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Sorako

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GEN Manga is Indie Manga from the Tokyo Underground .
GEN Manga was made to give fans an exclusive look at real doujinshi, otherwise known as indie manga, that they had heard about, but until now, unable to get their hands on. In its essence, doujinshi is manga traded among other manga artists. Manga for manga lovers!

Sorako lives an ordinary life. And this is an ordinary story. She has friends and family, loves her dog, thinks about life, and occasionally looks for work (kinda). These are the adventures into a typical girl's life.

“A Beautiful Slice of Life Manga.” -SFX

“Fujimura Takayuki's Sorako, a one-shot story in issue 4, looks like GEN 's answer to Inio Asano's solanin, a slice-of-life story about a restless twentysomething girl and a lost dog. The round-headed style even looks a bit like Asano's work, but the characters are more likable. I'd love to see more from Takiyuki.” -MTV GEEK

“The art of Sorako is fluid, quick, imprecise. Lines aren't perfectly straight nor details entirely accurate, but the rough drafting style gives the frames energy and character, enhancing the impression that the artist's goal is to tell Sorako's story, blemishes and all.”
-AnimeNation

“The new entry this time around is a short story called Sorako, by Fujimura Takayuki. It's a nice slice-of-life story about a twentysomething having doubts about her life situation. The plot is minimal, and is mostly about her lost dog, but I think that makes it even a little better. There's city living commentary, jobless commentary, and a whole lot of ordinary, but it makes for a great read. I think one-shot stories like this suit the format of Gen, and I'm happy to see something like this in its pages.” -Slightly Biased Manga

152 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2013

27 people want to read

About the author

Takayuki Fujimura

5 books2 followers

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5 stars
8 (9%)
4 stars
25 (28%)
3 stars
38 (43%)
2 stars
14 (16%)
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2 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
Profile Image for Sam Quixote.
4,816 reviews13.4k followers
October 5, 2014
Fujimura Takayuki’s Sorako is a wonderful collection of short stories, the majority of which follow Sorako, a young woman fresh out of high school but directionless and unable to find a job. All of the stories are about young Japanese women who are somewhat aimless.

In one story, a young barista decides that she should study abroad in England but can’t speak English. She half-heartedly pursues this but doesn’t know if its the right move. In another, a young woman discovers she hasn’t the enthusiasm for anything. Her boyfriend breaks up with her and she doesn’t care. She goes to a concert and feels nothing for the music. And then she finds a broken birdcage and her perspective shifts.

The Sorako stories reminded me a lot of Dan Clowes’ Ghost World, where Sorako is a kind of Japanese Enid. She goes to a job interview but doesn’t get the job, and, to make matters worse, her bull terrier Toma has gone missing. Later on she talks to her blonde friend, who works in a cafe, about how she doesn’t care about anything and that no job interests her.

Takayuki’s stories feel like believable glimpses into contemporary Japanese young women’s lives, particularly at the transitional and uncertain time between high school and full time work. The stories are lo-fi and concern themselves with everyday lives, without branching out into surrealism to vary things like male manga artists are prone to, and yet the comics are no less fascinating for it.

They’re very heartfelt and full of real human moments as we see these young women figuring out their identities and life paths. They’re beautifully drawn and Takayuki has a superb sense of how to tell a story through comics so they read extremely smoothly. Some stories are more successful than others but I didn’t read one that I thought was boring or pointless - they’re all worth reading.

Fujimura Takayuki is an enormously talented artist and Sorako is a brilliant collection of indie manga that’s totally enthralling to read. Those who enjoy thoughtful, slice of life tales will love these, though I recommend this book to all comics fans everywhere!
Profile Image for Emmy.
2,521 reviews58 followers
August 22, 2018
I liked this a lot more than I thought I would. It was really engaging and I just felt pulled right into the story. It had the dreamlike quality that I have come to love from other Japanese authors, such as Haruki Murakami, Banana Yoshimoto, and Osamu Tezuka. It was a soft, gentle read, one that you don't so much read as curl up inside of and hang out for a little while. As with some of the other titles I've reviewed on this site, this is one I think will sit with me for a while.
Profile Image for Annice22.
625 reviews
November 5, 2014
Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review.

