CITY, Vol. 2

CITY #2

by Keiichi Arawi

Niikura reflects on how her friendship with Nagumo began. Wako Izumi is intrigued by Nagumo, and gets a totally wrong idea about her relationship with Niikura. Tatewaku Makabe scores a dubious point during a soccer game, and his father tries to game a peculiar restaurant. Meanwhile, super-strong Granny continues to be unbeatable…

Genres: Manga, Comics, Fiction, Comedy, Slice Of Life, Humor, Graphic Novels

172 pages, Paperback

First published April 21, 2017

About the author

Keiichi Arawi (あらゐ けいいち, Arawi Keiichi) is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator.
Arawi was born in the prefecture of Gunma in 1977. He started his comics career at age 19 and for about a decade he published short stories. His series Nichijou, a slice of life comedy manga, was first serialised between 2006 and 2015 in the magazine 'Shonen Ace', and collected in ten volumes. In 2011 Nichijou was adapted into a 26-episode anime directed by Tatsuya Ishihara, now considered a cult. From 2016 to 2021 Arawi worked on the comedy manga CITY. In 2022 he resumed the serialisation of Nichijou, as well as starting a new strip called Amemiya-san.

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes - City is definitely my jam! The second book is funny right from the start as the deadbeat student (I know I should learn their names but the cast keeps growing and growing!) traps the gullible kid in the restaurant’s mascot outfit. The mascot’s face is accidentally printed on its butt and the kid’s such a doofus. I was laughing and laughing at how stupid it was – Keiichi Arawi’s comedy timing and knowing what to emphasise is spot on.

The gullible kid is definitely the funniest character. He flukes a goal – his first! - while playing football and the whole team loses their minds celebrating, including the coach. The lunacy of the celebrations and the commentary was genuinely hilarious. I also really liked the fired manga artist’s story and the excerpts from his strip, Mr Bummer (what a great name!), his Meg Griffin-esque unlucky protagonist.

The strange photographer girl and her bizarre impromptu quiz was another great little story – that hat with the raised hand that pops up is an awesome design. And one of the dudes who got beat up by the badass granny in the first book tries to get revenge on her with a rematch – with predictably unsuccessful results!

The gullible kid’s dad trying to become a regular at a local restaurant (just so he can say “The usual!” to the chef when he walks in!) and the dozy schoolgirl and her bonkers classmate were both amusing storylines. The deadbeat student and the duck face gag is still great too. Wow, yeah, there’s a lot here that’s really funny.

The rando story about two penniless school friends praying for coins for the vending machine didn’t quite work for me. The backstory of how the deadbeat student and her wannabe photographer pal became friends and the failed food delivery story were just ok.

Still, CITY, Volume 2 is a really entertaining jumble of silly, funny stories about a bunch of wacky characters. It’s like a manga version mashup of Wes Anderson and Community – if that sounds like your kind of humour this one is definitely worth a look.

[Victor The Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

CITY, Vol. 2 (My Kindle Review)

We get to see how Niikura and Nagumo first became friends back in high school where she was a popular sports player while Niikura was a shy and quiet student. Meanwhile, the Makabe family get a new mascot for their supermarket, son Tatewaku plays on his struggling soccer team and the unbeatable Granny landlord meets another opponent. B+ (83%/Very Good)

[Emmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of the same quirky fun from the first book. However, I can't seem to shake the feeling that this is just Nichijou lite. It's like this story takes place in the next town over (it probably does) and I feel like I'm missing out on all the hijinx that usually comes from that series because our field of view is just a little off.

However, one fun thing in this volume was a brief cameo from a Nichijou cast member. I won't say anything more, but hopefully you'll see her :)

EDIT 10/26/2023
These books are so funny! Really enjoying rereading them again!

[Kentaro · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this manga from force of habit. My evaluation for this manga is not changes significantly as with first volume. However, I've come to like this atmosphereore more and more.

[✨ Amy Malski ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goodreads Rating: 3.5
CAWDPILE Rating: 5.57
Will I read the next one? Yes.

Characters............................... 6
Atmosphere............................. 7
Writing/Drawing Style........... 7
Plot........................................... 6
Intrigue.................................... 6
Logic......................................... 2
Enjoyment............................... 5

Notes:::
Character identities are hard to keep straight at times. Everyone just (kinda) has the same personality of acting off-the-wall batty, bonkers, random, obscure, silly, etc.

I like the city atmosphere and the premise of this manga. But I feel it could be more immersive.

There were some parts that I found very endearing and had me laughing out loud and other scenes that had me frustrated because of how either dull or stupid they were.

Some of the jokes are falling flat for me, I think, because it is not being portrayed in the drawings well enough or something is being lost in translation.

[Kalilah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keiichi Arawi is also the author of Nichijou. I'll admit, I watched the anime of Nichijou first, and nearly combusted from laughing so hard, so when I read the manga it just didn't hit the same. Therefore I was super excited to see this series in Waterstones and didn't hesitate to immediately buy two vols. I read them both in one sitting; they're just as enjoyable and the humour is just as ridiculous and wilfully contrary as Nichijou. What I especially love is that you are rewarded for paying attention to details, particularly in the background, because there's always something completely random to tickle the funny bone.

[Chris Gernon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely hilarious. Nichijou set the bar impossibly high, but somehow, City continues to match it and even exceed it at times in this volume. The new characters introduced are delightful, and the story stays as bizarre and surreal as ever, while keeping the narrative grounded enough that I can’t wait to see what happens to the characters next. Fantastic.

[Ed Fox-Gliddon · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 volumes in, this manga's been a lot of fun. So far not quite as entertaining as Nichijou but I get why Arawi might want to steer clear of retracing his footsteps. Some really great gags in here nonetheless.

[Jon Chaisson · Rating 4 out of 5]

More absurdist silliness from Keiichi Arawi. Always a fun read. :)

[Lucia · Rating 4 out of 5]

not quite as good as the first volume, but still very good! I also really appreciated the translator's notes in this one.

[Abdulla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this volume, still feels off compared to Nichijou.

[Layan - ليان · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chapter 16 in particular is so funny~

[Yusur A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as funny as the first one but still laugh out loud funny

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and ditzy, just like me and that is why I appreciate this series so much.

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might as well be named Nichijou 2! I love this series! It's so silly and laugh out loud funny!

[Rob McMonigal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just so much silly fun, and makes me nostalgic now, given the COVID restrictions.

[David Doel · Rating 2 out of 5]

On the last page of this volume, a character says, "I'm all out of jokes y'know." That sums up the volume perfectly -- tolerable art, no story.

[ReadingFrog · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the first volume to be a bit more entertaining. Volume 2 still entertains!

[Dan P · Rating 5 out of 5]

now this is comedy manga. it's basically long-form Nichijou, which I never realized I needed so badly. absolutely perfect, no notes

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

So silly, I love it.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Silly , fun and creative manga… XD

[David Austin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can’t seem to get on the right wavelength for this, much as I love Nichijou.

[Amara · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Priscilla G · Rating 3 out of 5]

still adore the art style but this volume wasn’t as fun to read as the first one.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Izumi is a scene stealer. She's quickly becoming a favourite. I thought her 3 good things and then in bed by 11am was funny.

[Sam Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love how broke Nagumo is. Another thing I like about this book is when it gets so silly I want to put it down it usually pulls back.

[Ludwig Aczel · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10
Second instalment of the demential heartwarming CITY, from the same guy who did Nichijou. Not much to add to what I have written about the first volume here.

Notice: cameo of my favourite character from Nichijou! The Arawiverse is real, folks!

[fausty · Rating 4 out of 5]

nothing i have said before really changes, but this volume is just more of a secondary character introduction that is still really fun to read and really fun to explore this world. i sure hope that i don't accidentally forget to keep reading these because manga gets hard for me to stay engaged with because of the way it's published! it's totally a me issue too

[Stuart Iversen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The nonsense escalation of the football story is such a perfect example of what makes City great.