Kotonoba Drive

Kotonaba Drive for me was a mixed bag, some chapters felt atmospheric and nostalgic, whilst others to me felt aimless with not that much point to them. Kotonaba is about Suu chan just travelling and seeing new places, every chapter she will have a day dream, about something she see's in her everyday life, like for example driving through the night on her scooter you will have a lot of shots of the night sky her feelings and it gets re imagined to travelling through a sea of mist as one example. It sort of takes real feelings and re imagines it to show how Suu feels,this is quite cool I really like the feeling I got from reading some of the chapters. The art has a lot of panels without text or words, just showing you a lot of shots of the scenery and surroundings really drawing you in. If this was all to it then I would have scored it a higher rating but it isn't. Whilst some were atmospheric and visceral others just felt to me as a pointless endeavour and the more I read this manga the more it tested by patience there are some great experiences but also a lot which I didn't find much value in. I found the supernatural elements weird like having a god tell you off for picking acorns, or seeing the spirit of a kid, I preferred the sort of re imagining of nature which a lot of the chapters went for. As for the characters they were all nice people, but there is no development or character arcs, they're all perfectly likeable and not that stereotypical. So overall was this worth it? hrmm no not quite for me, but if you want a relaxing atmospheric read, which is certainly easy to take in then yes by all means read this but for me there were too many chapters I didn't like compared to the one's that I did that overall it dragged it down to a 5. If this was a 13 chapter compilation of just the best ones I would have scored it a lot higher but the majority of this I didn't really like. I don't read that many things like this but for an alternative read, I would point to the Mushishi manga, it doesn't have the same sense of nostalgia but if you want an episodic work which has a really nice atmosphere to it like Kotonoba drive then Mushishi certainly does this, though it focuses more on a doctor resolving issues than just a sense of adventure which this series portrays.

"Relaxing your speed can open up mysterious gaps, even in familiar places" tldr: really easy/relaxed manga to read; no complex storyline, just everyday slice of life. its short, sadly. you need to slow down and take in every page/drawing to enjoy this manga. As I await Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou Omnibus 4 physical book next year (2024), with a new e-reader for night reading (Kobo Libra 2), I decided to choose this manga, since its the same author. I really wanted more from the author. I loved this person's take on seeing beauty in everyday life. Suu-chan, the main character, does everyday life in the story, from vistitingfriends, working etc. For moments in her day (each chapter), something happens extraordinary that no one sees except her. Each chapter really does take 5 mins. Each page really forced me to imagine/feel what was going on in the story. It definitely taught me to slow down and actually take in whats going on, with very sparse visuals it has. If you are able to do that, youll enjoy this manga. Really nice read overall. Its a little short, and somewhat thought provoking about slowing down/seeing extraordinary things in ordinary places