Sometimes it's nice to read a comic book (or manga) about nothing more than everyday life. Sorako is a compilation of seven short stories that follow the lives of several people. The stories range from funny to thought-provoking.

I really like this.


Profile Image for Laura (ローラ).
237 reviews110 followers
May 10, 2016
Short stories about Sorako: an aimless slacker, who is bored and dissatisfied with her current situation. Normally this would be the premise of a story where the character slowly comes into her own, finds ways to be satisfied with her situation... Or, you know... Do anything. She doesn't (do anything, that is).

This comic could be construed as a character study, but I would argue that it just doesn't go very deep. It's not particularly moving, I don't think it feels like a commentary on society. So, I have to judge this based on story and art.

Story-wise, it's nothing special. Short vignettes, that don't really go anywhere.

Art-wise this is a fair comic. I appreciate the heavy use of cross-hatching to create texture and shading over screen tones. There were still "screen tones", but they were laid with computer rather than sheets. However, this is one of the few titles that a CG screen tone didn't annoy the heck out of me. Each story seems to display slightly different art style as though several people were working on this -- or possibly, the author is still trying to decide on their own unique style. It was interesting, but a little too obvious at times.

I originally read this title because of reading Anomal, also published by Gen. I was incredibly disappointed with the translation of the title. I really really wanted to like the publisher. I will admit that this translation is far far far superior to that other title... But, I'm still not overly impressed.

There is one more title by Gen that a friend highly recommends, which I'll try before officially saying, "sayonara" to works by this publisher.
Profile Image for Cate (The Professional Fangirl).
623 reviews40 followers
March 1, 2017
* Borrowed from Hoopla Digital.

Eh, it was okay. It's a bunch of short stories in manga form about a young woman named Sorako. She just graduated high school and is looking for a job. Meanwhile, we see a small slice of her life with friends, job searching, discovering new hobbies, etc.

It's a nice quick read, different from the other manga I usually read.
Profile Image for Kristy.
164 reviews21 followers
February 21, 2016
To see more reviews visit my blog Latte-Books

Sorako is comprised of a series of one-shots, all of which feature young women who have left high school behind and have joined the adult world. While all of the stories have a slice of life flavor to them, the main characters give off an aimless feeling – they have vague goals, no goals, missed opportunities, and are uncertain about the future before them.

The title story is about a young woman named Sorako who is fresh out of high school and looking for a job. She dislikes her town and lacks enthusiasm toward anything – except her dog Toma. She seems content to just live her life day by day without putting too much effort into anything.

Probably my favorite story from the book is “A Boring Breakfast”. It’s about a young married woman who befriends a boy she meets at the library. She is dissatisfied with her mundane life and the separate lives she and her husband are leading. The boy is shy and self-conscious but manages to open up to this young woman. It’s a lovely platonic relationship between two awkward people who encourage each other to make changes in their lives.

You can’t talk about manga without saying something about the art. Well, Fujimura’s art is beautiful. The lines and panels are clean and simple. The backgrounds add to the atmosphere but don’t distract the eye. Because this is a doujinshi, some panels have a rough, almost pencil drawn look to them, which can sometimes be a little distracting but overall it adds to the slice of life vibe.

I wish I could give half stars because I don’t feel like this is a solid 4 star book. Ultimately what prevented me from giving this a 5 was the length of the stories. This is an issue I have with a lot of one shots. I feel like the main idea of each story would be clearer if there was another 2-3 pages between the climax and the end. Overall, Sorako was a quick and enjoyable read. Fujimura is a very talented artist and promising storyteller and I hope to see more of their work in the future – independent and mainstream.

