Asadora!, Vol. 6

あさドラ! [Asadora!] #6

by Naoki Urasawa, John Werry (Translator)

After driving away “that thing” that appeared off the coast of Japan, Asa returns home to questions and speculation from her siblings and friends and a warning from Kinuyo—no more dangerous flying! Meanwhile, Jissoji goes to the hospital to visit the prime minister, who not only knows about Asa—he believes the fate of Japan rests on her shoulders! At the prime minster’s insistence, Asa is told to be ready to spring into action at any time.

Genres: Manga, Comics, Historical Fiction, Seinen, Graphic Novels, Young Adult, Science Fiction

184 pages, Paperback

First published December 28, 2021

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

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

After all the excitement of last volume. we're given a little breather as we check in with the supporting cast as they train to be a singer, a wrestler, and a marathon runner. Olympic champion Abebe Bikila is featured as the 1964 Summer Olympics marathon is run throughout the course of the book.

Teen pilot Asa Asada tries to cope with all this ordinary stuff while awaiting the call to once again take to the skies and face the monster that left her and her siblings orphaned. And its a long wait . . .

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of fun as always. This series feels like Urasawa is channeling golden age Spielberg and Stephen King, while also doing his own thing.

This is my first time reading an Urasawa book as it comes out and the wait between volumes is killing me. I know comics take time and I am willing to be patient for the sake of art BUT at the same time I wanna know what happens next with the pro-wrestler girl!!!

[Ignacio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Urasawa sigue volviendo a iconos históricos de la segunda mitad del siglo XX, japoneses o mundiales (el aterrizaje en la luna, la exposición mundial de Osaka... y ahora, los juegos olímpicos de Tokyo y la segunda medalla de oro de Abebe Bikila) para entrelazarlos con las historias personales de sus personajes. Y qué bien lo hace funcionar. Después hay pequeños detalles que te paras a pensarlas y cantan un poco (lo de confiar en una joven la observación de la criatura), pero son lo de menos. El relato continúa fluyendo sin fricciones.

[Borja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Empieza a oler a otra de esas historias de Urasawa alargadas, pero sigo disfrutando de su dibujo y de la trama fantástica.

[Frédéric · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pause volume after all the action of the previous one. The tension subsides and we return to the subplots of Yone and Myako - the latter discovering a new... original passion - and Shota. His arc isn't fundamentally less good than the others, but it takes a little too long and drags down the flow of the volume.

Or maybe the marathon just bores me to no end?

[Mark Schlatter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never really know where Urasawa is going with his plots, and that uncertainty is magnified in this installment, where everything advances a little from the huge climax of volume 5, but the end point is in no way clear. I didn't like the kludgy introduction of a doping subplot, but otherwise everything else worked. More and more, this series feels like a set of coming-of-age stories with a bit of kaiju thrown in.

[Doc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Olympic Fever

With Asa's heroics in the last volume the Olympics do not have to be cancelled thanks to the untimely arrival of the Kaiju that has already changed Asa's life forever. Thanks to her efforts life goes on as usual for everyone around her as they all find their own paths in life all while she attempts to hide the top secret mission she herself is on while trying to maintain a facade of normalcy to those around her. In the mean time certain you can't keep a good kaiju down as Asa is called back into action by the end of the volume as a familiar tail rises up from the ocean depths near a Japanese craft.

Not being an action packed volume is fine and dandy for me since it gives some time for the characters to grow while danger recuperates not far away. Watching over achiever Asa showing support and helping out where she can I feel sorry for her with her already busy schedule to protect Japan from this unknown beast but as the series goes on I am sure we will discover not only more but the growth in volumes like this one will help in the future yet to come. :)

[ribbonknight · Rating 3 out of 5]

It becomes difficult to maintain the pacing, because this series is at its best when everyone is racing to do their best to help save everyone and everything they care about; however, once you’ve played this trick once or twice, you kind of have to recreate the same stakes to make it happen again. In previous volumes, the time skip made a perfect excuse for recreating these stakes; here, it was feeling a little tedious. And yet, Urasawa at his most tedious is still a master of manga, so I am curious to see what happens next.

[Lightwhisper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Otro manga maravilloso, Asa e Sho estan buenissimos.

[Jelka · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5*

This volume is a bit quiter after all the excitement of last one.

