck bakery/bistro clerk girl in the city named Minare barges her way into a radio station’s recording booth and goes off on gender & regional stereotypes. Suddenly, there's a big listener response leads her to a job offer with them - doesn’t this happen in the Dolly Parton movie Straight Talk? Even so, it’s so easy to take Minare’s side on things in this really exciting, reactive, good-quality manga.

That's right. No magical adventures, no high school drama, no scantily clad teenagers. This is the story of Minare Koda, a grown-*** woman with an interest in love, but a focus getting her bills paid and generally keeping her head above water. She is a sarcastic scatterbrained mess with a big heart, and I love her. Read this manga, and you will, too.

I’ll start with the funny story about me picking up this manga and reading it – I was interested because, hey, there is an upcoming (at the time I got the book) anime about it, and also, a young woman debuting in radio despite being an amateur sounded like an interesting plot; I read the synopsis on Netgalley, not the one on Goodreads so the author’s name didn’t really click for me. The art sytle tended more towards a semi-realistic style than general manga, or even in the josei genre, and I was like – huh this is sorta like the Blade of the Immortal in style, and lo and behold, after reading it and updating it on Goodreads I was like, wait, this IS FROM the guy who did Blade of the Immortal, which totally gave me whiplash because the tone of this one is so different from it! Anyway, yeah, so that was a surprise, mostly because of my inability to remember names. Moving on the review of this manga, it is, as said, a comedy josei about a waitress, Minare, at a curry restaurant, who, when duped and dumped by her long-term boyfriend, rants about it drunkenly to a stranger at a bar, and then hears that same rant being broadcasted all over Hokkaido by a radio station. Turns out the stranger was a radio show producer, and he invites her to host her own show, because he sees innate talent (she is very good at speaking without stammering or stuttering) and a unique voice; Minare isn’t sure if she should take up the offer, but since her job at the restaurant is already on the rocks, she wants to try it out. This first volume introduces the characters, the loud boisterous and impulsive Minare, her co-worker Nakahara who subtly not-so-subtly wants to marry her and have them become a curry power couple, the radio producer, and an assistant on the radio station who takes in Minare as a roommate and becomes friends with her, as well as a shady neighbour, the owner of the restaurant, and many more minor characters who might have something bigger to add to Minare’s storyline hopefully soon. The highlight of the story is Minare herself, who is an absolute disaster of a person; she is also pretty imaginative, spinning stories on the fly, and quite opinionated (which sometimes does get her in trouble). She is also pretty random, going on weird tangents, and well, it can get a bit confusing sometimes. I don’t know in which direction the storyline is heading at this point, and it is anyway too early to tell, but since the humor and jokes don’t land well often, I feel it could have been better served in a 4-koma style, to bring out the random nature of Minare’s bursts of dialogue.

I felt like this lady's life is taking a crazy turn for better or worse. I find her hilarious at times and worried about her. I just want to know what's going on and what's gonna happen. I mean, what Mizuho hiding? Does Mato has an ulterior motive? Is Nakahara gonna fall in love with somebody else? On to the 2nd volume!

I Received this advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Kodansha Comics, via Netgalley. 3/5 Trigger Warning: a character is outed Hiroaki Samura is an interesting man in the publishing world of manga. He is widely known for his unique traditional artwork that has no digital touch on them and his most famous series he ever wrote, Blade of the Immortal. I got personally obsessed with the man the moment I tried to read the first chapter of Blade of the Immortal and I had not regretted it. He has more notorious works that you perhaps haven't heard from like Die Wergelder, Bradherley's Coach, The Loitering Snow, Ohikkoshi and Hiroaki Samura's Emerald and Other Stories all of which are different takes with a personal touch of Hiroaki's realistic pencil work and captivating narration. But then comes a time when a creator makes something you are simply not sure what it's about. Exactly like the creator himself who confesses about it. Wave, Listen to me! is centered around a young waitress who one night gets so drunk she share her most inner views to a stranger who is a radio broadcaster producer after she got dumped recently by her ex-boyfriend. He sees opportunity and takes this fiery confession of hers and surprise surprise, everyone and their mother, hears Minare and now she is a big hit. Minare now widely acclaimed is showered with praise and perhaps a change in a career, dealing with past co workers and diving into this new territory she has no idea what will happen once she's on air. Honestly, it sounds like a pretty good premise for a comedic romantic Josei series but it's labeled as a Seinen. I respect Hiroaki and adore whatever he is doing but with this one I am not entirely sure what was happening. The premise on its own is intriguing sure but the jokes are hit or miss for sure but the artwork are mesmerizing as always and keeps you glue to the very last page of the volume but how can you take this plot so seriously? Minare is a fine lead but this story feels more like a novella then a series but who can tell. It is only the beginning so why not give it a try and pick up the first volume. You won't be disappointed :)