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Manga : Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou
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Title |
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou |
| Japanese Title |
ヨコハマ買い出し紀行 |
| Total |
9 vols compiled, still running in Kodansha Afternoon Magazine |
| Genre |
Drama, Science-Fiction |
| Year Published |
- |
| Author |
Ashinano Hitoshi (芦奈野 ひとし) |
| Publisher |
Kodansha |
| US Distribution |
- |
| User Rating |
8.9/10.0 (15 reviews) |
| Updated |
Fri, 14 Dec 2007 23:45:30 -0500 |
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| Record of a Shopping Trip to Yokohama
Yokohama Shopping Log
Yokohama Shopping Trip
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| This is not so much a story as it is a slice of life. Or rather, it is a look into portions of the life of a girl named Alpha, together with the people around her. Alpha runs a little cafe on the outskirts of Yokohama. There are almost no customers, but Alpha does not mind at all since she has the occasional company of the old man who runs the gasoline stand down the road, as well as that of his grandson Takahiro. This is a Yokohama of the future, when the sea covers most of the land and roads have disappeared under sand or water. Alpha is in fact a robot, looking after the cafe during her owner's indefinite leave of absence. The name of the manga comes from Alpha's trip to Yokohama to buy coffee beans.
The background setting sounds like it could be for a bleak science fiction series but, as you may have guessed, YOKOHAMA is nothing of the sort. It is a bright, beautiful world. There are almost no people around; instead, there are rolling hills, little pools, and groves of trees as far as the eye can see. Buildings submerged underwater still have their lights shining, and one can see the silhouette of Landmark Tower in the distance. When people look back on the past, there is no regret, simply nostalgia. As for Alpha herself, she is the most "human" of anyone in the story. Her behavior, her reactions, her thoughts and doubts and failings, they are wonderful to see. This has to be one of the warmest, most optimistic works I have ever read.
*** review taken from ex.org ***
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