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joiedecombatI don't do pimp posts very often, but in this case, I feel it's deserved. I've just been introduced to Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou ("Record of a Yokohama Shopping Trip"), a manga thus far not picked up for US distribution and, thus, only available here via scanlations. I'm not a big reader of manga most of the time, but I'm really enjoying YKK. It's got a feel to it that really appeals to me.
YKK follows an android named Alpha who spends her days tending a coffee shop, her owner having left for parts unknown. The world seems to be a future world, almost post-apocalyptic; the ocean is rising steadily and has submerged places that were once inhabited, creating visuals of streetlights underwater. Roads are mostly abandoned to the elements, and cities like Yokohama have become smaller, quieter towns. Alpha calls it a "twilight age," in which things seem to move at a leisurely pace. Town council meetings seem to be simply an excuse to gather and drink sake, and Alpha can close up her coffee shop for a few days to go on a shopping trip.
It's a slice-of-life manga with an unhurried pace; the things that happen in it are small things. There's a sense of tranquility, and of wide open space, created by the visuals and by Alpha's narration. It feels like it ought to have a Joe Hisaishi piano score; like the pages should be painted in watercolors. It's too relaxed to be saccharine; it's just... mellow, and the world its set in is interesting in its own right. I'd like to wander its crumbling roads and explore its abandoned buildings myself, some long summer day.
You can find scanlations at http://ykk.misago.org/. I encourage my flist to give it a try; it's a mellow, relaxing read, good for unwinding with and de-stressing.
YKK follows an android named Alpha who spends her days tending a coffee shop, her owner having left for parts unknown. The world seems to be a future world, almost post-apocalyptic; the ocean is rising steadily and has submerged places that were once inhabited, creating visuals of streetlights underwater. Roads are mostly abandoned to the elements, and cities like Yokohama have become smaller, quieter towns. Alpha calls it a "twilight age," in which things seem to move at a leisurely pace. Town council meetings seem to be simply an excuse to gather and drink sake, and Alpha can close up her coffee shop for a few days to go on a shopping trip.
It's a slice-of-life manga with an unhurried pace; the things that happen in it are small things. There's a sense of tranquility, and of wide open space, created by the visuals and by Alpha's narration. It feels like it ought to have a Joe Hisaishi piano score; like the pages should be painted in watercolors. It's too relaxed to be saccharine; it's just... mellow, and the world its set in is interesting in its own right. I'd like to wander its crumbling roads and explore its abandoned buildings myself, some long summer day.
You can find scanlations at http://ykk.misago.org/. I encourage my flist to give it a try; it's a mellow, relaxing read, good for unwinding with and de-stressing.
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Date: 2007-11-14 06:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-14 06:39 am (UTC)