
Links go to search results. Availability varies by region.
うみべの女の子
20
2
Finished
Jul 7, 2009 to Jan 8, 2013
6.5/10
Average Review Score
50%
Recommend It
20
Reviews Worldwide
Known for the acclaimed "Oyasumi Punpun" and "Solanin", Asano Inio has established his talent with both imagery and the written word. His stories are most noticeable for their oppressive and perpetual sense of melancholy, and "Umibe no Onnanoko" is certainly no exception. Umibe no Onnanoko (lit. Girl of the Sea) is a brief tale of two teenagers' sexual frustration. Where most anime and manga draw the line at a simple kiss or confession, Umibe no Onnanoko starts its first chapter with a sexual encounter. There is no build-up, no confession: the two just decide to share their loneliness by having sex with one another. It isnot a story based in the ideals of romance; Asano knows that the real world is not quite so innocent. Following the experiences of Isobe and his long-term crush, Koume, the story quickly falls into one of despair and misanthropy. Koume was betrayed (a truth she does not want to admit to herself) by her previous boyfriend, used as a source of sexual pleasure rather than being loved and cherished as the kind-hearted person she is (or was). She knows that Isobe has feelings for her and soon finds herself exploiting his feelings to make herself feel like she is appreciated. She does believe another person would ever love her for her personality, so she uses the only thing she is a certain a boy would love: her body. Unsurprisingly, things do not turn out well for the two. Isobe has his feelings betrayed and sees the girl he once loved exposed as a fake, manipulative nymphomaniac. His ideals of love and romance are destroyed in front of his eyes. He grows to hate Koume for it and devolves from an innocent boy into a depressed, hateful misanthrope. Eventually he does not even want physical intimacy with another person. What is most appealing about the story is how natural it all feels. Everyone (well... nearly everyone) has known what it is like to be rejected or lied to by somebody they love. Sex is a natural part of an intimate relationship and sometimes it is not always a romantic experience. It can be heart-breaking, painful and even empty. Asano uses dialogue well throughout the manga. Like its portrayal of sex, the conversations between the characters feel authentic. Teenagers curse with their friends and gossip about how big a girl's breasts are or how hot a certain boy is. There is none of the 'idiot friend' or harem set-ups common in anime. When two characters talk to one another, it feels like something a real person would say. This allows the reader to empathise with the story around them, but also brings something much more relevant: emotional resonance. There is a powerful scene where Koume asks Isobe what kind of person he doesn't hate (owing to his blatant misanthropy), and he simply responds with "Kind people." Everything the story had been buildings towards was encapsulated in those two words of text. There is also a bit of side-story about Isobe's deceased brother, but it mainly exists to develop Isobe's character rather than simply existing as a distraction from the overlying story. The story is focused, and thankfully, given its short two-volume length. There is plenty of dialogue between background characters as well, which expresses that the world around the two main characters is alive and moving. They inhabit the world but they are not the world itself. They are just two dirty cogs cycling their way around an infinite world. The artwork of Umibe no Onnanoko is beautiful, though that should come as no surprise given the author. Each character is given life and emotion in their facial expression, including even the background characters who appear for just one or two panels. There is no scene that feels lazy. There are even gorgeous, intoxicating scenery shots spread throughout each chapter (much like what is found in Oyasumi Punpun), though they are never there to take the reader's attention away from the story. Asano Inio is surely one of the best mangaka when it comes to putting images to paper, but he never neglects the story in favour of glitter and glamour. He conveys both the beauty and anxiety of life in his imagery. If there is one major criticism to be had, it is that the ending feels abrupt. The characters had been steadily falling downwards and downwards, so far down that it seemed they would never be able to get out of their mess. And then they suddenly forget all their troubles and decide to live for the better. I suppose it could simply be rationalised as human beings being whimsical creatures, but it did feel lacking compared to the endings of some of Asano's other works. No doubt he could have expressed himself better. Umibe no Onnanoko is not always a pleasant manga to read. It challenges the reader's perception of sexuality, romance and sincerity. The two main characters and the world that surrounds them are deeply flawed, imperfect existences. It is less concerned with ideals and more with providing a believable setting that the reader can understand and empathise with. All human beings need a healthy dose of escapism from time to time, but stories such as this are just as necessary. It will not change anyone's beliefs, and while it is hardly a 'fun time', it is difficult to come out of reading Umibe no Onnanoko without the feeling that something a little bit more meaningful was gained.
