La Quinta Camera: The Fifth Room

by Natsume Ono

An apartment in Italy. In four of the rooms live four single men with singular personalities. Into this peculiar ménage steps an exchange student, the new tenant of the fifth room. Brought together by chance, friends by choice, they pursue their dreams together as the days drift gently by.

Genres: Manga, Comics, Graphic Novels, Seinen, Slice Of Life, Fiction, Drama

208 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Natsume Ono (Japanese name: オノ・ナツメ) made her professional debut in 2003 with the webcomic La Quinta Camera. Her subsequent works not simple, Ristorante Paradiso, and Gente (a continuation of Ristorante Paradiso) met with both critical and popular acclaim. In 2009 Ristorante Paradiso was adapted into a TV anime series. Her current series House of Five Leaves (Saraiya Goyou), also adapted into a TV anime series in 2010, is running in IKKI magazine.

(http://www.sigikki.com/creators/natsu...)

She also writes BL under the pen name of basso.

Reviews

[George Kaslov · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am saddened to give this book only four stars, It's a lovely feel good comic but it had a lot of pacing issues, maybe if I read one chapter a day I could mitigate that issue. I still recommend this book to other fans of Natsume Ono, or just anyone who loves the Slice of Life genre

[marcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

An early work from Natsume Ono! It's more of a collection of vignettes than a straightforward oneshot. While it's not as strong as her later works, I still enjoy it. For one, it's cool how she's always been exploring character interactions and relationship dynamics in her manga. On top of that, these stories are all about the impermanence of life and how change isn't necessarily bad, which is hitting me especially hard right now.

[Alex Quinonez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a heartwarming and cozy slice of life manga. The amount of characters was tough at times to keep up with but I still enjoyed it throughly. 4/5 it was a good read.

[Mikael Kuoppala · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published as a web comic, La Quinta Camera is a charming, low key story of an apartment shared by a tight group of different people. We get a slice-of-life panorama that doesn’t do anything dramatic, can’t even be said to have a plot of any kind, but that is based on the concept of the reader wanting to hang around in the living room the narrative unfolds in. This isn’t a grand, meaningful story. Nor does it reach the same intimacy with the characters as let’s say Alison Bechdel wonderful Dykes to Watch Out For which this piece sort of reminded me of. But I did enjoy my time with the characters, and there is always a certain enjoyable, warm but melancholic feel in anything Natsume Ono does.

[Keiran Thegreat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Initially I was sceptical about the style of the artwork in this manga however after a few pages I soon began to warm to it. The plot is based around 5 main characters with several others who share their lives for brief periods. The characters are well realised and by the end of this book seem like real people with hopes and dreams. Even incidental characters have a back story and add to the mix.
This is essentially a story about friendship and the nature change in lifestyle over time.
There is a lot of happiness and sadness in this manga, it covers a long period of time and several events like graduation, birthday parties, Christmas and New Year.
Wonderful and full of humanity.

[Federica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Questo fumetto è ambientato in Italia (a Bologna molto probabilmente) e narra le vicende di quattro uomini che per caso hanno iniziato a vivere sotto lo stesso tetto. Inoltre essendoci nella casa una camera sempre libera (la "quinta camera") vengono a vivere per brevi periodi di tempo degli studenti stranieri. In ogni capitolo autoconclusivo, oltre ad esserci la presentazione dei nuovi inquilini della quinta camera, l'autrice approfondisce uno dei quattro protagonisti.
Un manga che ha la capacità di infondere calore e tenerezza. Dalle pagine si riesce a percepire il rispetto che Natsume Ono ha per l'Italia e la sua visione positiva del nostro paese. Gli italiani vengono dipinti come affettuosi, gentili e affascinanti.
Una storia breve ma di impatto che consiglio a chiunque. Stile dei disegni molto particolare e che personalmente ho adorato.

[Jack · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let down by the artwork. I feel if an artist is going to write this kind of plotless, low-key, mono no aware kind of story, the characters should be able to communicate more than permanently languid, placid, empty smiles. Also, it's one of those 'women writing men' stories that fails to sketch an authentic character. Still, Ono is somewhat well regarded and this is her first work, so I'll make another attempt down the line.

[Forthright . · Rating 4 out of 5]

I may be guilty of buying everything ever published by my favorite authors, and Ono makes that list. A string of stories set in an apartment in Rome where the fifth bedroom is regularly rented out to foreign exchange students. Episodic. Loosely linked. Building slowly so the cast members work their way into your heart. Simple, yet entirely satisfying.

[Anaika · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[新新 Xin-Xin · Rating 4 out of 5]

想著該怎麼描述這本漫畫，比起結構嚴謹的某個主題，更類似日常雜文，很想下個比方四個男人住一起的副標，淡淡帶出這些人生活的一點切片，還有他們在人生路上互相陪伴一程的情誼。
對於領域性其實很強的我來說，或許也是一種提醒，如果能在心中空出一間五號房，搞不好能看到更多不同的風景接觸不同的人生吧。

[PurplePixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story. A very simple story and a nice relaxing way to end my day.

[Matthew Friedland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ugly happy cried so hard

[crowsden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Natsume Ono's art is so charming and cute. So is the story.

[Spudpuppy · Rating 4 out of 5]

idk if anyone loves anything as much as Natsume Ono loves middle aged italian dudes

this was very sweet and charming, as usual!

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lettura molto leggera, mi sono sentita a casa in quanto fuorisede a Bologna, anche se non ho capito la scelta di non esplicitare la città. Scorrevole, sembra di avvolgersi in una coperta.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

First published as a web comic, this is Natsume Ono's first major work. The formula is actually much like Ristorante Paradiso-----it focuses on a location with a big cast and then tells short stories about all the people involved. With La Quinta, Ono looks at life in an Italian apartment house that's largely rented out to exchange students. The stories range from sweet to bitter sweet, but you can really tell this is an earlier work. There are a number of small technical things, especially in her visual storytelling and moving from scene to scene, that just aren't as strong as her other works. Still, I'm glad I read and I'm really looking forward to more from Ono. She has a unique approach and I'm glad she's seems to have found an audience here in the U.S.

[Estara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Ono's breakthrough release and was a webcomic previously, as far as I know - sure, her art isn't as good as in House of Five Leaves or Gente (and even then you really have to enjoy her personal style, because she doesn't do pretty), but this story of the additional room in a men's flat share and the various foreign language students that live in it is just as lovely a view at the daily life of Italians as Gente was.

The drama comes from the people, their friendship and the changes in their life. The foreign language students are nice little vignettes of stereotypes and occasional prejudice, but I do think the overarching impression is kindness.

I liked it a lot.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable read. However, just as I'd warmed to the characters I found it was all over! The three quick 'scenes' at the end provided a (short!) insight into the events leading to Al's appearance in the flat, as well as a nice touch with Christmas/New Year filler. The drawings are simple but expressive.

Worth a go, and it's not going to take up much of your time.

[Julie (Let's Read Good Books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely, understated manga about friendship. The quirky art style only made it more endearing. I loved this one, and read it at the right time - part of the story takes place during the Christmas/New Year's holidays.

Full review soon at www.mangamaniaccafe.com

[Limeminearia · Rating 4 out of 5]

confusing at first, then good and really engaging. like a quick trip to italy, manga style.

[Lafillemorpho · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very sweet collection of stories about four friends in a charming art style.

[Nick Fagerlund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awwwww this was cute!! The non-adventures of four Italian roommates and their rotating foreign subletters.