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Words and Art: Keigo Shinzo
Publisher: Viz
Translation: Jan Mitsuko Cash
Touch-Up Art & Lettering: Elena Diaz
Design: Jimmy Presler
Editor: Holly Fisher
Slice of life is one of my favorite genres when it comes to manga so when I read the synopsis of Hirayasumi, one of Viz soon to be released debuts, I was intrigued. I read about a 29-year-old, carefree Hiroto Ikuta “who doesn’t have a girlfriend, a full-time job, or a plan for the future—and he couldn’t be happier”. This volume delves into his life with a special inheritance, the reintroduction of a family member and transitions, and changes that enter his life that challenge his carefree way of living. Along with my curiosity of the manga’s contents, I was also curious about the manga creator as I haven’t read anything by him. A quick chat with Cousin Google revealed a body of work of one shots, anthology work, and series mostly focusing in the slice of life genre with room for aliens, erupting volcanoes, carefree characters, and folks unsure of life’s paths.
Keigo Shinzo debuted as a manga creator in 2008 with his work “Nankin” and has since gone on to create award-winning hits such as Bokura no Funkasai (Our Eruption Festival). In 2016, his work Moriyamachuu Kyoushuujo (Moriyamachu Driving School) was made into a movie, and two years later, his series Tokyo Alien Bros. was adapted into a live-action drama. During the coronavirus pandemic, when Keigo was diagnosed with lymphoma, he decided to write the one-shot “Akusei Rinpashu de Nyuuin shita Toki no Koto” (About the Time I Was Hospitalized for Malignant Lymphoma), in which he chronicles his road to recovery as well as how he got the idea for his award-nominated series Hirayasumi.
This first volume of Hirayasumi opens to…an exasperated Hiroto Ikuta with a camera trying to rush his younger female cousin Natsumi, so he can snap a photo of her first day of attending college. Hiroto is twenty-nine years old, almost blissfully carefree and lives life at a slow pace with a job at a simple fishing pond. He has lucked out into inheriting a slightly shabby but great little house in the heart of the city. He wishes he could fall in love but hasn’t figured out how to do so in the city he calls home. Months ago, he befriended Hanae Wada: a crabby but secretly lonely and secretly very sweet older woman who would invite him over to eat a home cooked meal. Nicknamed Granny by Hiroto, their visits together twice a week were anticipated by both of them. Both oddballs, they became like family to each other…until Granny’s passing.
Meant for teen audiences, Hirayasumi is a manga featuring characters experiencing and attempting to deal with anxiety, confusion, and grief. While the work is not as slow paced as other series and books in the genre, the manga’s true charm is developing a narrative about found family (Hiroto and Granny) and re-connecting with your real family (Hiroto and Natsumi). Hiroto, obviously grateful for the house left to him, still has moments of grieving her and not feeling like he enriched her life. He did–the flashback scene of how she came to the realization that she wanted to leave the young man her home is a tear-jerking one.
The manga also works really well with these young adult characters coming to understand how they are coming across transitional periods in their lives. Natsumi is eighteen years old and is learning that she has to grow up a bit, living away from home and in a bigger city. Being responsible for herself and finding her way through college, friendships, and achieving her secret dreams, is harder than she expected, even though she still has her big cousin as support. For Hiroto, a good ten years older than her, he’s learning to be responsible for someone else–even though this is his beloved baby cousin. She’s moody, grown up, and changed from the cute little girl he once knew yet, almost practically a stranger at this point. Hiroto’s still in her corner as he ponders big on other things like a married friend who announces fatherhood is on the way and lets him know that they’ll be hanging out less in the future. He’s not upset at his dear friend; he is happy for him and wondering on what he should or should not be doing in life–himself.
A plus of the artwork that I love so much in Hirayasumi is the mangaka’s dedication to expressive faces and body language: I think of the panel of Hiroto bursting into laughter noticing that his cousin Natsumi looked like a little Kokeshi doll with his extra motorcycle helmet on her head and the solemn face she gives him. I think of the page of the utter despair of drunk (and underage) Natsumi calling her older cousin for help after she was abandoned by the bunch of cool kids who talked her into drinking with them at the college mixer event. I’m also a really big fan of Shinzo’s attention to detail in his artwork here and how he uses the backgrounds like a space, a room to hint at the personality of a character.
