Asadora! 1

あさドラ! [Asadora!] #1

by Naoki Urasawa, Miyuki Tsuji (Translator)

Die Bucht von Ise am 26. September 1959... Die quirlige Asa gerät am Tag des verheerenden Taifuns über Nagayo in den Wirbelsturm ihres Lebens. Mutig und selbstlos stellt sie sich der Katastrophe, hilft den Opfern und entdeckt dabei Spuren einer noch weitaus bedrohlicheren Gefahr. Und das ist nur der Auftakt der aufregenden Lebensgeschichte einer weiblichen Heldin von der Nachkriegszeit bis ins Tokyo des Jahres 2020.
In seinem neuesten Streich verquickt Mangaka-Star Naoki Urasawa spannend und unterhaltsam wahre Begebenheiten mit japanischen Mythen, die zeitgenössische Geschichte Japans mit aktuellen wirtschaftlichen Aspekten bis hin zu den (mittlerweile gescheiterten) Olympia-Plänen des Jahres 2020.
Ein kluger Wurf aus der Feder eines der scharfsinnigsten Manga-Künstler der Gegenwart.

Genres: Manga, Comics, Historical Fiction, Graphic Novels, Seinen, Fantasy, Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published March 29, 2019

About the author

Urasawa Naoki (浦沢直樹) is a Japanese mangaka. He is perhaps best known for Monster (which drew praise from Junot Díaz, the 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner) and 20th Century Boys.

Urasawa's work often concentrates on intricate plotting, interweaving narratives, a deep focus on character development and psychological complexity. Urasawa has won the Shogakukan Manga Award, the Japan Media Arts Festival excellence award, the Kodansha Manga Award and the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. In 2008 Urasawa accepted a guest teaching post at Nagoya Zokei University.

Series list (not including short stories collections):
- Pineapple ARMY (パイナップルARMY) 1985-1988, written by Kazuya Kudo;
- YAWARA! 1986-1993;
- Master Keaton (MASTERキートン) 1988-1994, written by Hokusei Katsushika;
- Happy! 1993-1999
- MONSTER 1994-2001
- 20th Century Boys (20世紀少年) 1999-2006
- 21st Century Boys (21世紀少年) 2007
- PLUTO 2003-2009, based on Tezuka Osamu's Tetsuwan Atom
- BILLY BAT 2008-2016
- Master Keaton Remaster (MASTERキートン Reマスター) 2012-2014
- Mujirushi (夢印-MUJIRUSHI-) 2017-2018, collaboration with Musée du Louvre
- Asadora! (連続漫画小説 あさドラ!) 2018-ongoing

Reviews

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Asa, the youngest in a large family living in 1950s Japan, is sent out in a storm to find the doctor, because her mother is about to give birth.



She surprises a bumbling burglar, who mistakes her for another girl and decides to kidnap her. Turns out the kidnapper/burglar is an ex fighter pilot from WW2, who has largely been forgotten and ignored. Asa tells him who she is, and that she is convinced that no one will come to look for her. Then the storm really starts to rip.



When their town has been devastated, Asa convinces the pilot that they have to do something to help the people.



I don't read a lot of manga, but it is fun to try and find what my niche is, as it were, and I think I have found it! Really fun, beautifully expressive art, made this a book I really enjoyed, and I was only slightly sad it ends on a cliffhanger - but I'll just have to read the following volumes.



(Kindly received an ARC from Viz Media through Edelweiss)

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book by Urasawa that I've read and I'm really coming to love his quirky, heartfelt stories with a hint of the fantastic. He clearly cares about people and community and human potential and giant monsters, and this story has all of the above in just the right amounts (plus a huge heap of tragedy). His art style is somehow simultaneously realistic and caricatured, which keeps you a bit off kilter (or maybe it's the kids who are more realistic and the adults who are caricatured, which is an interesting thematic marker). It's hard not to root for all of the characters. The start of the story is totally different in tone from most of the book so it will be really interesting to see where this goes. Recommended!

