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CITY #3
CITY, Vol. 3
Niikura wakes up to find Nagumo and Wako camping out in her apartment, and the lure of buried treasure brings out everyone’s competitive side. The Adatara family has a boisterous breakfast routine that Mom handles like an orchestra conductor. Tanabe is on a mission to reward the Man Who Is Too Nice. Ecchan and Matsuri invent their own two-person club, and the City South Eleven vow to protect their MVP. And so the days roll by in the City…
172 pages, Paperback
First published September 18, 2018
8 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
About the author
Keiichi Arawi
52 books82 followersKeiichi Arawi (あらゐ けいいち, Arawi Keiichi) is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator.
Arawi was born in the prefecture of Gunma in 1977. He started his comics career at age 19 and for about a decade he published short stories. His series Nichijou, a slice of life comedy manga, was first serialised between 2006 and 2015 in the magazine 'Shonen Ace', and collected in ten volumes. In 2011 Nichijou was adapted into a 26-episode anime directed by Tatsuya Ishihara, now considered a cult. From 2016 to 2021 Arawi worked on the comedy manga CITY. In 2022 he resumed the serialisation of Nichijou, as well as starting a new strip called Amemiya-san.
Arawi was born in the prefecture of Gunma in 1977. He started his comics career at age 19 and for about a decade he published short stories. His series Nichijou, a slice of life comedy manga, was first serialised between 2006 and 2015 in the magazine 'Shonen Ace', and collected in ten volumes. In 2011 Nichijou was adapted into a 26-episode anime directed by Tatsuya Ishihara, now considered a cult. From 2016 to 2021 Arawi worked on the comedy manga CITY. In 2022 he resumed the serialisation of Nichijou, as well as starting a new strip called Amemiya-san.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 15, 2019
Keiichi Arawi’s third CITY book isn’t as good as the last one but it still had some belly laughs. The mom waking up her family for breakfast was sooooo funny - the dad and sleeping grandpa (who’s the old guy with the hidden cameras plotting his vague revenge from the first book) kept getting hit on the head with stuff and carried on sleeping! It’s way funnier than you’d think.
The manga artist’s story is still really funny too. His new strip, Miss Jump, inspired by Nagumo’s antics (yeah I finally learned the main character’s name!) is just as nutso as his old one, Mr Bummer.
They weren’t laugh out loud funny but everything with Nagumo, Niikura and Wako was enjoyable. Niikura makes a useless folding fan to beat her unwanted roommates with before worrying over a 500 yen coin she finds. Wako (she really lives up to her name: Wako = Whacko!) on the other hand remains the delightful Phoebe of the series - her worldview is wonderfully batty.
I’m still not really into the schoolkids who fantasize about stuff or the injured rich girl, her servant and the kindly customer. The tantrum contest was just ok as was the football team’s storyline about protecting their star player.
Still, even if fewer jokes landed this time around, CITY, Volume 3 remains a decent read with enough quality humour to keep me interested in this highly original and continually intriguing series.
The manga artist’s story is still really funny too. His new strip, Miss Jump, inspired by Nagumo’s antics (yeah I finally learned the main character’s name!) is just as nutso as his old one, Mr Bummer.
They weren’t laugh out loud funny but everything with Nagumo, Niikura and Wako was enjoyable. Niikura makes a useless folding fan to beat her unwanted roommates with before worrying over a 500 yen coin she finds. Wako (she really lives up to her name: Wako = Whacko!) on the other hand remains the delightful Phoebe of the series - her worldview is wonderfully batty.
I’m still not really into the schoolkids who fantasize about stuff or the injured rich girl, her servant and the kindly customer. The tantrum contest was just ok as was the football team’s storyline about protecting their star player.
Still, even if fewer jokes landed this time around, CITY, Volume 3 remains a decent read with enough quality humour to keep me interested in this highly original and continually intriguing series.
July 28, 2023
The "treasure hunt" story in the beginning of this volume didn't do a lot for me, but I loved the rest. A number of reviews I've read here on Goodreads appreciated Nichijou and found this lacking, but for me it's the opposite. Definitely going to read the rest of this. A new favorite. :)
January 28, 2022
7/10
At the third volume I have definitely warmed up to this series, or at least to the three protagonists.
I have realised that Nagumo is hilarious because she has the best reactions. I love the shape of her eyes, too. Plus, she is now known in town as 'the girl who can jump really high'. What gal wouldn't love to have such a reputation in her local area?
My favourite episode in this volume features Niikura dealing with the trope of 'the devil and the angel on the shoulder': funny and dumb. Well, you can make it smart if you read it as a symbolic representation of the non duality of human moral instincts. But I prefer to keep it dumb, otherwise I would make a disservice to Arawi-sensei.