**NetGalley provided me with an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**
Profile Image for Joana Felício.
532 reviews2 followers
July 23, 2017
SEE THE ORIGINAL REVIEW ON MY BLOG: http://thebookaddictsblog.blogspot.pt...

I got this ebook from Netgalley in return of an honest review.
Like I have mentioned before, I am not used at all to the Manga/Comic Book style of writing and reading experience, so this was a new adventure for me.
Yet again, this isn't a big action kind of book. It is a manga about a normal girl living her life, through heartbreaks, lost dogs and part-time jobs. And I must say that made her sound very real. She was a real person.
The art gave this a very special touch: it was so perfect, almost surreal, but that, somehow, made me feel like I was actually looking at real-life situations of a selected group of people. Everything was so beautifully drawn I actually wished I could be in there.
Now, although I really enjoyed this book, it had a couple of flaws I can't overlook. First (and I believe this might be my problem, not the story's), I couldn't relate to the main character at all: yes, she felt like a real person, but not exactly a very likeable real person. I felt she was kind of naïve and I couldn't like her personality and the majority of her actions at all.
Also, most of the story was very confusing. I reckon it lacked a logical sequence of events and a little more explanation on what was going on. I guess this could be a characteristic of mangas and comic books, but I still felt it had potential to be a little bit more than it ended up being.
With all that, I still very much recommend this to manga fans and I will definitely be continuing my manga/comic book adventure.
Profile Image for Darnia.
769 reviews113 followers
February 24, 2016
I got the copy from NetGalley in return for an honest review

I'm not usually reviewing manga, simply because I randomly read it daily instead of read the newspaper :D But when I saw it in NetGalley's Comic and Graphic Novel's list, it's hard for me not to picked it.

Sorako was an ordinary girl. When her family moved to the other town, her dog Toma disappeared. Sorako looked for him everyday just to found that Toma probably ran away because of the boring life of the new life. And so was she.

In the other story, there was Tono a waitress of Sidney Coffee who wants to go to England. But her language border and money made her postponed it.

There was four or five stories in this one-shot manga and it all about the daily life. I always love this typical slice of life manga, because even there wasn't special with the artwork and potentially boring because the lack of the action stuffs, it always gave me a new perspective to see life. And this manga told me so. There always be an extraordinary thing that happened in every event of our life.

There was a funny convo (at least for me) between Tono and her friend:

Friend: so I heard you're going to study abroad?
Tono: Oh Gosh..No, I'm not
Friend : How about English?
Tono: Well, I am studying a little bit. But I can't speak it at all


Ok, I knew that this manga translated from Japan to English but that convo still weird for me :D
Profile Image for Marisa.
1,019 reviews52 followers
December 8, 2014
Review:

I am not extremely familiar with manga so I jumped on the opportunity to give this a shot when I saw it on NetGalley. Unfortunately, I have to say I was a little underwhelmed, but that may be because I am not a connoisseur. The story is a collection of short stories, but I the main character changed and I found that distracting. Some stories are melancholy and capture indifference that comes with depression, while others are more upbeat. I would have enjoyed the stories more if all the stories were a slice of life of a single character.

That being said, I did love the artwork and I do enjoy slice of life style stories. I think they can be effective in forcing the reader to see a slightly different perspective. The stories are certainly believable glimpses into contemporary lives and that was the main redeeming feature I enjoyed.

Please note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion courtesy of NetGalley.

Who should read it? Manga fans who are looking for a glimpse to everyday life in Japan

See all my reviews and more at www.ReadingToDistraction.com or @Read2Distract
Profile Image for Wayne McCoy.
4,302 reviews32 followers
December 13, 2014
'Sorako' is part of the GEN Manga series. This was made to give fans a look at indie manga which is pretty hard to come by. I've read a few of these and this one is my favorite so far.

Sorako's story starts with a missing dog, but there is more missing in Sorako's life. She's apathetic about her job, and directionless in her life. Her father is in the hospital, but she doesn't seem to want to spend much time with him. She wants to go overseas and study or get a job, but she makes no move towards it. Simple everyday life makes up this story, and I found it interesting.