**Thanks to the artist, publisher, and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

[James DeSantis · Rating 5 out of 5]

By the creator of 20th century boys and Monster.

Need I say more?

Buy it.

But this is really good. A girl trying to do her best and be a hero meets a old disgraced pilot as they work together after their city goes under water to send some relief. The heartfelt moments work really well, the art is amazing, and that cliffhanger is so jarring I'm so eager to read the next volume.

As always, Urasawa delivers. A 5 out of 5.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it's not strictly a post-war story, Asadora's first volume is steeped in the trauma of WWII, primarily in how it affected the everyday people and the soldiers who came home. The main characters are one of each: Asa is a ten-ish year old girl who feels like the invisible person in her large family and she's mistakenly kidnapped by a former fighter pilot who has fallen on hard times since he came home lacking a civilian pilot's license or the money to procure one. When he snatches Asa off the streets (mistakenly taking her for a doctor's daughter), the two end up unlikely compatriots in the devastation Typhoon Vera wreaked on Nagoya in September of 1959. (Images of the inundated port show that Urasawa definitely did his research.) Both of them find meaning in their work to help the survivors, which may or may not include Asa's family, as multiple plot threads begin to slowly come together - the cry of a mysterious animal, the treatment of veterans after the war, and the upcoming Olympics all seem to hinge on the rescue efforts that Asa and the pilot kick off. Even though I'm not sure where this is going it's fascinating, and I'm looking forward to seeing the full picture take shape when viewed from above.

[Fátima Linhares · Rating 4 out of 5]

A minha primeira leitura ao contrário! Foi uma experiência engraçada e gostei da menina Asa. Houve algumas partes que não me entusiasmaram muito pois parecia que a história não avançava, mas penso que mais por culpa do meu estado de espírito na altura do que pelo mangá em si. Nos últimos capítulos já gostei mais de ver os esforços da Asa e do ladrão para ajudarem a população após a passagem do tufão. Uma experiência a repetir e uma história a acompanhar esta da menina Asa.

[Rahul · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

And here begins the journey to another of Urasawa world's. I hope it to become another legendary work. Art work is as always beautiful, the mc little girl is beautiful. Looking forward to another volume !

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty typical start for a series by Naoki Urasawa, full of foreshadowing of coming developments, intriguing characters, and sudden turns in the story. A prologue has us in the middle of some disaster in 2020 Tokyo that has a large horned figure looming over the city like we're in a Godzilla movie, but then events immediately flash back to 1959 and we're in an O. Henry story with a young girl caught up in a case of mistaken identity, and then we veer into historical fiction and watch the fallout from the very real Typhoon Vera.

Without reading any publicity or internet info about the book I'm having trouble defining what Urasawa is trying to accomplish here, but I'm definitely coming back for more.

[Bookishrealm · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fan of Urasawa's work, I've been wanting to try Asadora! for a while and it did not disappoint. There isn't much that necessarily happens in this first volume, but it proves to be a great start to the series. The story focuses on a young girl who is often forgotten because she has so many siblings. Unfortunately, a disaster strikes and she here community is devastated. Without even knowing whether her family has survived or not, she spends time working with community members to help those who have been impacted the most. I really enjoyed this and while it does end on a cliff hanger, I immediately put the next few volumes on hold at my library.

[Skye Kilaen · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Original review of Book 1]
I’m so interested in where this manga is going. In 1959 Japan, a young girl is kidnapped by a former fighter pilot right before a typhoon hits their harbor city. The blurb says “there’s more to her kidnapper and this storm than meets the eye” and by the end of the volume we know more about the former than the latter. (The story does somewhat hero-ify the kidnapper for his military service in WWII, so be aware if that's not something you can read past.) How is the storm connected to the weird animal cries that various characters have been hearing? Why does the book start with a flash of a giant creature rampaging through Tokyo in 2020? It’s been a while since I’ve read a series that takes its time like this to dig into its characters and set up its mysteries, and I’m here for it.