[Rachel B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Que d’émotion !!! Le groupe de filles qui se démènent vous êtes trop fortes !!!!!!! Et puis le marathon de Shota wow

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I NEED SHOTA TO PUT A MEDAL AROUND ASA'S NECK THIS VERY SECOND OR I SWEAR TO GOD

[Gisela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much better than 5. The main plot takes a bit of a backseat to the side plots with Asa’s friends, and it’s a relief to see Miyako and Yone exist for reasons beyond being victims.

[ej · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25/5 i love sho n i want his shit to fully tie in with the main story

[Gigli · Rating 5 out of 5]

»»» A compra:
Impensável não comprar mais volumes desta série quando possível.
É, talvez, a minha favorita do momento. Este veio da Amazon.es e é em espanhol por não haver edição portuguesa e ser mais barata que a edição inglesa.

»»» A aventura:
Shôta, o amigo de infância de Asa, continua empurrado pela família e pelo seu sonho em conseguir ganhar a maratona nuns jogos olímpicos e está a preparar-se para tentar bater o tempo do campeão olímpico que está agora a entrar em prova nos jogos olímpicos de Tóquio (1964).
Enquanto o campeão em título disputa a prova no estádio Shôta corre pelo quarteirão para perfazer as mesmas voltas no mesmo tempo, mas algo corre mal… Shôta duvida de si na última volta.
Já Asa tem que enfrentar a mãe da sua amiga que acha que ela é a culpada por a filha querer ser uma lutadora de luta-livre.
Tudo parecerá irrelevante quando forças militares no Oceano Pacífico têm um encontro com a devastadora criatura gigante que Asa e Kasuga estão incumbidos de impedir de chegar a terra.

»»» Sentimento final:
Adorei, mas é um pouco mais pesado que o habitual.
Tudo continua empolgante e enternecedor, aqui especialmente o carinho estelar entre Asa e Shôta, que pode ser algo mais para um deles, e a relação de amor quase mãe-filha entre Asa e Kinuyo.
Porém, este volume tem um pendor mais pesado e sério, não tendo, ao contrário de outros, tantas folgas que aliviem a tristeza ou angústia pelas personagens – em especial o enredo de droga em que Shôta é indecentemente envolvido é de estar em agonia, junte-se um coração partido e, minha nossa, nem estava a aguentar.
(Ok, depois de escrever isto fui alterar de 4* para 5*, agora vejo que este volume foi mais marcante do que pensei).

»»» Nota final (capa e outras considerações):
--- [Capa] – Uma boa capa, mas se fosse fiel ao conteúdo teria lá o Shôta, que é o verdadeiro protagonista deste volume.
--- [Ilustração] – Maravilhosa como sempre, é das melhores de manga, aliás de tudo que já vi - o desenho do campeão olímpico etíope Abebe está igual ao homem que correu em Tóquio 1964!

»»» Uma espreitadela:

[Tom Ewing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately the weakest volume so far - feels like a series in a holding pattern between giant monster attacks. The subplots advance, but slowly - the exception being Shoto, who gets a lot more action than in previous episodes. Unfortunately, Shoto's main characteristics - he runs fast, wants to be an Olympian, and has a crush on Asa - aren't the most interesting parts of the comic and don't get much development here. He lands in new trouble but there's no payoff yet. There's no payoff to anything, honestly, beyond Asa's friend Miyako making a choice which was heavily telegraphed last volume.

Urasawa is a good enough cartoonist that even a boring volume looks good and reads well. There are some lovely sequences in here - the whole subplot with Kasuga attempting to become a cosmetics salesman is adorable, for instance. And Urasawa's love of history, so evident in Billy Bat and 20th Century Boys, is one of his most winning traits as a creator, so it feels a bit churlish to criticise him for indulging it. The 1964 Olympics here is playing the same kind of role Expo 1970 and the Moon Landings did in those previous works - a pivotal TV event taking place in the background and affecting the main plot via our characters' responses to it. It just doesn't work for me this time as more than interesting texture.

[Neyly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good bit happens in Vol. 6 with its strong storyline and phenomenal illustrations.

Setting: Tokyo, home of the 1964 Olympics.

Asa: Home/family, school, friends, listening for sightings of the kaiju, and helping Mr. Kasuga both sell cosmetics and care for an elderly shut-in vie for Asa's attention. All somehow take precedence for Asa at the same time. In other words, she's juggling multiple balls and managing to keep them all in the air.

Yone: training to a professional singer.

