Welcome back one and all to my yearly spotlight feature known as Manga May. It’s a pretty straight forward concept. I pick a few manga titles to highlight during this month, and post some neat reviews about what I’ve read. This year I selected one longer series (this one), an mid-length series, and one complete in a volume.

Of course, I had to start with one of the longer manga I’ve read (and reviewed) in awhile: Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou. It’s been on my radar for several years, so now that the full deluxe edition of the manga has published, I have no excuses. Not to mention that the majority of the volumes were available via my library, so it was easy to start.

It’s the end of the world, sort of. There seems to have been some sort of environmental disaster, and humanity is on the decline. Yet, for Hatsuseno Alpha – an android and namesake of the small cafe on the outskirts of Yokohama, it certainly doesn’t feel that way. Her owner is away indefinitely, so she’s in charge of the cafe where the customers are few and far between. This doesn’t dissuade her in the slightest though, whenever someone does come through the door she greets them immediately and with a smile. When she’s not in the cafe, Alpha explores with her trusty camera in hand, and goes the distance on her scooter.

For me, while this series is clearly set in the future: it’s the retro futuristic art and ideas that sold me. There’s something so charming about even just the cover art. The muted pastel color pallet that never overwhelms the eyes, just merely draws you in. The subtle detailing of the backgrounds, dreamy but with just one thing off about them. Alpha and friends in the foreground, with the most charming or contemplative expressions. The mere idea that at the end of the world, there’s still a tiny cafe on the outskirts of town with coffee beans and all, is both so absurd but feels so right.

There is something so compelling about the mundane nature of the series. Even at the end of the world, someone runs a cafe, a gasoline stand, or a delivery service. Alpha and company tend to reflect on the changes that occur, one day at a time, reminisce on what was, and have a quiet acceptance of said change. The story, despite this lack of action, continues on at a reasonable pace. It progresses as quickly as you read it. Stopping and starting the series, preferably with a physical copy, is highly recommended in my experience.

If you’re looking for more substance, there is some to be found. Mostly at the larger question of who exactly is Alpha’s owner anyway? As well as the musings, observations, and small investigations of Kokone as the story progresses. These are less concrete questions and ideas to be answered, but more things to ponder outside of your reading experience. They aren’t overwhelming in nature or tone, but give it some nice textures to break up the Alpha dominated narrative.

I’m personally a huge fan of Ashinano Hitoshi’s art style. There’s such a great consistency in his character designs. They blend together seamlessly, even the androids, to create a really harmonious work. The detailing in backgrounds and items is superb as well. There’s such a sense that even the newest items have wear and tear from practical use in them. The world truly does feel lived in, even at times worn out, but still remains a beautiful place worth exploring.

Overall, I highly recommend this series if you get the chance. It really does warm up your soul after a long day, and it’s not so narrative driven that you need to commit to reading it all in one go. You can come and go as you please, and you’ll rarely lose many details. I think the experience, as I mentioned before, works best when you have a physical copy as well. I believe Alpha would feel the same. Be sure to pour yourself a cup of something warm before reading.

As always, I still have two more manga to showcase. Those will come a later in the month, and will be admittedly shorter in terms of chapter count, but not in terms of impact. Be sure to support your libraries this month as well, even just walking through the door and staring at the shelves for five minutes means a lot!

“That’s all”.

It’s been six years since the pandemic. Children — walking, talking, going to school — go through life without its memory. As time sweeps me farther from it, even I forget the edges of it. But Fishbowl remembers.

Fishbowl floats gently, but authentically, through a time when grief stayed suspended in the air like misty drops. Time moves unbearably, slowly. Life is unprecedently restricted. Routine is both a comfort and an oppression. And, in the game, it is all in the background. It’s setting for the bated breath of our heroine’s daily life — dominated by its own, more pressing and personal, loss.

Despite this, Fishbowl shines with hope. Choosing to offer players the chance to pierce through despondent fog by bonding with friends, building a future, and connecting with the past.