[Update, six books in, August 2023]
This series has turned out to be very satisfying so far, though it's slow-moving as far as answers to the questions posed in the first volume. I'm having a great time with it, though - with one exception, the unwelcome and unnecessary detour in Book 5 into objectification and almost-assault of a teenage girl. Luckily, that storyline didn't continue in Book 6.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This starts out in 2020 with a huge fire in Tokyo, and a Godzilla like minster silhouetted in the fire. Then,it immediately turns back to 1959 when there was a huge typhoon.
Seams random, but lets see what happens!
I love Asa and how mature and self possessed she is. I'm not a huge fan of Kasuga but he does grow on you through the story.
That ending!! I'm so excited to see where this goes!
Check out my YouTube channel for bookish videos and monthly wrap ups!

[Subham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about this young girl Asa and as she is going through her day looking for a doctor as her mother is giving birth and then meets a man Shota and while running with him gets kidnapped and we meet the man Kasuga and learn he is not a bad guy but then a typhoon hits so he and Asa have to hide in a warehouse to survive it and we learn of Kasuga's backstory and he is not that bad but when they see the aftermath of the typhoon they have to team up and save people and what all awaits them further and the challenges ahead but then the consequences of it.

This was a great volume and just shows the aftermath of disasters and how in the middle of it there are some people still trying to rescue some people but at great personal cost and its such a great deep character work about a girl who doesn't lose hope and sees the best in people, about a man who is looking for redemption and of people and how they help others when such things occur. Its a metacommentary on humanity and the affiliated costs with it.

But then in 2020 some monster may have attacked or something? Its a great mystery and is told over two timelines and like Urasawa's previous works is deep and personal and has a lot of foreshadowing about big things and revelations to come and I love the artwork as always.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Translated from the Japanese, this book if only the first in about five volumes, so although it is hinted that something will happen in 2020, other than the first few pages all happen in post world war 2 Japan.

Asa, while going to get the doctor for her mother, is kidnapped by a would be burglar, in the middle of a hurricane. She begins to talk to the said kidnapper, and he turns out to be an out of work pilot, who flew many successful missions during the war, but can't find work because he doesn't have a license.

So, we get to know this man as more than just the person who is trying to hold Asa for ransom, and the story gets more involved.

Off to a good start, it will be interesting to see where it goes from here.

Thanks to Edelweiss for making this book available for an honest review.

[Briar's Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asadora! Volume 1 is an intriguing book setting up a real mystery for future volumes.

I really enjoyed this manga! It's been a while since I've been able to find a manga that isn't mostly romance (that's just kinda how the mangas available in my town go as of right now - trends and all). Asadora is a tale about a young girl named Asa trying to help her small town after a vicious storm/tsunami/potential monster attack happens. She is kidnapped by a man trying to desperately help himself but they soon become quick friends after some misunderstandings. They see the devastation in the area and go to help whoever they can.

The worst part about this book is that it ends on a cliffhanger. Now I really want the sequel! I need to know what's happening! I am invested! What a cruel way to leave it... But also so very good.

I highly recommend this manga if you want an engaging read with some mystery in it. If you want a one and done, don't grab it though. This series is definitely gonna be a binge worthy one.

Five out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and VIZ for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

[ScottIsANerd (GrilledCheeseSamurai) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was going to just read a chapter or two to see if I liked it and suddenly I was turning the last page of the volume.

God damn it, Naoki Urasawa, you've done it again!

[richa ⋆.˚★]

If this turns out to have a found family situation I might just die.

[Fraser Simons · Rating 3 out of 5]

Asadora is the youngest of 11 kids and her mom is about to give birth just as a massive tsunami hits the town. Before she’s able to get home, however, a man kidnaps her, thinking she’s wealthy because she was requesting a daughter, but the kidnapped thought she was the daughter of the doctor. When the two are trapped together during the storm, they get to know one another and their paths converge further, as both set out after the storm to accomplish something they probably otherwise wouldn’t have.

