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I'll Give It My All...Tomorrow #2
I'll Give It My All...Tomorrow, Vol. 2
Life begins at 40, whether you're ready for it or not.
This is the story of a forty-year-old salaryman who quits his job to pursue his dream of becoming a manga artist--and the family that has to put up with him. While not terribly unhappy, Shizuo Oguro can't fight the feeling that something in his life just isn't right, so he walks away from his stable (yet boring) day job to embark on a journey of self-discovery. Unfortunately for his family, this journey also involves playing video games all day while his teenage daughter and elderly father support him. Will Shizuo succeed in creating a true manga masterpiece, or will he be just another dropout living a life of slack?
Throughout his heretofore unimpressive existence, Shizuo Oguro adopted several different—yet all equally mediocre— phenomenally unintimidating street punk, materialistic yet talentless folk musician, nondescript office worker, and forty-something burger joint employee. Can Shizuo, a man with an unblemished track record for failure, eventually channel his life experiences into a publishable work that will shake the manga industry to its very core, or will he continue to feel the cruel sting of rejection time and time again?
This is the story of a forty-year-old salaryman who quits his job to pursue his dream of becoming a manga artist--and the family that has to put up with him. While not terribly unhappy, Shizuo Oguro can't fight the feeling that something in his life just isn't right, so he walks away from his stable (yet boring) day job to embark on a journey of self-discovery. Unfortunately for his family, this journey also involves playing video games all day while his teenage daughter and elderly father support him. Will Shizuo succeed in creating a true manga masterpiece, or will he be just another dropout living a life of slack?
Throughout his heretofore unimpressive existence, Shizuo Oguro adopted several different—yet all equally mediocre— phenomenally unintimidating street punk, materialistic yet talentless folk musician, nondescript office worker, and forty-something burger joint employee. Can Shizuo, a man with an unblemished track record for failure, eventually channel his life experiences into a publishable work that will shake the manga industry to its very core, or will he continue to feel the cruel sting of rejection time and time again?
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 4, 2014
I actually think I am liking this even more as I get into it, and I liked it a lot from the first. But I have this fondness for Chester Brown/Jeffrey Brown kinda characters, and this middle aged guy is one. And it is actually sort of inspiring about art making, as funny as it is with respects to his struggles with.. almost everything. But there's an underlying hopefulness in this long shot move to give everything up to become a manga artist… And I am reading this alongside Bakuman, which is also about the making of manga, with less hopefulness, as you see realistically the odds against anyone making it. But this guy, you have to root for him.
February 16, 2015
In the first book, we saw Shizuo give up his job as a salaryman (office worker) to pursue his dream of becoming a manga artist, despite being in his 40s and manga being an incredibly competitive field. The second book is more of the same. Really - read the first book? Then you’ve basically read the second one too as nearly the same things happen. Shizuo submits manga and it gets rejected. He bums around playing games and watching cartoons when he’s not creating manga or working at his fast food job.
We learn a little bit more about him and his father’s fraught relationship, which stems from childhood, and Shizuo moves out and into his quiet and surly friend’s apartment. But really, that’s all that happens? That’s so disappointing! I was hoping SOMETHING would happen to Shizuo that’d advance his story a little. I mean, I guess it’s realistic in that someone who tries their hand at manga is going to have to go pay their dues long before they get to play the blues, but still - it’s not very interesting to read!
Shizuo’s quiet and surly friend, Ichinosawa, gets more pages though I don’t really like him much as a character. He’s a bit like Shizuo being aimless and unsure of what he wants to do, though he’s 26 and could really do anything - he just needs a push. Instead he’s a part-time waiter at a hostess bar. Alright but he still seems very one-dimensional and boring to me.
There’s some really heavy-handed imagery in one of Shizuo’s many pep-talk sequences as he once more mentions being middle-aged and failing - cut to sun setting! - but still clinging to his dreams regardless - cut to kid’s balloon flying off and Shizuo jumping up to catch it! Subtle, eh?
Even the format of the book is similar to the first, ending with a short story about a female character. This time her life isn’t changed by a chance encounter with Shizuo, but it’s still a young-woman-in-trouble story. Ichinosawa’s sister tries her hand at prostitution, gets away with not sleeping with her johns for a while, gets caught and roughed up, then decides that maybe she ought to get a real job. Eh. It wasn’t bad and at least it was something as opposed to nothing for much of the preceding book!
