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Reviews

Manga

Plot Synopsis

No plot synopsis or other information available for Sing Yesterday for Me

Story & Characters

3 volume seinen manga by Kei Toume, recently being continued in Japan. The story is about a former university student, Uozomi Rikuo, working in a grocery store in Tokyo. Having no will to progress in society, he still suffers from his marginal status for having what is considered as a minor job. Uozomi meets Nonaka Haru, also living on the margin of society because she never finished college. In spite of her extrovert personality, Haru seems to have an excessive fascination in Rikuo. But just when they seem to get to know each other a bit more, Morinome Shinako, old school friend and love of Uozomi comes back from the past. Rikuo hurries to declare his flame to Shinako but receives a negative answer, stating she is not ready to have this kind of relation. Other characters show up to spice the love triangle up but the center of the story is about those three. Haru loves Rikuo, but Rikuo loves Shinako who loves someone long dead.

What I thought of it: The usual love triangle comes back. I must say that when I bought the first volume, I was very disapointed in the unoriginal storyline. But when reading between the lines, I realised there was more to this manga then it appeared, and this is when I finally began to appreciate it. We can easily see this series is based on character evolution, and not the story itself. Each of them has very interesting personality, living in the past and currently being scared of anything new that could change their life, for the best or worse. Their reaction to the ever-changing world is touching in a way, and frustrating in another.
In overall, pretty bad story but great characters.

Rating

6 (average)

Art

You can find in Sing Yesterday for me the perfect seinen style. Sketch-like lines, grunge style everywhere. Every character has a cigarette at the corner of his mouth, most of the time sitting on a park bench. This gives a weirdly cool and relaxing view on Tokyo.
Allthough some drawings have weird faces, I must say I fell in love with the style at the first page. From hairstyles (exept Shinako, her hair is ugly) to clothing styles, everything looks nice. The perfect grunge world. This is a must for any sketchy art fan. And I admit it, I'm in love with Haru's wardrobe.
It's not youre average wonderfully beautyfull drawings, but it has it's personal feel that I enjoyed a lot.

Rating

8 (good)

Sound

Since there is no anime adaptation of the series, I'll say a few words on the pace and content of dialogues.

I admit sometimes I got bored with the dialogues. But most of the time it was interesting, varying subjects between everyday chat and deep artistic conversations. The pace could change to fast to slow, depending on the mood of the scene. What I disliked the most was this constant coming back to the past, wich gave this long and kind of boring feeling, although I know it couldn't have been prevented since the whole story is about holding back to the past.

Rating

6 (average)

Presentation

Sing Yesterday for me may have bad sides, but is nonetheless very enjoyable to read. Frankly I don't know what made me like it since a lot of things arn't great, but I liked it. Maybe it's the feeling on how the characters live and evolve, maybe it's the characters themselves (Haru has such a cute personality), maybe the art style, maybe the grunge clothes ( yeah i really like grunge), or maybe I just like everyday life manga. One thing is sure, I recommend it happily to anyone with a bit of maturity. So if you like any of these characteristics, you probably will like this manga, unfortunately not very popular.

On another note: The author created several other series, like Lament of the Lambs ( released by tokyopop in 2004) wich was made into a horror anime. I haven't read anything else from him since Sing yesterday for me is his only manga translated in French, but I recommend you read this one, seeing how it is different from any other manga you normally read. I'm waiting for the next volumes with apprehension.

Rating

8 (good)

Final Verdict

7.00 (above average)

Reviewed by candy-chan, 3y 29wk ago