Sunny

read a tweet on father's day recommending this manga for people with broken home, im not exactly a 'broken home' kid nor have daddy complex (i have the opposite, i know... mom... lol) but this manga really comforts me. the feeling of '1 second before your tears starts coming out' lingers on me for hours after reading this manga. i'm a big fan of the art, watched tekkonkinkreet too, i like it very much. i definitely can relate to some of the kids' stories. it's really amazing how the mangaka can depicts such details into the character stories. i definitely will reread this.

This story won’t be for everyone but I think the people that enjoy it will absolutely love it. It is essentially a slice of life, comedy, human drama, and it does each of these three things phenomenally. Following the lives of the kids living at the Star Home Orphanage, who all were left by their parents due to various circumstances, this story delves very deep into almost every kids’ emotions and lives up to this point and you can really feel just how broken these kids are. There wasn’t one single character that I didn’t like, and many of them had a ton of charmto them and their distinct personalities. Taiyo Matsumoto is extremely skilled at writing kids who act in a very believable way due to their personal situations. For a 37 chapter series, this has some of the best characters I’ve ever seen. The art style, while very unique and possibly even ugly to some, fits the characters and story perfectly. I believe it adds a lot to the comedy and it works extremely well at portraying subtle emotions in the characters that you, as the reader, can tell they are trying to hide. Overall, this series is an extremely well done story with likable and well-written characters. It connected with me very very much personally because of its realistic portrayal of the kids emotions as well as the immense charm and character the series has. It also has a style of humor I really loved, making this, quite possibly, my favorite manga ever. If you’ve enjoyed any other of Matsumoto’s works, please check this one out, if you’re like me it may just become your favorite of his.

Artwork is very different. Storyline is slice of life with different chapters focussing on different characters. It's an easy series to read and keeps you absorbed. Nothing that left a particularly strong impression on me though. Maybe because I'm from a different generation to the one it depicts. I only read it last year but couldn't remember what it was about until I re-read the synopsis on MAL and that brought back bits and pieces of the story back to me. I suppose the characters didn't resonate with me, and I didn't identify myself in any of them so I was detached. Anyway, still think it's worthchecking out if just for the artwork. Taiyo Matsumoto, the guy behind Tekkon Kinkreet has a unique style which sets his work apart from typical manga.

One beautiful thing that Sunny has opened my eyes to is the importance of certain details and habits my mom has always had with me, which I found in the book. [Personale take] I know exactly the unmistakable smell of the Nivea cream that Haruo always sniffs. Its greasy consistency and white color that leaves a residue on your skin if you don't spread it well. My mom has always put it on me since I can remember, and even now she wants me to use it if she sees that my skin is irritated for any reason. Especially during the winter period, when the corners ofmy mouth were dry and wounds would form, I remember she would put it on me so generously that I always had some cream left in my mouth. I couldn't stand it, and that's probably why, even now as an adult, I still can't stand putting creams on my hands or anywhere else. That Nivea cream from that blue tin has marked me since I was a child. But it's funny, because now as I read Sunny, if I think about it, I find that my mom's way of doing this is an unforgettable love language, given that I'm still talking about it now. Through Sunny, Taiyo Matsumoto has managed to make me understand the sense of gratitude I should have for the maternal and paternal affection I received when I was a child and how we should be more aware of what we have. [Review] "Sunny," serialized by IKKI magazine from 2010 to 2015, is a Seinen manga written and illustrated by Taiyo Matsumoto. Acclaimed for his unconventional style, outside the typical stylistic canons, Matsumoto focuses on storytelling and conveying emotions rather than pleasing people. It is published by Jpop in Italy and divided into 6 volumes in total. In "Sunny," the sensei tells the stories and daily lives of some kids living in an institution/orphanage called "Hoshinoko." The manga shows how this will influence their perception of life and how they, in turn, are perceived by society. The Sunny, an out-of-use car parked in the institution, serves as a safe place for the kids. A place where adults are not allowed and where their dreams and worries can be expressed. There are a total of 37 chapters, each self-contained yet connected by a unique sense of time and progression. The story does not have a main character; instead, every presence within Hoshinoko gets to tell their own story and essence. This allows us to empathize with all the characters, whether they are those we like the least because of their personality or our favorite characters. It is thanks to this mode of narration that I was able to grow fond of some children whom I initially found insufferable but later understood why they have certain ways of behaving that could be mistaken for mere whims or absurdities. It is known that children always have unique ways of communicating. Most of the characters are developed equally, except for two or three who had only one chapter dedicated specifically to them. The characters that impressed me the most are Adachi, for his paternal sense towards all the children in the institution, especially Haruo, who until the last chapters demanded to be the one Haruo needed to stay on the right path; Sei, for his unwavering hope of seeing his mother again, his calm and gentle demeanor that captured me from the beginning when he had to take care of a new boy in the institution; and finally Haruo, for the development he underwent throughout the manga. From an artistic standpoint, this is my first time delving into Taiyo Matsumoto's style. Initially, I was skeptical, but I learned to appreciate his art more and more thanks to his wonderful way of storytelling. You don't have to be an orphan to understand these children's feelings. A little empathy is enough to grasp the pain or happiness within the pages being told. This work managed to take me back to being a child but with the awareness and perception of the world through adult eyes. It was a narrative as delicate as it was harsh, like the reality of life, leaving a bittersweet taste in the mouth. There were several points in the manga where the master made me close the book and think, "Wow, that hurt." I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone because it's a story that deserves to be read.