A glimpse of both Hiroto and Natsumi’s room reveal so much about the two: Granny’s altar seems to be in the older cousin’s room, his bed is unmade, and as the cook of the house he has a food magazine in there. Hiroto takes life at its own pace: his bedroom is another part of his home, and his space is a bit cluttered but his own. As for Natsumi: she looks to have a simple futon, canvases and painting supplies (her college major), and things obviously brought from home like her desktop computer, Nintendo switch handheld gaming system, and cute things like plushies and figurines on her bookshelf. She’s a young college student with what she needs for her education with goodies from home–not unlike any other freshman in college. She came prepared with everything she needed, and yet she is still struggling.
At the end of the day, Granny’s home which becomes Hiroto’s home which also becomes the shared home with Natsumi is a safe place, a refuge from the world for both cousins. The mangaka makes sure to humanize the house in such a way that feels like an additional character in the manga. It is seen as homely and shabby, but it is clean and full of wonderful little details in the shared rooms like the refrigerator door with the photos, the cute tablecloth in the kitchen where the two cousins eat meals together. (Not related to manga but if you’re a fan of Japanese literature and you’ve read Banana Yoshimoto’s Kitchen novella, you’ll get me.) Seeing more and more of the house in each chapter feels like getting to know a new friend over time and the mangaka takes advantage of that with more small details and events that happen at the house.
As I read each chapter of Hirayasumi, I could not help but feel this is a manga that will land in the comfort manga category for readers. The little house itself is a simple one-story home known simply in Japanese as a hiraya. Yet for these two young people, learning to live with each other and figure out life as they know it amidst the transitions and everyday problems, the little home has become their place of rest, their place to retire from the world. Hirayasumi is for the slice of life lovers, the Seinen genre fans and those who love ordinary stories about ordinary people moving through life.
There’s a lot of awkwardness, sadness, and uncomfortable feelings in Hirayasumi and readers will cringe, laugh, and might even tear up reading through the chapters. I loved reading Keigo Shinzo’s English language manga debut and appreciate his way of bringing together people and how maybe being a bit more carefree in life is the answer to making it. There is a character later introduced who Hiroto and Natsumi come across who throws a much-needed monkey wrench in Hiroto’s way of life, and I am excited at the friction she causes and their next meeting in the next volume.
At heart, Hirayasumi is a story about family and being able to come home to a home when life’s got you down that I’ve reread a few times already. Keigo Shinzo’s English language manga debut is a slice of life dream that tackles growing up, discovery, and having a safe place in the world as key to surviving anything that is sure to hook readers in for a new series to look forward to.
Hirayasumi Volume 1 is published through Viz and can be found where comics and manga are sold. If you’re wondering if you should check out Hirayasumi, VIZ Editors recommend that Insomniacs After School, Sunny, and Downfall are all similar reads if you’re still on the fence about this new series!
Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to have a review copy!
Love reading manga? See more on our site!
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The post REVIEW: ‘Hirayasumi’ is a Slice of Life Dream appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
Words and Art: Keigo Shinzo
Publisher: Viz
Translation: Jan Mitsuko Cash
Touch-Up Art & Lettering: Elena Diaz
Design: Jimmy Presler
Editor: Holly Fisher
Slice of life is one of my favorite genres when it comes to manga so when I read the synopsis of Hirayasumi, one of Viz soon to be released debuts, I was intrigued. I read about a 29-year-old, carefree Hiroto Ikuta “who doesn’t have a girlfriend, a full-time job, or a plan for the future—and he couldn’t be happier”. This volume delves into his life with a special inheritance, the reintroduction of a family member and transitions, and changes that enter his life that challenge his carefree way of living. Along with my curiosity of the manga’s contents, I was also curious about the manga creator as I haven’t read anything by him. A quick chat with Cousin Google revealed a body of work of one shots, anthology work, and series mostly focusing in the slice of life genre with room for aliens, erupting volcanoes, carefree characters, and folks unsure of life’s paths.
