River's Edge

Another good read by Kyoko Okazaki. This is an accurate portrayal of the problems of the youth. It's similar to Kimi ni Todoke with the topic, but this is a grittier version. Much grittier. Kimi ni Todoke does talk about struggles of youth, but there's a light hearted aspect to that and an optimistic tone. Kimi ni Todoke is idealistic in a way. River's Edge is a gritty and harsh reality, and there's no optimistic tone. Just the dull and gritty reality. The characters are actually fantastic. They feel like realistic characters, even if they have afew screws loose. You almost get a sort of second hand embarrassment when you see the actions of their characters, because they mirror the mistakes you've made as a kid. And not in a literal sense, but the overall idea. For example, I'm sure we've seen a friend do something morally wrong, but we never told the teacher on them. Or when that friend just does something so bad that you absolutely HAVE to call out their behavior, and it's just that sort of awkward moment where they know they've gone to far. We've probably held onto something that was actively making our life worse (a friend, a bf/gf, a hobby, etc). And yet, we just held onto it... And then you look back and wonder, why DID I hold onto it? Why didn't I just give it up? Looking back, that was stupid. That sort of moral dilemma is what makes these characters feel real. Even how it ends is realistic. Sometimes a crush is never confessed. I remember talking to a person in real life, and I told them that I had a loyal crush on someone and that I had never confessed my crush. The last thing I told my crush was "good bye! Good luck with college!" Life isn't the average romcom for most people. You don't get closure to every situation. Sometimes, there's no rainbow at the end. Things will remain the same. When they do change, it's never in a satisfying way. It's just a "well, that's it... Bye!" The themes in this are so strong! You have the struggle of fame, bulimia, not wanting to upset the status quo, comphet, outward misogyny, internalized misogyny, being jealous of your siblings, etc. This shows all the struggles that teens hold in, and shows their bad sides. It's a perfect contrast with every scene. Sex and pleasure contrasted with the fascination of a dead body. A guy in a seemingly happy relationship contrasted with a guy that's annoyed with his girlfriend. The pretty sibling contrasted with the ugly sibling. The successful sibling contrasted with the screw up. The comphet that's due to people keeping their feelings hidden, but also due to society projecting an image on people. Like a girl assuming that her gay boyfriend is uninterested in her, due to him cheating with another girl. Or a guy assuming that his lesbian girlfriend is cheating on him with another guy. Two lesbians with a crush on each other not confessing, because they assume that the other is straight. A gay guy not confessing to his crush, because his crush has a girl friend. And there's never any closure to these situations. The lesbians are doomed Yuri. Holding these feelings for each other, but being separated in the end. The gay guy never able to confess his feelings, and being haunted by his ex girlfriend. The bulimia within the entertainment district. Having to deal with the fake and vapid world of show business, while presenting a pleasant smile. Internalized misogyny of sleeping with your friend's boyfriend and trying to break them up because they're not a good match. And she was right... But like... There were ulterior motives for that good advice. It wasn't from the heart... I'm just rambling at this point tbh. Though the point is, the story is good. It's something that makes you think. It's realistic and so gritty and raw. Life isn't determined for us or an easy path for most of it. It's a step by step process. There isn't always a grand purpose to anything. Sometimes, the person you're meant to be with, is just not available for you to date for reasons. Seriously, I wanted a character to just break up with her boyfriend and be with her friend, and be the lesbian that she was meant to be. Though life doesn't always work out that way. That's the theme of the works of Kyoko Okazaki. Life doesn't work out the way you expected, some things are anti-climatic, and desires don't always get you what you want.

