Makoto Shinkai

Beautifully drawn, gentle, sad, thoughtful, slow manga novel of first love and loss. For some of the characters, love and loss is the thing that ends up defining and paralyzing them. There are conversations that never take place, letters that are never sent, people right in front of you that you don’t really see. It’s heartbreaking.

(I loved the moment when Kanae finally caught that wave!)

I did feel that the ending was very abrupt and I wished for a more definite resolution.

4.5⭐

“It’s your life, and you have to make sure you keep enough of it for yourself.”

She and Her Cat: Stories by Makoto Shinkai, Naruki Nagakawa,(translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori) is a collection four interlinked short stories featuring cats and their humans. The narrative is shared from the alternating perspectives of the cat and his/her human. The cats have struggles of their own from dealing with territorial counterparts, separation from their own, and witnessing the ups and show more downs in the lives of their human(s) who in turn are dealing with their fair share of troubles relating to love, work, friendships and loss.

The first story Sea of Words features Chobi, who was rescued from a cardboard box by Miyu. His infatuation with Miyu (his referring to her as his “girlfriend” is adorable) and his concern for her when she is upset or heartbroken is beautifully portrayed as is his helplessness when he admits that all he can do to help her is stand by her when she is troubled. “I couldn’t do anything about her problems. I just lived my days at her side.”

We also get to meet Jon, a neighborhood dog, Shino’s pet who is wise and settles any dispute among the cats who also look up to him for knowledge and advice.

The second story First Blossoming features Reina a talented art student who is struggling and Mimi, a stray cat who was abandoned as a kitten. Weaker than the rest of the litter and hard of hearing, she is determined to make it on her own. She befriends Reina who names her Mimi after the cat she had as a child. In this story, we also meet Kink Tail with whom Mimi has a romantic encounter and Kuro, the feral cat who befriends the other cats. The story follows Mimi and Reina and the events that lead to Mimi becoming Reina’s cat.

The third story Slumber and Sky tells us the story of Aioi who is grieving the loss of her best friend Mari and Cookie, the kitten who her mother adopts. Initially, Aioi’s grief is all-consuming but gradually Cookie finds her way into Aioi’s heart.

The fourth story The Temperature of the World revolves around Kuro the feral cat who eventually gives up his independence to become a part of Shino’s household after the demise of her pet.

The authors have done a wonderful job of portraying how our furry friends can provide warmth companionship and comfort amid the trials and tribulations of modern life. The authors do an incredible job of blending the alternating narratives. I enjoyed the POVs of Chobi, Mimi, Cookie, Kuro and Jon I loved their observations on human behavior and relationships, their closeness and concern for the people around them and their opinions on the way humans go about their daily lives. Their POVs are rich in emotion, humor and wisdom. I loved how the stories come together in the end. Touching upon themes of loneliness, grief, depression and the significant impact that our furry friends can have in our lives, this is a lovely, heartwarming read that will strike a chord in your heart.

I paired my reading with the incredible audio narration by Hana Teraie-Wood, Nile Faure-Bryan, Jacqui Bardelang, Julia Strowski and Winson Ting.

“People who are too earnest can’t bring themselves to blame others, so they end up blaming themselves and suffering for it.” show less

Writer and anime filmmaker Makato Shinkai teamed with illustrator Miza Sahara to create this relatively short but poignant exploration of distance and loneliness as it relates to friendship and love itself.

Voices of a Distant Star is told through the eyes and hearts of two teenagers, separated by an intergalactic war when the young (Mikado) Nagamine is picked for space, to explore and fight. This leaves her burgeoning relationship with young Noboru in limbo, with only messages sent back and show more forth to tether them to each other. This becomes exponentially more difficult the farther away in space she gets, her messages taking very long periods of time to reach Noboru, as he tries to hang on to her.

Both writer and illustrator are in perfect sync here, placing the focus on feelings of loneliness and longing, rather than the science fiction, giving the story emotional depth that quietly resonates with hearts. Battles in space, new friends found — and possibly lost — lend poignancy to Mikado’s story, while the need for companionship that is alive and warm and interested lend poignancy to Noboro’s lonely existence as he desperately attempts to hang on to a ghost.

Making matters worse for both, is the fact that in the galaxy, Mikado is not aging, while back home, Noboru is. Then years eventually begin to pass between received messages. The reactions of both to the situation and circumstance in their day to day lives is touching and heartfelt; writer and illustrator manage to perfectly capture the emotion and loneliness and longing with great beauty.

On the surface Voices of a Distant Star is spare and lean, but beneath the words, it is full and resonating. It was a particularly savvy story choice to make the new possible love interest for Noboru be a sweet, pretty girl who is easy to like, rather than the “interloper” between Mikado and Noboru. It makes what happens later more poignant.

A decision by Noboru, and a terrible battle that might have been avoided but for mankind’s knee-jerk reaction, leaves Mikado and the fleet waiting for help to arrive. I can’t say more, but the ending is heartfelt, and I would like to think, hopeful.

Just a lovely story full of feelings, beautifully adapted and captured by writer and illustrator. Another resonating read from Makato Shinkai, the man who brought us Your Name, Weathering With You, 5 Centimeters Per Second, The Garden of Words, and Suzume. Highly recommended. show less

Actual Rating: 3.7

So I really enjoyed the film and when I saw that there was a manga adaptation of it, I knew I had to read it!

Suzume is a film by Makoto Shinkai (who also brought us the masterpiece Your Name). This one follows Suzume, a high school junior, who one day runs into a mysterious stranger asking for directions to the local ruins. The ruins are all that’s left of a community that was once full of life before it was wracked by a devastating earthquake. As Suzume sits in class, show more she suddenly feels another shake, and she sees a dark cloud rising from the ruins in the distance. Suzume runs there and tries to help…but accidentally loosens the key and opens up a hole in space and time (oops). And thus starts her little road trip across Japan with the mysterious stranger (who has now turned into a chair — yes, you read that right), trying to stop tragedy from striking again by getting the key back.

It’s going to be hard to separate the manga from the anime I’ve already seen, but I’m going to try.

The story is still extremely captivating, and while we’re only halfway through it, I think Suzume really is a perfect road trip story. There’s the clear overarching goal, but even more so there are the interesting characters she meets along the way. It’s all tied together by the very strong themes of collective trauma and generational loss.

In fact, the world-building is the best part. Shinkai’s stories have always been great at combining real world and fantasy, and Suzume might be the peak of that. The community element makes the story very touching, and I’m sure that Suzume’s personal story will be intertwined with it well.

Suzume is a likable and spunky character who is fun to follow, and the story is offering small but present hints of a backstory that I’m excited to get to. Shouta, the mysterious stranger is a nice companion, but I do find the characterization a bit thin. His chair-ness is good comic relief though, and it sort of gives the story a little bit of charismatic quirkiness.

On the art and pacing, I don’t have much to say about it. The art is great and the pacing is pretty good. It was a really quick read — as most manga is — and I’ll be reading Volume 2 for sure. show less