Keigo Shinzo debuted as a manga creator in 2008 with his work “Nankin” and has since gone on to create award-winning hits such as Bokura no Funkasai (Our Eruption Festival). In 2016, his work Moriyamachuu Kyoushuujo (Moriyamachu Driving School) was made into a movie, and two years later, his series Tokyo Alien Bros. was adapted into a live-action drama. During the coronavirus pandemic, when Keigo was diagnosed with lymphoma, he decided to write the one-shot “Akusei Rinpashu de Nyuuin shita Toki no Koto” (About the Time I Was Hospitalized for Malignant Lymphoma), in which he chronicles his road to recovery as well as how he got the idea for his award-nominated series Hirayasumi.
This first volume of Hirayasumi opens to…an exasperated Hiroto Ikuta with a camera trying to rush his younger female cousin Natsumi, so he can snap a photo of her first day of attending college. Hiroto is twenty-nine years old, almost blissfully carefree and lives life at a slow pace with a job at a simple fishing pond. He has lucked out into inheriting a slightly shabby but great little house in the heart of the city. He wishes he could fall in love but hasn’t figured out how to do so in the city he calls home. Months ago, he befriended Hanae Wada: a crabby but secretly lonely and secretly very sweet older woman who would invite him over to eat a home cooked meal. Nicknamed Granny by Hiroto, their visits together twice a week were anticipated by both of them. Both oddballs, they became like family to each other…until Granny’s passing.
Meant for teen audiences, Hirayasumi is a manga featuring characters experiencing and attempting to deal with anxiety, confusion, and grief. While the work is not as slow paced as other series and books in the genre, the manga’s true charm is developing a narrative about found family (Hiroto and Granny) and re-connecting with your real family (Hiroto and Natsumi). Hiroto, obviously grateful for the house left to him, still has moments of grieving her and not feeling like he enriched her life. He did–the flashback scene of how she came to the realization that she wanted to leave the young man her home is a tear-jerking one.
The manga also works really well with these young adult characters coming to understand how they are coming across transitional periods in their lives. Natsumi is eighteen years old and is learning that she has to grow up a bit, living away from home and in a bigger city. Being responsible for herself and finding her way through college, friendships, and achieving her secret dreams, is harder than she expected, even though she still has her big cousin as support. For Hiroto, a good ten years older than her, he’s learning to be responsible for someone else–even though this is his beloved baby cousin. She’s moody, grown up, and changed from the cute little girl he once knew yet, almost practically a stranger at this point. Hiroto’s still in her corner as he ponders big on other things like a married friend who announces fatherhood is on the way and lets him know that they’ll be hanging out less in the future. He’s not upset at his dear friend; he is happy for him and wondering on what he should or should not be doing in life–himself.
A plus of the artwork that I love so much in Hirayasumi is the mangaka’s dedication to expressive faces and body language: I think of the panel of Hiroto bursting into laughter noticing that his cousin Natsumi looked like a little Kokeshi doll with his extra motorcycle helmet on her head and the solemn face she gives him. I think of the page of the utter despair of drunk (and underage) Natsumi calling her older cousin for help after she was abandoned by the bunch of cool kids who talked her into drinking with them at the college mixer event. I’m also a really big fan of Shinzo’s attention to detail in his artwork here and how he uses the backgrounds like a space, a room to hint at the personality of a character.
A glimpse of both Hiroto and Natsumi’s room reveal so much about the two: Granny’s altar seems to be in the older cousin’s room, his bed is unmade, and as the cook of the house he has a food magazine in there. Hiroto takes life at its own pace: his bedroom is another part of his home, and his space is a bit cluttered but his own. As for Natsumi: she looks to have a simple futon, canvases and painting supplies (her college major), and things obviously brought from home like her desktop computer, Nintendo switch handheld gaming system, and cute things like plushies and figurines on her bookshelf. She’s a young college student with what she needs for her education with goodies from home–not unlike any other freshman in college. She came prepared with everything she needed, and yet she is still struggling.
At the end of the day, Granny’s home which becomes Hiroto’s home which also becomes the shared home with Natsumi is a safe place, a refuge from the world for both cousins. The mangaka makes sure to humanize the house in such a way that feels like an additional character in the manga. It is seen as homely and shabby, but it is clean and full of wonderful little details in the shared rooms like the refrigerator door with the photos, the cute tablecloth in the kitchen where the two cousins eat meals together. (Not related to manga but if you’re a fan of Japanese literature and you’ve read Banana Yoshimoto’s Kitchen novella, you’ll get me.) Seeing more and more of the house in each chapter feels like getting to know a new friend over time and the mangaka takes advantage of that with more small details and events that happen at the house.