This almost exceeded my expectations, but it was much to slow in its pacing. It’s got what I like to call breadcrumb storytelling, where just a tiny kernel of plot happens, and the rest is based around relationships. This can be effective, and lots of this does converge into the plot, but so much of it is just pure setup. It’s not a bad step forward, and ends on a cliffhanger, but it’s structured in such a way as to really draw out absolutely everything.

[AnaBells · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 ❤️

Ambientado en un Japón posguerra de la segunda guerra mundial (1950), Asa es una niña dicharachera y extrovertida en una enorme familia con muchos hijos.
El dibujo es una pasada y ella es un amor...
En una tarde lluviosa que desemboca en una enorme tempestad al llegar la calma muchas cosas han cambiado a su alrededor...

[Laura A. Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could say any book that surprised me MOST this year in my unexpected enjoyment of it, it would be this one. I went into Asadora completely blind as I picked this up with a friend on a book shopping trip who recommended it and said she thought I would enjoy it.

She was right!

Though initially I was nervous because there is zero blurb anywhere on the paperback, so I found that I had zero expectations when starting this. I didn't know what it was about or who the main girl was outside of her name, and I think it was a really good way to start this as it's hard to describe what Asadora is about.

There MUST be a twist coming in this series, but this manga was definitely unlike anything I've read (manga wise) because there is this focus on community that is absolutely breathtaking (and I mean that in a "good" and "bad" way). I am unsure if that is because when I read this, I thought of the tsunami and earthquake that hit Japan in 2011 or if was because I haven't seen two strangers come together to help their community in a big way (even though I would have never guessed based of their initial meeting). Maybe it is a little bit of both?

Either way, I LOVE Asa! She is an extremely compelling main character to follow! I love how she's not afraid to ask questions and that she strives to be heroic in her own way (even though I don't think she realizes this).

I also loved Kasuga! He is an epic supporting character! He has such a "depth" to him due to his age and what's he seen and experienced. Him and Asa truly make an amazing "duo"!

I didn't expect to love this story as much as I did! However, I am deeply wanting to see what happens next! It is a fantastic story that is different from anything I've read before! Highly recommend!

[StrawberryShojo · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are familiar with the works of Urasawa, then you know this story is going to be compelling. The art is striking as always. Background and character designs offer just enough detail to be expressive without pages feeling cluttered. Each panel is masterfully drawn and perfectly complements the narrative.

While going to fetch a doctor for her pregnant mother, Asa ends up kidnapped by a former military pilot who is down on his luck. We get to know both characters pretty quickly. Though Asa is the real star to me. Asa immediately became the most endearing character to me that Urasawa has ever written. She’s smart and headstrong, and absolutely adorable.

I honestly can’t wait to read the next volume.

[Snail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic. Classic Urasawa!

[Irene ➰ · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.8/5

wup-wup, my "awesome reads" streak still shining here.

This was gooooooooood.
So much is going on here and I'm loving it already.
It started off right away in the present time with full color pages that looked amazing of a Tokyo on fire and we have no clue what is going on.
After a few pages we jump in the past where our first story (apparently) starts.
In here we have already a great set of characters and loved how the ones that were given more space to are "used" throughout the book. We follow different storylines, different lives of different people living the same tragic situation.
We do have a main character, Asa, our little hero. I love her, she has such a strong personality and we can feel that since the first scene where we meet her. She's simply pure-hearted.

Another thing I liked was how nothing is predicable. This is a huge plus in a story and in an author, having the ability to make the reader guess various possibility of what can happen, but then, it's the author that leads us to the one chosen.

Talking then about the art, I loved it. There are various b/w full pages drawings and they are so detailed and feel so real. The flood ones especially are my favorites.

I just HAVE TO put my hands on V2 ASAP. Hopefully I'll find it soon enough.

