{"id":6023,"date":"2011-12-28T12:00:04","date_gmt":"2011-12-28T19:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flomu.wordpress.com\/?p=6023"},"modified":"2018-12-20T00:11:28","modified_gmt":"2018-12-20T07:11:28","slug":"suzuka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/flomu.net\/blog\/2011\/12\/suzuka\/","title":{"rendered":"Suzuka"},"content":{"rendered":"

I read Suzuka yesterday. All 169 chapters of it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

There’s a certain feeling I get after watching a great anime or after reading a great manga. \u00a0Some people describe it by saying that it’s hard to start another series because their minds are so preoccupied by the one they just finished. \u00a0After watching Eureka Seven, I had a hard time sleeping because I kept thinking about it. \u00a0The same with Welcome to the NHK. \u00a0Nichijou, too.<\/p>\n

And now I can add Suzuka to that short list.<\/p>\n

So I knew I had to write a post about the series. \u00a0I was originally going to compare it to Kare Kano (shoujo romance) and bash shoujo while singing the praises of Suzuka. \u00a0Killing two stones with one post! \u00a0I also wanted to write about how realistic the relationship between Suzuka and Yamato was. \u00a0I even considered dropping out my Editorial Day post for one on Suzuka. \u00a0It’d probably be more on-topic (aka less meta), too.<\/p>\n

But I concluded that the best way to show you why I love Suzuka was to… well, show you. \u00a0Below is the break up scene, from Suzuka chapter 112.<\/p>\n

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Amazing.<\/p>\n

At first, I thought my computer froze, or that the scanlation was just bad. \u00a0But I found myself mouthing “oh fuck.” \u00a0Three full-page spreads covering a split-second of shock. \u00a0Suzuka’s words sink in for six pages. \u00a0Yamato tries to say something, but sees Suzuka’s smile.<\/p>\n

This smile is literally a side of Suzuka that’s never been seen before. \u00a0I could call it shitty art, but the style suits the purpose. \u00a0It’s a smile that could break hearts. \u00a0By showing only Suzuka, the mangaka puts the audience in Yamato’s position. \u00a0As Yamato tries to stare down this smile, we do too. \u00a0And as we catch another glimpse of the resolute Suzuka, we grit our teeth and give up. \u00a0Who can blame Yamato? \u00a0How can any guy respond to such a determined face?<\/p>\n

The mangaka, Kouji Seo, could have gone with the classic break up scene where the girl slaps the guy and runs away. \u00a0It would have been clean, predictable, and boring. \u00a0But it would have been an easy read. \u00a0This chapter was by no means an easy read. \u00a0Seo forces Yamato and Suzuka to confront each other, face to face. \u00a0And he forces the reader to watch. \u00a0It’s a depressing scene, and so realistic that it feels like you, yourself, have just been rejected.<\/p>\n

And that makes it brilliant. \u00a0For anybody who thinks I’ve just spoiled the series: you know they’re going to be together in the end. \u00a0It’s a romance, and there ain’t no Nagisas here. \u00a0It’s the whole package that really matters here. \u00a0Reading Suzuka is like going through a relationship – one hell of an experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I read Suzuka yesterday. All 169 chapters of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s2zM4X-suzuka","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/flomu.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/flomu.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/flomu.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/flomu.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/flomu.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6023"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/flomu.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6023\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7828,"href":"http:\/\/flomu.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6023\/revisions\/7828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/flomu.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/flomu.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/flomu.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}