Title: A Girl on the ShoreAuthor: Inio Asano
First Published: January 19, 2016
Publisher: Vertical Comics
Pages: 410
Genre: Drama, Seinen, Slice of Life
Format: Paperback
Source: Gift
Rating:
When Koume and Keisuke’s relationship begins to take shape, it is apparent that they are both searching for something. Maybe Keisuke wants something more than a kiss from the fair Koume. Maybe Koume is looking for someone better than Misaki, the local playboy. But what they find in each other over the course of a summer might be far greater than anything they were expecting.
Their lives are going to change. And this will all transpire before high school exams!
A Girl on the Shore is a manga that I didn’t know that I needed. It’s a story about two youths, struggling with an oppressive ennui that leads them to become friends with benefits. This isn’t a love story by any means, as many that have ever entered in a true “no strings” friendship can probably attest to. It is about loneliness, selfishness, and the complexity of relationships.
I was surprised with how much I related to this manga, I was in a similar place for the better part of a year. We were friends, but not really, and then I quietly stepped out. I do not look at the experience positively or negatively, it was an experience that helped to soothe me, but also made me think about what I truly wanted.
This is the tone of A Girl on the Shore, as Koume deals with rejection after being used by a playboy, and Keisuke struggles with suicidal depression. The two start off as classmates as Keisuke initially tries to support Koume, conceding to her request to sleep together after she had rejected him.
This book depicts sex in a way that isn’t beautiful or stimulating at all. Two teenagers lost in the drama of youth, both characters selfish and eventually growing to resent each other, but needing the other at the same time. Both struggle with their desire for something more, something better in their lives. The characters grow and change emotionally, constantly dipping into self-destructive behavior. This is one of the most real pieces of fiction that I have ever read in my life because it speaks volumes about an emotional experience that often gets overly glamorized.
“We just do it and do it, but I keep feeling like it’s not enough. Why do you think?”
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About Inio Asano
Inio Asano is a Japanese manga author. Asano created the acclaimed manga Solanin which was released as a feature film in Japan in April 2010, starring Aoi Miyazaki. He is known for his character-driven, realist stories that range from slice of life stories to psychological horror. In 2001 he won the first prize in the GX competition for young manga artists.
The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper described him as “one of the voices of his generation.”