I spent all day trying to figure out how to review this book. Two volumes published in one, Inio Asano not only tells a tale of a group of twentysomethings living through their final months of Peter Panism, he also does an excellent job of drawing it. As any author who’s master the skill, the pages of Solanin will have you laughing and crying as you grow to love the characters—you may even recognize a little bit of yourself in them.

The only thing that kept me from enjoying the book on my first run was the publication error. The first copy I purchased at Barnes & Noble (in store), repeated the ending of chapter 12 and the entire chapters of 13 and 14, skipping chapter 15 and dropping me off at the end of chapter 16. I returned the book to the store (tweeted Viz Media who never got back to me, those assholes) and hunted down the last copy at another Barnes & Noble location which—huzzah!—wasn’t a bad copy. I also met a cute cashier(?) who handled my return at the first Barnes & Noble who detailed a tragic manga tale much like my own.

About the book (from the back cover): Meiko Inoue is a recent college grad working as an office lady in a job she hates. Her boyfriend Naruo is permanently crashing at her apartment because his job as a freelance illustrator doesn’t pay enough for rent. And her parents in the country keep sending her boxes of veggies that just rot in her fridge. Straddling the line between her years as a student and the rest of her life, Meiko struggles with the feeling that she’s just not cut out to be a part of the real world.

Solanin
by Inio Asano
Publisher: Viz Media, LLC (21 October 2008)
ISBN: 978-1421523217

Buy your copy of Solanin at Amazon or Barnes & Noble. An ebook edition is available for Nook.