Manga Review: Tomehane!
Returnee Yukari Oe has been in school for a week now, he has no friends but isn’t bullied either. He yearns for something more. Fate answers his call, in a way Oe would never expect, by getting him threatened to join the calligraphy club. Still needing one more member, the club tricks Yuki Mochizuki into joining by playing the responsibility card as she accidentally broke Oe’s dominant hand. The addition of these two eager first years drives the tepid calligraphy club to new heights. This manga explores the many different types of Japanese calligraphy, how to draw it, its modern applications, and its history.
Although calligraphy sounds boring this manga makes it look very enjoyable. In fact, this manga has inspired me to take up calligraphy. I can’t give a higher praise than that. Tomehane! does not exaggerate the characters’ enjoyment of calligraphy or make it into this amazing ideal. No, this manga explores the hardships of drawing calligraphy from the challenges of the art form to common mistakes while showing that the end result makes perseverance worth while.
(Above: Kamo explains the purpose of the exercise of writing the word: eternity.)
Besides providing an interesting plot with even more interesting characters Tomehane! acts as a how to guide for beginner calligraphy. Tomehane! will teach you what kind of supplies beginners should get and why; techniques used, when to use them, and the reasoning behind them; what exercises should be used to practice with; what posture is needed for what stroke and why; and common mistakes made and how to avoid them or correct them. For the most part, points and reasoning will be made with examples rather than explanations. This keeps things going at a reasonable pace which prevents you from getting bored.
Of course Tomehane! is more than just a tutorial. The plot matches the caliber of the information. This plot is very character driven, just as most slice of life manga are. Seeing how the characters are very interesting the plot is also very interesting. Oe is a very lovable and relatable character. He is shy, well-mannered, and strives to be a true man. Mochizuki on the other hand is strong, independent, yet wants to become more girly. She hopes that studying calligraphy will help her have neater handwriting. Although Oe clearly likes her just fine the way she is, if you catch my drift.
(Above: The difference between “standard style” and “cursive style” is explained by Kamo and Miwa.)
The only gripe I have with this manga is that the scanlation group misspelled words often. Reading through the first time I didn’t noticed these errors but on my second time through I caught them very easily. A simple proof read is the cure. However, I am still very thankful to the scanlation group for working on this manga as will you be once you start reading. But I digress, I have no qualms with the manga itself, in fact I greatly respect this mangaka. Want to know why? Because Katsutoshi-sensei wrote wrong information in one chapter and when readers pointed it out he politely apologized in the next chapter. It takes a real mensch to apologize to so many people when he simply could have ignored it and moved on. I have never seen a mangaka apologize so openly and I probably never will again.
Why should you read Tomehane!? Simply because you will learn a lot from it and you will enjoy reading it. Few manga have ever caused me to yell, “No,” when a chapter ended with a cliffhanger and the next chapter hasn’t been released yet. Tomehane! is a must read, it is no wonder why it was nominated for best manga in the first two Manga Taisho. I highly recommend it for everyone. If you have never read a slice of life before this is the perfect series to start.
Read the manga here
Sources: Mangafox.com, Wikipedia.org
P.S. I also love the expressions (see below).