As I read each chapter of Hirayasumi, I could not help but feel this is a manga that will land in the comfort manga category for readers. The little house itself is a simple one-story home known simply in Japanese as a hiraya. Yet for these two young people, learning to live with each other and figure out life as they know it amidst the transitions and everyday problems, the little home has become their place of rest, their place to retire from the world. Hirayasumi is for the slice of life lovers, the Seinen genre fans and those who love ordinary stories about ordinary people moving through life.
There’s a lot of awkwardness, sadness, and uncomfortable feelings in Hirayasumi and readers will cringe, laugh, and might even tear up reading through the chapters. I loved reading Keigo Shinzo’s English language manga debut and appreciate his way of bringing together people and how maybe being a bit more carefree in life is the answer to making it. There is a character later introduced who Hiroto and Natsumi come across who throws a much-needed monkey wrench in Hiroto’s way of life, and I am excited at the friction she causes and their next meeting in the next volume.
At heart, Hirayasumi is a story about family and being able to come home to a home when life’s got you down that I’ve reread a few times already. Keigo Shinzo’s English language manga debut is a slice of life dream that tackles growing up, discovery, and having a safe place in the world as key to surviving anything that is sure to hook readers in for a new series to look forward to.
Hirayasumi Volume 1 is published through Viz and can be found where comics and manga are sold. If you’re wondering if you should check out Hirayasumi, VIZ Editors recommend that Insomniacs After School, Sunny, and Downfall are all similar reads if you’re still on the fence about this new series!
Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to have a review copy!
Love reading manga? See more on our site!
Want to get Black Nerd Problems updates sent directly to you?
Sign up here! Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and Instagram!
The post REVIEW: ‘Hirayasumi’ is a Slice of Life Dream appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
These days, ACURA is doing far more than releasing stylish motor vehicles that come fully equipped with the latest automotive technology. The brand is also doing much good in the hood. Timed alongside the 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, ACURA presented its hallmark event, the 11th Annual Shorty Fest, in partnership with the Trombone Shorty Foundation. The Fest brought Jazz lovers from far and near to Uptown New Orleans to indulge in a “Cultural Block Party” open and free to the public. There was also some good fried chicken and jambalaya rice from Jacques-Imo, and some damn good performances from the Mardi Gras Indians, high school marching bands, and local brass bands. The event transitioned into New Orleans’ historic Jazz Club Tipitina’s for a night of entertainment that included Sun Ra Arkestra, Galactic featuring Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph, students from the Trombone Shorty Academy, and New Orleans sixth ward’s own Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue.
The Trombone Shorty Academy supports student musicians throughout the greater New Orleans region. Through its apprenticeship program, participants between the ages of 12 and 18 meet weekly and learn to become skillful at playing brass band instruments, mentorship, and access to career development and opportunities.
“The thumbprint and DNA of this program, in particular, is based off of Troy (Trombone Shorty),” Ashley Shabankareh, director of operations and programs, told BLACK ENTERPRISE.
“It’s really about the way in which he learned. So he’s really integral in the curriculum design in this process. He comes in for key moments throughout the year. For example, they all sit in with him during a set at Shorty Fest.”
Antonio Jakes, PR for Honda/ACURA, conceived of the partnership with the foundation several years ago after witnessing the magic that flows through the Trombone Shorty Foundation.
Festival weekend in the Big Easy was the perfect time for the big reveal of Acura’s new ZDX Type S. The sleek sports utility ride is the company’s first electric vehicle and is boasted to be the most powerful Acura produced with 500 horsepower and 544 pounds of “maximum torque” to open up on the highways. Drivers will get in roughly 325 miles before needing to charge.
