Garyuu

I was never really into manga. I saw Solanin and thought I would give it a try. Maybe it's because it's only two volumes long, so it would be cheap (I prefer hard copies over scans). Thank goodness for me being cheap. This was great!

The story was good. It wasn't anything intense, but the presentation was great. Everyday events of the characters grabbed my interests. I never knew I could be this interested in a slice of live manga that didn't have anything supernatural or wacky. That's not to say the characters were dull. They were great. It felt like the writer put some of his experiences into the characters. They were believable, and I sympathized with the characters.

One of the first things that stuck out at me at first was the art. It was good, and it was different. Today, I can't tell the difference between 90% of these artists. He has his own style, which doesn't come off as loud or over-the-top like a lot of artists. He has a half-way realistic style. Character's eyes aren't humongous, and women don't have oversized breasts. It is really nice to see someone who is different amongst all these other artists who can't break away from the generic style. Or maybe I just need to read more manga.

I think I'll go get everything else he has done... now.