Status Updates From Short Program Vol. 1

Semacam manga anthologi, and mostly fluff ❤❤

Program 9: Purple - Ahahaha I don't know if anyone else remembers/read/saw the anime Porject A-ko, but this story reminds me of that (mostly because the delinquents are two gangs of rough, tough girl thugs basically). Another one where we follow the romantic foibles of the girl instead of the guy, I was totally with Haruna - remind everyone of your birthday as often as possible!

Program 8: Plus I - Unlike the previous stories, which had the male in the spotlight as the one who's romantic foibles we followed, this focused on the female and how seeing beyond the surface led to her finding someone perfect for her.

Program 7: The Current State of Affairs - Old friends, old rivalries and love once had...so as a middle schooler (when I read these stories originally) I thought it was SO COOL that the Middle School class got back together for reunion. Dreams of this happening to me were dashed when it became apparent that my classmates weren't even very interested in the standard HIGH SCHOOL reunion.

Program 6: At the Intersection - Cute story about two folk who pass each other every day (or at least very very often) at the intersection of the train tracks. The guy, who is rather a pushover and way too laid back, resolves to finally talk to her when...well...a "friend" ruins his chances. Or does he?

Program(s) 4&5: What's Going On? -This is just a really fun duo of stories that make NO SENSE, but its whatever. Guy follows his penpal dream girl to the ski lodge to suss out whether the love he feels is worth pursuing or not deciding if Satomi is cute he'll pursue it, but if she doesn't match up to the "image" in his head he won't pursue it. The real fun is everything else that goes on.

Program 3: Short Program - in which there is more than meets the eye with the heroine's rescuer. At first this seems pretty sweet, a real romance. Guy keeps helping girl out of bad situations and seems genuine. But the girl, like the reader, starts putting 2 and 2 together the longer they talk.

Program 2: Take Off - in which we learn that no matter your height, love is not easy to understand. This is much easier to see where its going, but watching Nagashima good-naturedly (but entirely obliviously) recount what ends up being Satomi's courtship of him is heart warming.

Program 1: Change - in which we learn that the small guy should never be discounted. This was a wonderful example of never quite knowing what to expect. This seems straight forward, but by the end you look back and realize you made the same assumptions Minato, the main character, did and shame on you for it.

So Short Program was one of the first mangas I read and that's largely because I freaking LOVED the magazine it ran in (Animerica Extra). I lived and died by that magazine. Short Program is a bunch of slice of life vignettes that tell the stories of ordinary people living their lives. Adachi, who's art style I really like, does such a GREAT job. I hate this wasn't fully translated (its 4 volumes! that's it!)