(and yes I tend to get all my mangas second hand so before finding a specific title it can require a little bit of research and especially time, because buying them all new, considering I'm reading more or less one per day, it can be super duper expensive, so to have them all physical that's a must do for me)

[Arthur Marchetto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eu peguei sem ver de quem era, sem ler a sinopse e nem conferir nada. Assim como Pluto e Billy Bat, do mesmo autor, fiquei apaixonado pela história logo de cara. Uma trama histórica que ~parece que vai unir as questões de traumas históricos e bélicos com alguma espécie de simbolismo com kaijus?
Já temos também três personagens carismáticos guiando a história: uma criança que não é lembrada pela família, um ex-piloto fracassado do exército e um menino forçado pela família a treinar para as olimpíadas.
Não sei o que dizer, apenas que adorei.

[Tar Buendía · Rating 4 out of 5]

Propuestas narrativas clásicas de Urasawa llevadas especialmente bien y además monísimo. Me encanta. Deseando seguir.

[Paula Lyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a charming story about a little girl and a would-be burglar/kidnapper who become heroes in the aftermath of a huge storm. The story is a long way from finished and I can't wait to see what adventures are in store for this unlikely pair.

I received an eARC through NetGalley.

[Kesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something just feels different when reading a work by Urasawa. The beginning of Asadora! reminded me of the beginning of the 20th Century boys. And judging from the end of this volume it's also kind of a mystery? Let's see how this one goes.

[Tom Ewing · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first volume of a Urasawa manga is always a delight - a world full of promise before the cast starts growing and the plot starts circling around itself. Not always to unsatisfying ends, but vol 1 is still special, a piece of unbroken story ground in which bold twists and shifts of direction might happen.

And happen they do, though there’s nothing quite as jaw-dropping as the final page reveal of Billy Bat Vol 1, a shocker which announced how uncompromisingly large-scale and weird that series would be. Asadora!’s cliffhanger is more of a reminder - something that’s been in plain sight since page 1, but which Urasawa has coaxed you into forgetting by the skill of his historical storytelling.

Yes, we’re back in post-war Japan - the late 1950s this time, with plucky kid heroine Asa finding herself kidnapped by a (thankfully reluctant) criminal, a circumstance which means she escapes the enormous destruction wreaked on her city by a typhoon. The crook and the girl work together on a scheme to bring relief to the stricken city, and the reader is so immersed in this adventure yarn that what the pair find is a surprise.

It’s a cracking story, wonderfully paced, with Urasawa’s typical mastery of facial expression (the matriarch of a rice ball shop is a gorgeously realised creation) - for this story he apparently got more into drawing backgrounds without assistants, which may account for how the book seems to flow even more easily than normal. He’s firmly in his comfort zone story-wise, but even so this is a treat.

[George Ilsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This first volume doesn’t get very far—not even as far as the plot description. This book was interesting as far as it went, but was volume one just setting up the story? The story description is for the series, apparently, not this first volume.

Unclear whether this manga is for kids or young adults. I did appreciate the sound effects glossary, even if the page references were useless because most pages aren’t numbered.

I love reading “back to front”—there I’ve said it! Feels oddly natural, but why? Perhaps it is because I’m left handed and dyslexic and otherwise backwards in every way. Backwards is good.

[Jonath666 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Naoki Urasawa, ça c'est mon mangaka sûr !

Qu'est-ce que j'aime me lancer dans ses histoires sans savoir de quoi ça parle et me laisser ensuite porter...

Ici je n'ai pas été déçu et j'ai retrouvé beaucoup d'éléments de 20th century boys.

Le final donne le vertige tellement il me rend curieux pour la suite.

Le maître a encore frappé !

[Keiko, the manga enthusiast ♒︎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asadora is so fricken adorable!! I love her small but terrible character so much!! I don't know, but I tried cracking open other titles earlier, but I couldn't seem to focus if it isn't one from sensei. I don't know if it's seinen season in my manga calendar or it's the fact that I fell in love with Naoki Urusawa's art style and storytelling.

[Ignacio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Urasawa tiene un talento descomunal para los inicios de sus series y no se queda atrás en ¡Asadora! Su protagonista, los sentimientos que pone en juego, su espíritu transformador, se ven refrendados por una historia que se despliega sin más estridencias que un par de elipsis brutales y conduce hacia un final de tomo donde estalla el suspense con el primer gran giro.