A country girl travels to Tokyo to further her education. Moving from a city where your middle school class only had a handful of people, to one of the most populated cities on earth is a bit of a shock, but thankfully she makes friends that help her get used to her new life.
Before we start the review…
Who wrote this manga?
This manga was written by Misaki Takamatsu.
Info about the volumes
- There are currently 12 volumes out in Japanese.
- There are currently 11 volumes out in English.
You can check out Volume One of this series for yourself below.
What’s this series about?
In order to secure a brighter future for herself, Mitsumi moves in with her aunt in Tokyo. As she grew up in the countryside, she has absolutely no way to imagine just how much of a culture shock Tokyo will be for her. There were only about a handful of people in her class in middle school, and she knew just about everyone who lived in her old town… there was no way to prepare her for just how different Tokyo would be.
On the day of the entrance ceremony at her new school, the train system is far too complicated, and the sea of people is far too dense for her to navigate. Eventually she gives up, and has a silent breakdown in the corner of the train station.
Thankfully this isn’t where her new Tokyo life ends, as a kind boy recognizes her school uniform—it’s the same as his—and helps her make her way to school.
Mitsumi is an incredibly bright student, being the representative of her incoming class! She puts a lot of importance into her grades—maybe a little too much at times. She has big aspirations, and isn’t shy about sharing them, even if it makes her seem a little bit out there.
As the days go by, her classmates start realizing that while Mitsumi is indeed a little bit awkward and strange at times, she a very genuine person. She is quick to befriend people, and just her presence is enough to make others want to befriend each other.
My thoughts on this volume (spoilers!)
I really enjoyed this series! It was actually recommended to my by one of my professors while I was living in Kyoto, so I had been meaning to read it for a while…I just have so much to read that it took a little while to get to it. (oops!)
Mitsumi is such a wonderful main character! She’s awkward and strange, but she doesn’t feel the need to hide her strangeness at all—she’s comfortable in her skin! She’s also clearly only used to socializing with her friends back in her hometown, as it’s made evident early on that she has a difficult time picking up on some of the more unfriendly social cues. Personally, I see this as a good trait, as it allows her to not spend her time analyzing every little thing people say to her.
Specifically, she has difficulties understanding sarcasm—for example, when someone says “nice hair clip” to her, she has no reason to assume they’re doing anything but genuinely complementing her hair clip. She seems like such a refreshing person to interact with, as you know there would be nothing underhanded coming from her. She says what she means, and she means what she says!
People are quickly drawn to her because of this, and she quickly starts befriending some of her classmates. I actually liked watching her be equally kind to the classmates who didn’t necessarily like her. It shows a lot of maturity in her! Even if she did understand they were making fun of her, or that they were judging her, she would still choose to be kind to them.
This is a series I would like to add to my physical collection if I got the chance! (this copy was borrowed from the library)
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