Miyaku: training to be a professional female wrestler.

Shota: coming to the realization that, despite constant training, running a marathon in the Olympics remains a dream goal rather than reality.

Multiple others become aware that a kaiju exists in the waters off Tokyo. A destroyed military vessel tends to make knowledge of a UMA difficult to keep quiet.

Recommend: I'm thoroughly enjoying this manga series.

[Vilma Diaz]

I enjoy this series much more than I initially thought I would. It might be because it's kind of all over the place, but in a good way. We have Asa the pilot, facing off against a mysterious creature. But around her are family and friends with their own lives, wants, and struggles.

So, there will be this looming threat of the monster. But then you're also feeling sorry for Shouta because he has an insanely demanding father and brothers who expect him to be able to compete in the Olympics and treat him badly when he doesn't make the team.

All in all, this is a good series. I like that it deals with the everyday, with this twist of the mysterious creature in the background.

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

But just like on October 9, something is here in Tokyo Bay.

This series always hold me in a tight grip around my neck. Just when it’s getting even more crazy interesting, sensei would pull a cliffhanger. It didn’t help that this manga series only resurfaces once in a blue moon, like that supposed kaiju. Nevertheless, Asa is such an icon! I just love her so. And there’s something magical with her and Kasuga’s pairing (with Kinuyo ofc). It gives me just an Anne of Green Gables nostalgia, but in sci-fi language. This series is always awesome, that sometimes I accept that I only get to taste it once in a while. It’s a steak, such luxurious meal, after all.

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid follow up to the explosive events of the previous volume. Asa returns home after her showdown with the kaiju to be flooded with questions from her remaining family about her recent encounter. Though Asa gets to enjoy her momentary victory, it's clear that the threat will return and Asa remains ever vigilant in case she's needed again. Meanwhile the Olympics are back on due to Asa's heroism, which ends up being the major feature of this volume.

Fun, light and heartwarming, Asadora! continues to be an entertaining feature from Naoki Urasawa.

[Camila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another wonderful volume in one of my favourite historical fiction manga series. The themes continue to develop, especially regarding coming-of-age, hard work, and finding your purpose. Sho is the character I sympathized with the most in this volume, so I'm really glad he finally got his chance to shine as a character. I also continue to love the research and historical references underlying the setting.

[Mattie Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Art 5-stars
Main Story 5-stars
Side Stories 4-stars

Overall, 4.5-stars.

The side story of Shits is finally getting somewhere after having been too repetitive and drawn out for too long. Good cliff hanger at the end. Actually excited to read #7 but will have forgotten what happened by the time it arrives.

[Lee Kimball · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still enjoying the illustrations but the story is starting to lose me. The excitement of the first four books has slowed down and now we’re mostly following side quests that involve selling makeup, training for marathons, and learning female professional wrestling. I hope the last few installments will tighten things up.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like that we get alot more of Sho in this volume. The backdrop of the 1960's is really well done too, and I'm enjoying all the suspense built with this kaiju!
Check out my YouTube channel for bookish videos and monthly wrap ups!

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

We’re given a breather from last volume. Asa’s friend take on new passions. Shota is given an unusual “gift.” The Japanese Navy starts to get wise about what’s going on and the implications to the Olympic Games and Japan as a whole.

[Trevor ComicFan · Rating 4 out of 5]

85

I like the art in these quite a lot. I also appreciate the rundown of what is going on in the story and the description of each character in the beginning. Helps to remember what’s going on in the story.

Good character growth for some characters in this one. Quite a cliffhanger to.

[em · Rating 3 out of 5]

still love this series so much!!!

this volume slowed down a little bit, but i’m still so invested and need to know what happens. also, this is the last book in the series my library has, so i think i’ll have to download the rest :( anything for asa tho!

[Reyne Derrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Look, it’s fine. But this series has just so little steam behind it. For every kaiju battle, there are so many scenes of asa’s boring friends living their boring ass lives and it’s so boring, and so dull, and I’m sick of it, and I’m sick of this series.

[ℂ ✧ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Veníem de dos volums sensacionals i, per a mi, aquest afluixa un pèl per tota la trama del pobre Shota i la punyetera marató de Tòquio, que no em genera cap mena d'interès :/ tot i així, és un constant de passar pàgines amb els nervis a flor de pell.

[David Sanz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grandioso Urasawa, te puede explicar lo que quieras y lo leerás embobado.