First I want to warn you that there will be spoilers, not much but there will be, I am not a native English speaker, and I am sorry for any mistakes I make. We started. River's Edge, Netflix passed me by and recommended his film, I was going to start watching it but I realized that it's an adaptation of a 1993 manga, although it's not the eighth wonder of the world either. Story 8/10 Well the story is “innovative” in the 90s because well... this kind of plot was very interesting and touches on taboo subjects for the land of the rising sun (knowing that they arevery conservative), like homosexuality, I would have liked Yamada's homosexuality, Haruna and Kannozaki's relationship and other characters to have developed a little more (I will talk about this later). I also want to emphasize about the corpse, this had some symbolism or what?, what I understood was that 2 crazy people found a corpse and when they need to calm down, they go to the corpse and relax, WTF? Well, as I said, two crazy people, what can you expect? And about Haruna's reaction to the body... I don't know, she's just another crazy person like the two of them. Take a step back, don't let them know you're leaving and run to the police, I don't know if what I said makes sense but that's the way I see it. Art 7/10 Well, I'm not much of a critic of animation and this kind of thing because, well, I don't know anything about drawing but I can identify when it's a bad drawing and when it's not. This style of drawing is not the best but I like it, a simple and fresh drawing style for the year the story takes place and when it was published. Characters 6/10 I have mixed feelings here... but of the bad Well I would like to talk about each one individually but it would take too long, so I will do my best. Yamada is a poor boy who is bothered, shy and quiet but surprise, surprise, it's GAY!... for me it's not interesting, I feel that he doesn't innovate much, I don't know if it's because this kind of characters are burned Haruna is a normal girl, but she's got a screw loose in her head. Her friendship with Yamada is very rare for me, but she enjoys it, it's nothing big but GOD, when I say that this girl has a screw loose in her head it's because I say it with reason, first you have a boyfriend who likes to hit everyone who crosses him, he hits your BFF, possessive, he has relations with your other BFF, you say you don't love him, but they have sex and the worst, he rapes you and the 2 crazy people are watching that and leave her alone, that is to say, bad friends, with those friends so that enemies. Anyway, the hypocrisy. What kind of girl goes around with a guy like that? Yoshikawa, a girl who didn't really make sense of the plot. A crazy girl who likes to see dead bodies like Yamada and kills cats too, what was the point of her being part of the main characters? That she turns Haruna into a lesbian? We'll never know. Enjoyment 7/10 Like I said, it's not the wonder but it's not the swill either, it's enjoyable, you want to read something fast? This is for you buddy. In conclusion, a good manga that could give more, had an interesting story but as long as we advance little by little it declines, either because of its characters that lack more development or because it's an open ending. What I did like about his epilogue is that as he makes it very clear. In life, we know thousands of people but there will be a moment when they will no longer be there, even if it hurts, it is the law of life. Thank you for reading and have a nice day

This is one of my favorite manga, i love the story, i love the characters, i love how it leaves me in this melancholic feelings. It's the kind of manga that I keep coming back to, I read it in middle school, discovering it after I finished Helter Skelter. It changes how I see life, it made me realizes some things about life. My favorite quote in this manga is; "We had chattered endlessly after school, so that we wouldn't have to say something" I like how the settings are so mundane, for a person who lives near industrial area of the town, I get this feeling thatI used to feel, it's mundane, it's sad, it's upsetting... It all mixes into one, that's how I feel about reading this manga.

River´s Edge can be a painful read. Exploring sensitive topics ranging from eating disorders to sexual violence and abortion, it is a brutal yet sincere portray of the struggles of the youth in 90s Japan. The story is mostly told from the perspective of Haruna Wakakusa, a high school girl in an extremely toxic relationship disillusioned with her peers and and everything surrounding her life. She soon meets and befriends Ichiro Yamada, a fellow classmate viciously bullied by Haruna´s boyfriend and his friends. Haruna´s and Ichiro´s shared struggles and bonding through their harsh experiences in this bleak society is the main narrative drive of the manga,giving a honest portrayal of friendship during adversity. Other characters, such as Haruna´s boyfriend and her friend, while being extremely flawed and troubled, are portrayed in an humane light while not being too sympathetic, showcasing clearly the consequences of their mistakes without outright being written neither as evil nor as martyrs. The sincere writing and crude art of River´s Edge definitely represents correctly the nature of this manga, full with flawed characters, realism and bleakness as life itself. Tackling multiple controversial themes makes this a very hard read that sensitive readers should absolutely avoid. River´s Edge might not make you feel good or amused but it is a brutally sincere work in a genre plagued by cheap melodrama and questionable romance. A must-read for any Kyoko Okazaki fans.