I still like the series premise so I’ll stick with it but this second book is a very poor follow-up to a fresh and interesting first volume.
We learn a little bit more about him and his father’s fraught relationship, which stems from childhood, and Shizuo moves out and into his quiet and surly friend’s apartment. But really, that’s all that happens? That’s so disappointing! I was hoping SOMETHING would happen to Shizuo that’d advance his story a little. I mean, I guess it’s realistic in that someone who tries their hand at manga is going to have to go pay their dues long before they get to play the blues, but still - it’s not very interesting to read!
Shizuo’s quiet and surly friend, Ichinosawa, gets more pages though I don’t really like him much as a character. He’s a bit like Shizuo being aimless and unsure of what he wants to do, though he’s 26 and could really do anything - he just needs a push. Instead he’s a part-time waiter at a hostess bar. Alright but he still seems very one-dimensional and boring to me.
There’s some really heavy-handed imagery in one of Shizuo’s many pep-talk sequences as he once more mentions being middle-aged and failing - cut to sun setting! - but still clinging to his dreams regardless - cut to kid’s balloon flying off and Shizuo jumping up to catch it! Subtle, eh?
Even the format of the book is similar to the first, ending with a short story about a female character. This time her life isn’t changed by a chance encounter with Shizuo, but it’s still a young-woman-in-trouble story. Ichinosawa’s sister tries her hand at prostitution, gets away with not sleeping with her johns for a while, gets caught and roughed up, then decides that maybe she ought to get a real job. Eh. It wasn’t bad and at least it was something as opposed to nothing for much of the preceding book!
I still like the series premise so I’ll stick with it but this second book is a very poor follow-up to a fresh and interesting first volume.
August 25, 2020
4 Stars
A good continuation to this slice of life manga. Lookin forward to the next volume.
A good continuation to this slice of life manga. Lookin forward to the next volume.
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November 26, 2021Felt better than the first volume, though we don't move much on the protagonist's main struggle.
April 22, 2025
I think the characters and the author's style of storytelling grow on you with every passing chapter. 4/5.
February 13, 2017
41 years old is young or not. But not so old. Shizuo(main character) is trying to be mangaka, and people around him. Author makes good stories like this, however his origin is this book I think. His mangas always give me some power to live :
December 28, 2010
Shizuo Oguro is back, lying around his dad's house for all he's worth, at least while he's not at his job at the fast-food restaurant.
This volume actually seems a little more bleak than the first one, which seemed to treat Shizuo with a little more good humor than he's treated with here. Still, you can't help feeling some affection for poor old Shizuo, who's still in full mid-life crisis and is still having no luck whatsoever trying to make a living drawing manga. We also get a broader glimpse into the life of Shuichi Ichinosawa, Shizuo's 26-year old slacker bud, and it's not pretty.
A bit bleak, but engrossing anyway.
This volume actually seems a little more bleak than the first one, which seemed to treat Shizuo with a little more good humor than he's treated with here. Still, you can't help feeling some affection for poor old Shizuo, who's still in full mid-life crisis and is still having no luck whatsoever trying to make a living drawing manga. We also get a broader glimpse into the life of Shuichi Ichinosawa, Shizuo's 26-year old slacker bud, and it's not pretty.
A bit bleak, but engrossing anyway.
August 9, 2011
It’s part two, and we’re making progress. The first volume was very slow and lukewarm, seemingly going nowhere, even though I did think that the concept had potential. This still isn't a series with epic plots or complex structures, but the storytelling gets streamlined and moves away from being a tale of a loser into a tale of someone slowly rediscovering himself. The protagonist moves forward with his plans of being a successful manga artist and this brings the character credibility and depth, even among a healthy dose of self directed irony. This thing could definitely be going to interesting places.
November 30, 2013
This book made me laugh uncontrollably and cry uncontrollably and just generally very emotionally unstable. The characters are well-developed and I enjoyed seeing more of their interactions and backstory. I can't wait to read the next volume.
October 8, 2013
Review to be found on first volume.
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April 13, 20243.5
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews