Tokyo Tarareba Girls, Vol. 4

東京タラレバ娘 [Tōkyō Tarareba Musume] #4

by Akiko Higashimura

"Finally, I've found him, the man who will make me happy!" Premonitions of love from the What-If Girl, Rinko. Is the scene awaiting her after beginning a relationship over-eagerly and over-optimistically the heaven she envisioned? Or an unforeseen hell? Witness the work everyone is talking about realistically tackle the reasons our love lives don't go well!

Genres: Manga, Romance, Josei, Comics, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Humor

175 pages, Paperback

First published December 11, 2015

About the author

See also 東村 アキコ

Reviews

[☾❀Apple✩ Blossom⋆｡˚ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is it just me or this is the first volume in which something actually nice is happening? I mean, her love life still sucks but it seems like the rest of her life is actually going better...? You go, girl!!! 😎

[Tomasz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trudno jest znaleźć drugiego tak irytującego bohatera jak ten blondas, serio, całą mangę psuje.

[Jes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m going to keep going with these but it’s becoming more and more of a downer. A top review said it— but this story feels incredibly cynical towards the protags. It’s dawning on me that this is a series devoid of death, violence, or any physical trauma but the author still finds way to be emotionally brutal. Rinko made some definite strides this volume and she has never once stopped being lovable and compelling, but I’m really tired of watching her get steamrolled and bullied by the asshole who’s shaping up to be her endgame love interest.

Tangent: I have always HATED the trend of calling female characters “weak” or “too stupid to live”. (Especially when it’s men entering female spaces and genres solely to be cruel). To be clear, I don’t think Rinko or any of the girls fit either of those awful categories. However, I do feel like the author is almost trying to get us to feel some degree of spite towards them. Like I get the sense she’s trying to get us to see the protags negatively when, in reality, they’re just women going through relationship and morality hurdles.

Ugh. Despite all this, the manga is remaining thought provoking and emotional and I really do love Rinko. One more for the night?

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK I am going for another reaction review in gifs...









Ending thoughts...What a fucking dick

[Orcbard · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is where I'll stop reading. The manga started very well with thoughtful narration and relatable characters.

It takes a while for me to realise it's going nowhere. The plot is incredibly cynical and, I dare to say, hateful towards the three main characters.

The main antagonist, Key, has to be the worst main male character in a "romance" manga. He is unnecessary cruel and hurtful to the point of being sadistic towards the main character, who just took it without fighting back in any meaningful way.

[Ashley N. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really love this series--its captured how obsessed we are as a people to compare success to love and marriage. I would give this 5 stars, but... I absolutely HATE Key right now. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if the secret dead girl of his is the character development that will make him seem damaged and "he's really actually a nice guy after all!" That would be the trope, after all.

[Amara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do enjoy the main comic still, but I am getting increasingly annoyed at the columns. The opinions of the writer are so outdated, so centered on 'I need to find a man'. And you should be thankful for someone telling you that you have a bad personality? I am all for changing when you need to, but one person telling you that you are not great being yourself, nah that ain't flying with me.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I'd never even think of changing myself so I could be loved by a cold man like him. Never.

Love is about compromise, but compromise =/= giving up everything you enjoy, everything you are, for whatever That Guy is into or wants. It's meeting in the middle, not lying down so they (he, in this case) can roll over you.

I really can't figure out if Key knows this already and is trying to get Rinko to understand it, or if he's just trolling her because he knows he's hot and the stakes are much lower for him. Since this is fiction, it must be the former. Or so I hope.

Insightful, funny, painful. There were tears at the end of this one.

[Shaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel bad for Rinko. Her goal of getting married causes heartache and self-doubt. Sure, compromise is important in a relationship, but while she was doing all the compromising, her hot boyfriend was unwilling to do anything.

Oh, and hey Key, why do you keep acting like a jerk?

“That’s my personality”

[Loz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sigh. This series. I just can't actually enjoy it. That being said, this volume was more earnest and resonant than the previous. Art is top class, premise is near insulting. Give me my amars back.

[marcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vol. 1 ★★★☆☆
Vol. 2 ★★★☆☆
Vol. 3 ★★★☆☆

I liked this volume! Or at least, at first. Up until now, Rinko's story has been stagnant. She lets bad things happen yet doesn't do anything to improve her circumstances. Seeing her stay true to herself and get her spark back is heartwarming. I'm rooting for her! However, that scene with Key at the end annoys me so much. At his encouragement, Rinko has made progress. I don't get why he needs to be mean to her when it's unwarranted.

[LALa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one ended up with some more of that emotional tenderness I loved about Princess Jellyfish and may be my favorite volume thus far.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 estrellas
Las verdad es que cada vez me caen un poco mejor, solo se dejan utilizar por hombres porque son un poco idiotas y me pone nerviosa sus actitudes. Pero está gracioso y su amistad me encanta.

[no elle]

i am automatically pro anything that makes fun of cinebros

[Eressea · Rating 4 out of 5]

覺得漫畫比日劇更殘酷
日本人一直糾結三十大限實在...
好吧我現在是站著說話不腰疼了呵呵

這部書末都有專有名詞解釋，好認真~
但也不是每部米國講談社出的都有這種附錄
不知道是怎麼決定放或不放的?

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am absolutely loving this series.

I love the main character and her friends. I'm actually loving how messy these relationships are. And the fact that we don't know everything about everyone.

I NEED MORE NOW! (but one of the challenges for the 30 in 3o manga challenge that I'm doing is to not buy more manga this month. So I guess I have to wait. But you know that I'll be buying more ASAP.)

[The Book Dragon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you for not making Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome a crazy. He's a weirdo, but he's not crazy.

Anyway, Rinko's love life hits another bump and her new perspective makes Kaori and Koyuki pause to assess their own situations. However, with her career in shambles, Rinko's life is starting too look hopeless...until Key gives her a kick in the ass and tells her to sort that shit out.

Also, I hate the Liver and Milt characters, but they're such a good representation of how you can mentally abuse yourself when you get into the rut of negativity. "Everything it going wrong. Nothing is going right. Everything points to it being my fault. I'm to blame; I'm the screw-up; I'm worthless..." It's a hard place to be in. And that ending definitely didn't help.

This series has 9 volumes.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is really a roller coaster ride of emotions. I am rooting for Rinko! She is finally doing her stuff and yet what is wrong with the guy? Ladies can have their good friends too, meet-ups, and relationships.

[Miss Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

lol, i was reading this like hmm this isn't so bad, why was i so set on quitting this series? and then key ripped into rinko for having the audacity to be over thirty and have friends and i was like oh i remember now, the misogyny

2 stars

[Rach · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think these women are actually starting to grow on me. Or maybe they are just becoming less ridiculous as they try to figure out what will actually make them happy in the long term? Rinko, Kaori, and Koyuki have a discussion about which of them is in the “best” position currently - is it better to be with someone you love and feel comfortable with, but can never have a long-term, monogamous relationship with, or someone who wants to marry you but is wrong for you in the some of the ways that really matter? In the end, I think Rinko made the right choice to split up with her boyfriend, and to tell him the truth about how she felt. Compromise is important, but some things are too much to compromise, especially as we get older and have learned what makes us happy.

I still can’t quite figure out what’s going on with Key. He is obviously drawn to Rinko, and wants to help her be bold and have passion for writing again. Setting her up with that job in Izu was the perfect way to kickstart her love of writing again, and he somehow just KNEW it would be. The fact that he went to see how she was doing was really sweet. So why is he so cold and harsh to her? He says being straightforward is just his personality, but he pushes things too far. Sure, it’s weird that her friends were the ones who set up the dinner with him, but is that really HER fault? They are the pushy ones. You can encourage someone to stop being pushed around by her friends without being cruel to her, without telling her you will never love her because of who she is. (Because I clearly don’t think that’s true.)

That ending scene was so sad - Key alternates between telling her how old she is and telling her she needs to grow up and stop acting like a child. Maybe it’s immature of me, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having a close circle of friends with whom you share everything. That doesn’t make you a child. Rinko shouldn’t have to change herself to be loved - for the right person, she’d be perfect the way she is.

At one point, I was pretty sure I was going to stop reading these when I made my way through the volumes I had from the library, but now I’m kind of sucked in. And of course, this was the last one I had picked up, and we are now #StayAtHome-ing because of the Corona Virus and the libraries are all closed.

[asia ꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱₊˚⊹ ᰔ]

I started reading this series because I thought it would be nice to read a story from the perspective of an older female MC, but four volumes in, I'm unsure if I want to continue.

The main characters believe they’re inadequate because they failed to get married before turning thirty. They've placed immense pressure on themselves—and each other—believing they have little chance of getting married or falling in love, as if love and marriage is something a woman couldn’t possibly experience after hitting her thirties.

In my opinion, they seem to lack self-love and are seeking fulfillment through love and marriage to fill a void within themselves or their lives. There’s also an aspect of societal pressure at play. I do think the mindset these women carry reflects how ageism and society’s romanticization of youth can affect women. Women are led to believe that their best and most valuable years are in their twenties, and that beyond that age, they aren’t valuable, lovable, or beautiful.

The worst part of this story for me is Key. I hate him. He’s rude, condescending, and says things to Rinko that feel downright evil. Almost every interaction he has with her involves some form of negging, and every time he appeared, I found myself feeling irritated.

Oh, and Codfish Milt and Liver were soooo annoying. They seem to represent negative self-talk, but their constant repetition of 'what if, what if' before every sentence was aggravating as hell. After a while, I just ended up skipping most of their dialogue.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

vol 3-4 really amping up on the despair factor!

some ranting ahead

I'm a little frustrated by how the plot is progressing. honestly, our main girl getting back into her job groove was a huge relief. the fact that her younger coworker is so on-the-ball is great but also deeeeeply frustrating due to how main girl is not stepping up her game in response. I don't give a shit about your age, you can do the goddamn work! i guess that's me speaking as a good cog, but it's not like she's got other passions going on in her life (besides drinking excessively, which, argh). also wtf why is Key so mean? he's a dick. I realize he has some tragic backstory (and he got her a job, that's pretty good) but he's genuinely such a huge asshole in terms of his attitude and treatment of main girl that I really don't think it's worth it. although yes, these girls are fuckin' picky bitches!!!!! I dunno they just really seem like they need to branch out in their lives a little. get into community organizing. maybe I'm biased ;)

bye

[Judit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me está gustando muchísimo este manga y creo que con cada tomo va a mejor. No sé si es porque ya le tengo cariño a los personajes o porque la maruja que hay en mí necesita saber qué va a pasar pero estoy deseando poder leer ya el siguiente tomo.

▶La pobre Rinko por fin tiene una alegría en este tomo (aunque sea breve🥹) y es de agradecer. Menuda racha está pasando la amiga. Me ha gustado que se mantenga firme en sus convicciones a pesar de la presión exterior.

▶Aún no termino de pillar el gusto al pequeño cabra-macho que es el rubio Me veo a venir que nos van a contar una historia triste para que empaticemos con él pero lo que yo quiero es un cambio en su actitud. Hay indicios de ello pero no termina de dar el gran paso. Aún así, me meo con sus borderías.

▶En este tomo las amigas no tienen tanto protagonismo como en los anteriores pero la verdad es que necesitaban este descanso.

Tengo muchas ganas de leer el siguiente tomo y ver cómo avanza todo esto.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanna say 4.5 more than 4 because the only thing that really really bugged me was the Tarareba Night 4 comic where the side characters took letters from women seeking advice. On night 4, they pick a letter from a woman who hears that she has "no cracks in [her] armor" so she's tough to know. And the characters advice to her is to work on gratitude towards others, be thankful she got a text from a boy (??????????????????????), and think about what she can do for others.

Taking into account that we only get the letter the woman wrote, and maybe there's an issue in translation, with all due politeness wt whole entire f?

[brightredglow · Rating 5 out of 5]

TTG can be frustrating at times because the trio can be frustrating but the last 10 or so pages of this volume show that Rinko can confront the odious Key in a way that is genuine. Those moments are what give this modern comedy manga its bite and it is why I am sticking with the story. I think it'll be rough from here on out, but there's an honesty in the trio's foibles that is hard to not relate to.

[Angeliki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the development in volume four, and I was hesitant that perhaps I wouldn’t like this story as much as I thought. However, I like the pacing of the story and the developments we’re seeing with Rinko and getting to practice on a small commercial as a screenwriter. Key, the main antagonist, is clearly going through something as is taking it out on Rinko, which is annoying because I sense a redemption arc for this annoying kid.

[Zaza dans le métro · Rating 2 out of 5]

J’ai adoré Trait pour trait la série autobiographique de l’autrice mais je commence à avoir vraiment du mal avec celle-ci! Alors que je pensais que c’était du 2e degré, dans ce tome, les femmes célibataires sont lourdement critiquées : il faut être comme ci, comme ça … et les hommes sont tous plus détestables les uns que les autres mais ça passe crème … et j’en ai ras le bol de lire qu’une femme est vieille à 33 ans !! 😤
Je vais tenter le 5e tome mais je pense abandonner la série !

[Sarah S · Rating 3 out of 5]

I somehow accidentally deleted my original review when trying to add a note about revisiting this series a decade later. I suspect that I did not finish this volume before giving up. I still find the characters' focus on the need to be married to be happy frustrating, but having read the entire volume this time, I'm happy that the story starts to move in a healthier direction. At least enough that I'll be picking up the next volume.

[Mars · Rating 2 out of 5]

the misogyny really seeps deep into this series huh

is Key supposed to be the romantic interest? he’s pretty despicable?? and like the one genuinely positive thing to happen in this series so far gets overshadowed by the ending. wow.

kinda the only reason I’m still reading the series is because I bought them all for a good deal at a used bookstore.

[Andi A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked how it showed that even if someone looks good in every aspect on paper a relationship might not work out if they can't hold a conversation or it doesn't feel right. I like Key, but he is an asshole and I felt very sorry for the main character at the end of this volume.
I am still not sure how to feel about the sexual relationships of the other two women.