In a seaside town where very little happens, middle school students Keisuke Isobe and Koume Satou live a rather dull life. But when Koume's crush breaks her heart, their situation becomes quite unordinary. She starts a "no-strings-attached" relationship with Keisuke, whom she had previously rejected, both finding solace in the other in order to fill the emotional voids in their lives. However, being "friends with benefits" becomes complicated when real feelings begin to develop, as the consequences of their relationship start to take their toll on those around them and themselves. Umibe no Onnanoko takes a harsh look at love, relationships, and the emotional price that will be paid as the result of a decision made between two teenagers. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Umibe No Onnanoko is quite possibly the worst piece of literature that my hands have touched in the past decade. Now to be fair, I knew absolutely nothing about this manga prior to buying it. Perhaps I should have done my research. When the first sex scene came by I was surprised because, again, I knew literally nothing about the manga. But it was fine. Sex scenes aren't that bad right? I'm sure they have meaning. Oh look another sex scene. And another one. Another one. Another one. Dj khaled can't save me here this book is literally sex and bad story telling. The actual storyis quite ridiculous and while the characters hold resemblance to what real teenagers feel at certain times- how they act as a whole is entirely exaggerated and unrealistic. You'd think that the author is a dinosaur based on their interpretation of teenager relationships. Yeah yeah, maybe I was the only teenager in highschool to not have sex every 5 minutes, but to be fair their rampant sexual behavior isn't the only problem. These kids are assholes to each other and its a wonder why any of them interact with each other. The only reason I recommend you to pick up this manga is if you want to watch teenagers have sex. Well.. that's actually a pretty sketchy reason to pick this one up. I found no redeeming qualities in this book- no deep symbolism (wow people get sexually frustrated 2deep4me) and in general this was a bad and awkward read. This is basically porn- bad story and characters but okay sex scenes.
I'm writing this review completely fresh, having finished A girl on the shore just a couple of minuets ago, and it left such an impact on me that I felt I had to come straight to MAL and write my first review in over 3 years. Not because this was such a thought provoking or inspiring work that I felt I simply needed to tell everyone to read it as fast as I could, no quite the opposite, I feel as if this is one of the most DISAPPOINTING Manga's/Anime's I've had the displeasure of watching/reading. I honestly can not believe this is written bythe same author of Solanin, which I love to death even though it did have it's problems. "A Girl on the Shore" is nothing but problems however. Where do I even start? Well I guess I'll start on a high note and say that the art is average. Scenes are well drawn and detailed, however (and this is a problem I have with all of Inio Asano's works) the faces -specifically the eyes- give me a weird uncanny valley feeling. So that's the best thing I can say about this manga. Buckle up because now we 'bout to get super negative. The plot could not be any.... you know what I can't even finish this sentence because too many negative adjectives come to mind. It's all over the place, it has abysmal pacing, terrible direction, and even though a lot does happen, the plot never, ever, EVER, feels like it's going anywhere. I never felt like tension was building, or any conflict was moving the plot forward. If I didn't know any better I'd say that the plot only existed as a vehicle to move the 'story' between the sex scenes. Oh yeah, the sex scenes. There are sex scenes. So be prepared for that, because I certainly wasn't. Now I am no prude, and I am not one to just turn my eyes the second something edgy or challenging get's presented to me, but this manga was just too much. I don't want to spoil, but there are some sex related scenes that just serve absolutely no purpose whatsoever and only seem to be in there to shock you. If the blurb for this manga makes you think its a traditional romance, well it isn't, so if that's what you want, look elsewhere. Now then, the worst part, the characters. Again, the only other work I've read by this author was Solanin, which had (in my opinion at least) EXTREMELY well done and realistic characters who where all relate-able in one way or another. "A Girl on the Shore" however, is the complete opposite. Absolutely none of the characters left an impact on me in any way shape or form. I don't remember a single name, and like I said in my first paragraph, I literally JUST finished this manga. Not only are they not relate-able or memorable, they aren't even LIKE-ABLE. A bad story can really be saved by good characters, but in this case the characters drag the story down EVEN further. EVERYONE is an asshole. EVERYONE. Everyone treats everyone like shit, so you don't root for anyone, so you don't care about anyone, so you just start speed reading to get this fucking drag of a book over with. It isn't like the twists near the end are unpredictable. Fucking hell you know the ending word for word by the 5th god damn page. This is not realistic character depiction Inio! No one acts like this even in middle school! Overall, all I can say is do not fucking buy this. It's a waste of money and a waste of paper. My heart goes out the the tree that had to die just so it could produce this fucking mess. Even reading online is a waste of time, and if it's porn you're after, well buddy if you haven't heard you can find tons of it for free without a fucking tragically retarded story blocking everything. I'll be honest though, near the middle of the book there are 1 or 2 moments that had me thinking "My god is this finally going somewhere". But obviously no, it went right back to being shit. It gets one point added to it just because it fucking trolled me. It's safe to say that I'll continue to cherish Solanin, forget this exists, and never take a chance on Inio Asano again.
I feel like "Umibe no Onnanoko" is the most telling of inio asano's issue in his writhing. Which is that if you don’t have some sort of direct connection to the ideas he tackles you are never going to like the story. Unlike most stories, where the point is to introduce an idea to the reader. Asano's writing feels more like a depiction of feeling that use the experiences of the reader as a way to connect them to it. This is why "a girl on the shore" is so impactful for me, while being so boring or disgusting for other people. I feel drawnto the story of 2 people so desperate to feel wanted in a world that rejects them, while being unable to accept each other, because I understand those emotions and have felt them. But for a person who has not felt these feelings before, or has felt them but does not feel driven to them, the various depictions disgusting of sex scenes, the snail pace plot and the abrupt ending become unable to be overseen in order to enjoy the story.
this manga was practically just porn straight porn the ending was even more atrocious that what i was looking at do not recommend this book it is nothing like any of his other works which are 129 times better. most of the book was just sex scenes between middle school children its rweally not something nice as they are underage and sexualises them of course sex scenes have their meanings but these however i felt did not i could not work out how they meant anything and the story would have been better off without them. the plot was not something that gets you hooked andwas confusing at times.