Be clear—Acura’s ZDX Type S is a luxury car; several highlights concretize this. The base price point is $64,500 but may qualify for a $7,500 federal tax credit; the Acura EV mobile app identifies charging stations, Built-in Google Maps app supports turn-by-turn navigation, the purchasing experience is fully customizable and on top of all that it looks good. Check it out for yourself:
RELATED CONTENT: Black Promoters Collective Has Great Success Entertaining 41,000 At Jazz In The Gardens & Music Festival
Season 3 is the summer season of Bel-Air! No school. No uniforms. Just summer sizzle. Pools, beach parties, bonfires, fireworks, Juneteenth celebrations and lots of summer lovin’.
Season 3 explores questions like, how do you prove yourself in a world that views you in limited ways? How do you reach beyond your comfort zone to create new opportunities for yourself? How does a family rebuild broken trust?
Bel-Air has always been a show with a strong cultural point of view. In addition to our soapy teen and family stories, this season we’ll have a lot of great discussion on the gentrification happening in South LA and how so many people are capitalizing on the economy at the cost of the community. And this convo will become a backdrop through the season.
The writing team dug deep into their own lives to craft stories that will resonate with our audience. I love how everyone can see a little of themselves in the Banks family. No matter how fantastic and aspirational their lives are, we strive to tell stories that stay rooted in the love and compassion required to keep a family strong.
Inspired by Morgan Cooper’s viral trailer that reimagined the iconic, culture-defining ‘90s sitcom, Bel-Air takes a fresh and raw approach to this world of swagger, style, and aspiration, while exploring Will’s complex journey through a current lens. The series features an ensemble cast that introduces new sensation Jabari Banks as Will and a creative team that includes showrunner, executive producer and writer Carla Banks Waddles and Cooper, who serves as executive producer.
Instagram: Dylan Beard By Rayna Reid Rayford ·Updated May 20, 2024 February 11 is a date that Dylan Beard will probably never forget. At this year’s Millrose Games in New York City, Beard won big in the 60-meter hurdles, setting a personal record on top of a record for the facility with the third-fastest time in the world. What’s even more remarkable is that track and field isn’t Beard’s only gig—he works as a full-time employee behind the deli counter at Walmart.
This win catapulted Beard to the national stage, and he’s in training to compete for a spot on the U.S. Olympic track and field team for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.
Beard had sat down with ESSENCE in the midst of his busy schedule working and training to discuss his journey, goals and aspirations, and favorite Olympic moments.
“My goal was to build off what I did last year, and with the Olympic games this year I obviously wanted to make the team, but I had no idea this would be my 2024, so it’s been truly a blessing,” Olympic hopeful Dylan Beard told ESSENCE.
During a TODAY interview, Beard said, “I think I went in a lot more relaxed, like nothing to lose, a lot to gain.”
Currently, Beard remains an unsponsored athlete, working his “day job” to support himself and keep competing, but hopefully, that changes soon. His goal is to compete “for prize money as well as just to up my status in the world [of trackand field].”
This is Beard’s tenth year hurdling. “I started training for it in 2013 and competing in 2014 back when I was at Archbishop Spalding High School. My coach said, ‘just try to hop over hurdles’ and that’s what I did. He said, ‘we can always fix everything later, as long as you can get over the hurdles now,’” the Baltimore native shared.
Beard followed up that introduction to hurdles and ran with it all the way to college. “I was blessed to be able to do seven years as a Division I athlete, instead of the normal four. I started my first year at Wagner College in 2016, did two years there and transferred in 2018 to Hampton University where I got a degree in biochemistry.” But then the COVID-19 pandemic happened, and Beard lost two years competing, “at that point, I decided to transfer again as a graduate and I was able to go to Howard University and meet former Olympian David Oliver, as well as the rest of the coaching staff at Howard and it really shaped me up to be where I’m at today as a professional,” stated Beard.
Although there’s been a lot of change in the last year, for Beard, “It’s my first year out of school, and the only difference is instead of going to classes, doing homework projects, I’m practicing and going to work. Training wise, there’s no difference—it’s still the same goals. We’re still competing to win, no matter what race it is, we want to drop those times down and get a little better each time we race and practice. That’s really the main goal; it’s just now a bigger goal, and then maybe a few more eyes are watching.”
TOPICS: Olympics 2024 Paris Olympics track and field WalmartThe post From Walmart Employee To Olympic Hopeful: Here’s How Dylan Beard Is Overcoming Hurdles appeared first on Essence.