What A Wonderful World Vol 1 & 2 (Manga Review)

Title: What A Wonderful Vol 1 & 2
Author: Inio Asano
Illustrator: Inio Asano
Pages: 418

Story -  "What A Wonderful World" is a collection of stories that center around young adults, going through some awkward moments, depressed moments and going head to head on with life. Inio Asano once again takes you into the lives of teenagers who have the odds against them. Unlike his other Manga "Solanin", this Manga has a wider range of characters to examine and study. "What A Wonderful World" has various tales throughout it's two volumes, but the one that stands out the most is the short story "What A Wonderful World." This tells the tale of a young man really on rock bottom, he loses his job, he still is in love with his ex and he's depressed. Inio Asano does a great job weaving characters that anyone can relate too, the only problem is with this Manga is by time you get to the second volume, you grow tired of the depress stories, you grow tired of characters attempting to kill themselves. This doesn't take away how great the theme is, or take away from the story, it's just gets stale after a while. The story is crafted very well, mixing reality and non reality to make the readers wonder whether a character really has gone crazy. Asano uses this method by featuring animals as nagging antagonist that try to get the character to end their lives. "What A Wonderful World" is dark, depressing but in Asano style gives you hope and makes you look at the outlook in life.

Art - The art is very lovely, once again Inio Asano captures the normal life of Japan very well. I love the details in the characters, however sometimes it's hard to tell with the girls since they look very similar to each other. Asano is great when it comes to expression on the characters faces, you will really feel the emotion of pain, laughter and tears. Overall the style is very similar to "Solanin" and there is nothing wrong with that.



Final Grade B-/8.0 - "What A Wonderful World" is dark, gritty but also is very lighthearted and funny at the same time. The art style is great, but the depressed stories can get stale after a while and theme can repeat itself. Overall this a Manga worth checking out, for anyone who needs a little light in the dark.