Solanin
I splashed out on Solanin on recommendation and the fact that I was so impressed with Inio Asano’s more recent Nijigahara Holograph but to my surprise they’re actually pretty different. Apart from the general themes of young people’s alienation in today’s society and an examination of how relationships between friends can shape the course of their lives, Solanin is quite a departure from the mind-bending experience that was Nijigahara Holograph but ultimately it was actually the more enjoyable of the two for me.
…Holograph is a labyrinthine, somewhat supernatural piece that came off like a rewrite of Donnie Darko by David Lynch, only even better; Solanin is I guess a slice-of-life story but the impression it’s left on me makes me feel as though I’d do it a disservice by merely calling it ‘just a SoL manga’. The exquisite way in which the lives of the characters are portrayed gives me a feeling that left me speechless for some time afterwards; the truth is, when I look at these people I might as well be staring into a mirror.
I originally planned to write a post on this after I fully understood the story but after not one but three visits to Inio Asano’s tangled web of genius, I still can’t say with certainty that I can fully grasp what the manga is actually trying to say. It gives a mixture of feelings - the most immediate one of course being my sensation of mental deficiency at being unable to make all of the numerous connections - but fortunately I’m still able to recommend it with only a partial understanding under my belt. This is a challenging, striking and fascinating piece of work that stands up there with the best of the headscratchers, and it looks stunning too.
