Asadora Volume 1: We Can Rebuild

Compared to the last manga I read for Viz, this one was fantastic. I shouldn’t have expected anything else from Naoki Urasawa, because at least this first volume was almost perfect. Great character work, very good art, and a positive an enthusiastic background, and a great well being for Japan’s response to national disasters. After watching Japan Sinks this past year and who knows how many things like it, it’s nice to see something with a positive approach to disaster in some form or another. Would definitely recommend it right now before I jump into major details. I have a feeling I’m going to spoil a lot of things because I just enjoyed it so much.

This volume of Asadora features a girl by the name of Asadora. In the night of when her mother is about to go into labor to a child in the count of the double digits, Asadora runs out into the streets of Nagoya to find a doctor. She is ignored by other members of her family because she doesn’t stand out. A doctor that sees a typhoon coming, gives her a rain coat, and she gets immediately kidnapped by a thief searching for money. A thief that is an old man and a WW2 vet trying to find his way through poverty.

The amazing thing about this turn of events is how it doesn’t go the direction the reader thinks it should. The old man did kidnap Asadora mistaking her as a child of the rich doctor, but the truth reveals so much more about each other. Both of them are two peas in a pod and are unwanted, but still have a hope for the future. While being safe from the disaster outside, the two bond and raise each other up. Asadora sees the value in the old man and the old man raises up Asadora because of the value she sees in her. It’s not creepy at all because all so wholesome and interesting.

Following those events is just as good as this character talk because it continues all of this with more meat and material too it. Asadora wants to go home and the old man can fly a plane that he knows a person has, so Asadora could have easily just gone home and nothing else. Yet, she convinces a stiff restaurant owner and town around it to deliver rice balls to people who lost their homes. It’s so good. It just makes me happy to talk about it. It shows the strength of people who have gone through nature disaster with a warm spirit. That isn’t something that goes from US Disaster media. That does lead to the massive cliff hanger for the next volume, a giant foot monster foot print. I wonder what kind of manga this actually is.

The manga arc is gorgeous too. Very natural, very detailed, very realistic which adds weight everything that is put into this manga considering that this follows what we know as a natural disaster. That’s kind of important to give the reader impact when there is animation or us seeing the disaster happen in the manga in the first place. I also really dig the character designs. Naoki Urasawa is a person that gives people an origin, so every character looks Japanese. GAh, i can keep going on and on. Please read Asadora if you can get the chance.

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If you are interested in reading this, you can order this from anywhere Viz Media sells manga. Please click this link to do it: Link.