Alo is barely an adult. Her first steps into an independent life are marred by grief and blessed with good luck. She has just graduated college. The pandemic has just begun. She’s just rented a large, cheap apartment. Her exciting job has just become work-from-home.

Her grandmother has just passed away.

Because she was so far away at school, Alo didn’t get to say goodbye to her beloved Jaja. The swirling combination of guilt and excitement, denial and growth, make for a powerful opening that flows smoothly into the mundanity of life and struggle.

Monday through Saturday, Alo has to sit down at her desk, meeting coworkers and developing her video editing skills in a dream job. The minigame has me place like-colored bars in the correct rows as everything continuously speeds up. It’s hectic enough to be engaging without being frustrating. I end up feeling like I earn my reputation as a good editor.

Filling the hours outside of work can be a rougher test of my skill. Alo has a bar representing her current state of being attached to her at all times. Choosing to brush her teeth or resist the urge to doom scroll can increase her mental health. However, especially in the beginning, she sometimes simply doesn’t have enough goodwill stored up to accomplish those tasks, and so her mood spirals making self-care even harder.

Each mood-effecting task takes the form of a button-pushing minigame. These are simple and accompanied by perfectly picked sounds. That they become repetitive is in service to the constricting setting’s aura. I appreciate this immensely, but also began to look at the month-long duration of the game with trepidation as the days dragged on.

Occasionally, bright spots of light will shake up your routine. If you’ve done enough to level up Alo’s confused inner-self, new activities — like watering your grandmother’s wilting roses or reading in the most comfortable-looking nook — open up. Or a friend will call with news and warmth. Or a package full of memories will appear on your doorstep.

After her grandmother’s death, Alo volunteers to sort through all of her old stuff, rather than letting it all get tossed. These unpacking puzzles transition into memory which, whether heartwarming or heart wrenching, continuously and deftly unravel more of Fishbowl’s impactful narrative.

Fishbowl‘s complicated pool of grief and authentic, stumbling healing craft a deeply personal experience. So, when I was asked to make a choice about Alo’s future in the end, I was irreparably invested. Consequently, I finished the game feeling a little healed from my own tribulations alongside Alo.

PELHAM, N.H. — Local husband and father of two Randy Carlisle regularly misplaces his reading glasses, inhibiting his ability to view pornography clearly, sources confirm.

“I waste a lot of precious time looking for my glasses while my wife and kids are out of the house,” said Carlisle. “I get very few opportunities to have alone time, so I’m pretty devastated when I can’t find my readers. Usually I wind up running out of time and just watching blurry blobs gyrating while listening to the audio. It’s not an ideal situation, but it gets the job done. I should probably order a dozen pairs of reading glasses on Amazon and keep them in strategic places because this seems to happen pretty often. Better throw in a few more bottles of Jergens to be covered on that front as well.”

Carlisle’s wife says she hides his glasses on purpose.

“I know what sick shit that pervert gets up to when I’m out. Apparently after decades of using the internet he still doesn’t know how to clear his browser history,” said Andrea Carlisle. “In the past few years he’s been too ‘tired’ or too busy playing PS5 to have sex with me, so I do my best to ruin his little goon sessions. Sometimes I’ll hide his glasses to fuck with him a little bit. I’ve got some other techniques I use to frustrate his efforts as well, such as adding a little sand to the bottle of Jergens he keeps in the bathroom closet. Lately I’ve been putting in a few drops of ghost pepper oil as well.”

Scientists at Neuralink have good news for pornography enthusiasts with poor vision.

“In a few years, people won’t even need eyes to consume porn,” explained researcher Ian Coxon. “With Neuralink’s brain-computer interface implant, the smut will bypass traditional input organs like eyes and ears and will be transmitted directly into the subject’s sensory cortex, enabling an unprecedented level of immersion. Our chimp test subjects have taken to it so enthusiastically that they’ll often forgo food and sleep to prolong their ‘gooning.’ Several have actually died of dehydration, which we could prevent in human users with an IV drip.”

At press time, Mr. Carlisle had driven himself to urgent care after inexplicable burns appeared on his sensitive areas after “moisturizing” with Jergens lotion.

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