The art is what really kept me moving along in this. I loved the art. The story was good, but I had trouble being sympathetic for characters that were so apathetic about where they were in life. There are a series of stories, and not much story arc, but I'm still glad I read it.

I received a review copy of this manga from Diamond Book Distributors, Gen Manga Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this manga.
Profile Image for Katie.
129 reviews51 followers
August 8, 2016
While the title is Sorako not all the short stories are about her. I never really knew what age she was, but all the stories are centered around young women who feel somewhat lost, living aimlessly. The stories deal with the everyday lives of these women, giving us a glimpse of contemporary Japanese life. In some instances it felt like I was missing pages given the curtness of the dialogue. It was hard to feel attached to the characters because of their apathy for life. One thing that I did absolutely love about this indie manga was the art.

Profile Image for Steph.
904 reviews479 followers
March 22, 2017
This collection is pleasantly moody, but sadly inconsistent. Some stories have a deep feeling of melancholy, and really capture the pain of depressed indifference. Other stories are odd and out-of-place. Sorako is a very interesting character, and I would love to read a full manga about her - but sadly, she’s only in about half of the stories here.

Thank you to NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review.
Profile Image for Jessica.
350 reviews4 followers
November 10, 2014
This was a cute collection of realistic/slice of life stories. It reminded me a lot of Solanin, as they're both stories about young adults/twenty-somethings learning who they are and where their place is in the world. The art is in a rough manga/japanese style, a little bit amateur looking at times.


I received a digital galley of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
9,161 reviews131 followers
November 29, 2014
More wistful, adult manga, as a young Japanese woman pines for the dog that has run away from home, while also wondering if his absence is not a sign of a better life away from the town and life she finds boring. The episodic nature takes over eventually, which is a shame, including widely differing art styles, but on the whole the piece has some inconsequential charm here and there. It still left too much unresolved for my tastes.
Profile Image for Lauren.
52 reviews13 followers
May 29, 2016
I think Sorako is a book you will enjoy or not enjoy based mostly on taste. The reasons others hated it - not much happening, for instance - are what made me really enjoy it. It's a very real book. It feels like real life, and the struggles of being a young person: finding motivation, dealing with the place you live in and family, dealing with the workforce. The art style suited the subject matter.

It's the sort of book that makes you feel less alone, but also encourages you to move forward.
Profile Image for Tarot.
593 reviews64 followers
April 3, 2015
2.5/5 stars ~ This "slice of life" manga shows a few ordinary women trying to discover new ways to look at the world around them. Unfortunately, the short stories and the art are inconsistent in quality such that I thought for a few minutes that some stories were written and drawn by a different person. I'd recommend checking out this quick read at a library or book store before purchasing it.
23 reviews1 follower
October 26, 2016
really nothing happens in this, like at all. i like that, it's like a microscopic version of "slice of life". in real life mundane things can really affect people, so why not write stories about that too? art is inconsistent but always very good, i actually thought there were multiple artists but i guess not...?
Profile Image for Aaron.
1,052 reviews44 followers
September 13, 2016
Deceptively emotional, but frustratingly inconsistent. This is probably due to the fact that it wasn't originally produced (or sold) as a collected publication.

Also, not every story includes the title character (Sorako), which can be remarkably confusing at times.
Profile Image for P..
2,416 reviews97 followers
July 24, 2014
between a 3 & 4 star enjoyment. stories of youth who are in inbetween stages of mind. has a quiet tone and I liked the realistic dialogue, thought the characters felt real. feel like this could be the "underground" manga equivalent of mumblecore but w/o the humor
Profile Image for GONZA.
7,481 reviews127 followers
October 3, 2014
The story is cute without being particular and drawings are perfect for that.

La storia é carina senza essere particolare e i disegni rendono bene l'idea.

THANKS TO NETGALLEY AND DIAMOND BOOK DISTRIBUTORS FOR THE PREVIEW!
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews

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