In this volume Arawi adds a weird 'third wheel' to the group, similarly to Mai in Nichijou. Now, Mai-chan there was weird in a surrealistic way. Here the new friend is Wano Izumi, and she is something else! The personification of subversive positivity.
Similarly to Nichijou, I tend to find the episodes devoted to secondary characters less funny. Nonetheless, in this volume even those tie up nicely towards the end - meaning, for a final collective gag. This is one trick that Arawi has perfected. Different characters live dumb 'gag-events' along their 10-page episodes, then they cross each other's paths for a new dumb gag-event that ties with their personal previous dumb gag-event. It's so dumb and yet it's great. I wish I had the tools to understand if and how Arawi's strip humour is rooted in some form of Japanese comedy, or if the man is an odd one.
I was considering dropping CITY and save money, especially because I now know that the whole series is 13 volumes strong, and this English edition from Vertical comics is slightly oversized, hence slightly overpriced. (If there is one mangaka whose art is perfectly fine in the pocket/tankobon size, that's Arawi). But...
At the third volume I have definitely warmed up to this series, or at least to the three protagonists.
I have realised that Nagumo is hilarious because she has the best reactions. I love the shape of her eyes, too. Plus, she is now known in town as 'the girl who can jump really high'. What gal wouldn't love to have such a reputation in her local area?
My favourite episode in this volume features Niikura dealing with the trope of 'the devil and the angel on the shoulder': funny and dumb. Well, you can make it smart if you read it as a symbolic representation of the non duality of human moral instincts. But I prefer to keep it dumb, otherwise I would make a disservice to Arawi-sensei.
In this volume Arawi adds a weird 'third wheel' to the group, similarly to Mai in Nichijou. Now, Mai-chan there was weird in a surrealistic way. Here the new friend is Wano Izumi, and she is something else! The personification of subversive positivity.
Similarly to Nichijou, I tend to find the episodes devoted to secondary characters less funny. Nonetheless, in this volume even those tie up nicely towards the end - meaning, for a final collective gag. This is one trick that Arawi has perfected. Different characters live dumb 'gag-events' along their 10-page episodes, then they cross each other's paths for a new dumb gag-event that ties with their personal previous dumb gag-event. It's so dumb and yet it's great. I wish I had the tools to understand if and how Arawi's strip humour is rooted in some form of Japanese comedy, or if the man is an odd one.
I was considering dropping CITY and save money, especially because I now know that the whole series is 13 volumes strong, and this English edition from Vertical comics is slightly oversized, hence slightly overpriced. (If there is one mangaka whose art is perfectly fine in the pocket/tankobon size, that's Arawi). But...
October 26, 2023
I'm really starting to warm up to this series. It might not be Nichijou, but it's really fun and I love the characters. I can't wait to see what happens next!
September 23, 2023
Staying with Lucy means time to read City. This was my favourite so far I was giggling out loud. I need the Mr Explodey merch.
October 1, 2018
I think this is the best thing he's made so far
January 12, 2025
I see a lot of reviews of this series from people saying they liked “these” segments, but not “those” segments … but I can’t help but feel like that’s the point. I feel certain that the unbounded freedom of experimentation and willingness to try anything, which allows Arawi to write the chapters that don’t land for some, is the only way he’s able to write the chapters that reach the heights of hilarity and masterfully unhinged storytelling on display in this series … and I’m pretty sure that for every chapter that didn’t work for one reader, there’s another reader out there who thinks it’s the funniest chapter in the volume.
All this is to say: of course there were chapters in this that weren’t that funny to me, but the best chapters were absolutely hilarious, and this series continues to be a masterpiece.
All this is to say: of course there were chapters in this that weren’t that funny to me, but the best chapters were absolutely hilarious, and this series continues to be a masterpiece.
March 14, 2021
I nudged the star rating up a notch because there were a couple of stories on display. The most interesting describes the difficulty the mangaka has in coming up with an appealing story (this was hinted at in volume 2). Recognition and acknowledgement of one's problem often leads to progress.
June 21, 2022
They almost lost me with the penguin ninja.
February 1, 2024
Made me genuinely hoot and holler
March 5, 2024
Steady entertainment. Keiichi Arawi feels similar to Terry Pratchett in that they both never fail to put a smile on my face with their work.
May 23, 2024
this series was made for me. one of the funniest things I've ever read! what a great feeling
September 19, 2024
It's not as funny as two, but these are such comfortable reading for me that I am having a lovely time even when I'm smiling rather than chuckling.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews