Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou: Deluxe Edition, Vol. 2

ヨコハマ買い出し紀行 新装版 [Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (Shinsouban)] #3-4

by Hitoshi Ashinano, 芦奈野 ひとし, Daniel Koman (Translator)

Time that flows like silk through your fingers.

Alpha the android takes a short vacation from the café and travels to Musashino to shop and visit with her new friend, Kokone. At the shore, Takahiro searches for the Osprey, and Makki meets her for the first time. The sun goes down and another childhood day falls away forever. Chapters 25-52 of this beloved manga classic are collected here in English for the first time.

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

452 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2022

About the author

Hitoshi Ashinano (芦奈野 ひとし, Ashitano Hitoshi) is a Japanese manga artist.
Prior to his professional debut as a solo cartoonist, Ashinano worked as an assistant to manga artist Kousuke Fujishima, while also releasing some doujinshi (amateur manga) under the pen name 'suke'.
Ashinano's comics are known for their contemplative, laid-back, nostalgic feel. His first and best-known series is Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō, a slice-of-life manga set in a post-apocalyptic world. The manga was serialised in Kodansha's comics magazine 'Monthly Afternoon' from 1994 to 2006, won the 2007 'Seiun Award for Best Science Fiction Manga' and was adapted into an anime.

Reviews

[Ronald · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice cozy happy story about a robot (Android) experiencing a dying earth.
It is an interesting story. The androids have a lot of feelings about each other.
It is excellent.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Frustratingly vague. The characters, the setting, the point. Vague, vague, vague.

It's sort of pleasant and nice, if you aren't concerned about anything ever happening or being explained.

[Brooke (B for Books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slow down. The world is changing. Appreciate the moment. The water is receding, weeds are growing through the pavement, and our lamp-posts have lost their purpose. Absorb it, and be one with all the changes around you. That is what these editions whisper to me. Yokohama has a camera for capturing images, but is distracted by the beauty of a future decaying Japan.

"I can remember today's scenery vividly without [the photos]
I'm starting to feel that the pictures I have left aren't so limited after all"

If you slow down enough you may begin to notice sounds have smells

"If we could smell the vibrations of sound, what would they look like?... There could be sound flowing in my blood"

Look at how the little things are changing and interacting.
"you can sing along if you like

what is being born now
would not exist without you

Time doesn't get more luscious than this"

[Des Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just perfect. This is the most peaceful, sweet apocalypse I've ever read. An absolute joy to read. Quiet moments ticking away, but giving way to a dramatic and fascinating sci-fi lore, how much of which I'm unsure we'll get to learn. There's development, particularly for Kokone and Alpha. And the connections between them and The Osprey are becoming clearer. I heartily recommend this to everyone.

[Krystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as cute as the first one, but we're getting a few more details now which I appreciate.

I love the characters and just how wholesome this series is! Alpha is great but I'm dying to know more about her and her past with the owner.

A cute manga with light-hearted stories masking darker themes. Great series.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the initial premise of 'cozy café in a postapocalyptic landscape', but after a while, the coziness gets to be a little much.

[Ludwig Aczel · Rating 5 out of 5]

8.5/10
If there is one thing that I love more than iyashikei manga, it's iyashikei manga featuring little girls.
And of course, what does Ashinano decide to do in Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou Books 4-6 (collected in this omnibus vol. 2)? He introduces a lovable little girl to the cast! And he provides her with a lot of well-thought expressions, which makes her almost steal the show from the protagonist Alpha-chan. She also steals the attention of Offsprey, the mysterious lagoon creature. There are glimpses of world-building here and there, but the series remains an episodic melancholic slice-of-life in a post-apocalyptic rural world. (See my review of Omnibus Volume 1.) This is really a magnificent comic book.

[Rachana Hegde · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artwork is gorgeous but I feel like the writing isn't as good as the first volume (for the deluxe edition). I really enjoy slice of life but many of these short stories in this manga lack the emotional depth that I expected. It feels like the worldbuilding is cursory and shallow. I just thought we would get to explore the world of this story in a more meaningful way. I'm also a little disappointed that the relationships between the characters - like Alpha and Kokone - also doesn't seem to be progressing in an interesting way. There were hints in the first volume that Alpha and/or Kokone might have a crush on each other and it was cute how they had to kiss to transfer information between them. But even their friendship just seems a little dull now. I think I need to see more of these character's internal lives and how they feel/think about things in order to understand them better. And to be more invested in the story.

I guess when it comes down to it this manga has just become too many vibes with no plot and it's not working for me anymore. Giving it four stars because it's still incredibly feel good and relaxing. There were some really gorgeous art spreads in here - Alpha has such interesting dreams and the full color pages were pretty too. I put on a face mask and finished reading this before bed to relax and it was a pleasant feeling.

[Emma]

Returned to this series after reading the first volume many months ago and found that the English translations of the other four volumes had been released and uploaded since. Such a surprise and blessing to get to return to this world and these characters
I think the nature of the series makes it such a difficult project to have character or plot development at all— the lack of plot is a defining feature of its identity. I think the author toes the line well with this tension— but still the first volume is distinct in that in can stand alone where the following four start to build upon each other to tell maybe a different type of story.
All of this to say this series is the best thing I’ve read this year and is going to stick with me for sooooo long. It’s difficult to recommend to others but I will try my best.

[Sarah S · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series continues to be the calm break to every day stress that I need, and it is so very weird to say that about a story set in a world where humanity is on a slow fade-out, but it's a perfect mix of melancholy and everyday joys.

[katie?]

some of the best ambient storytelling i've read in a while. this series makes a PERFECT beach read. so much warmth, so much melancholy. and the full color pages in this volume were absolutely magical. also if alpha/kokone doesn't happen by the end i will k*ll everyone and then myself

[Aleksandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but in unmemorable way. I’ll probably forget about this story by the end of the day.

[Casey Pace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series so much so far, it’s so quaint but has a really cool, unique setting and THE COLOR PAGES, they’re so beautiful. I’m just obsessed with the vibe of this, it’s not like anything I’ve ever read.

[Astrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

So so so indescribably special to me

[Toni · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Jen13 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfection! I love this quite, post apocalyptic slice of life story. The characters, the art, the vibes, so charming! The story is moving along slowly, dropping hints about the past. This is my most relaxing read.

[Tamás Fábián · Rating 5 out of 5]

"There could be sound flowing in my blood." ☕ That's all.

[Mike Reiff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hitoshi Ashinano is developing his own visual poetics here, and adding in enough worldbuilding sci-fi plot allusions to continue fleshing out this breezy, graceful world.

[April]

So much of this manga is just people who very clearly want to stay the night with a person they care about and feel comfortable around bashfully declining until eventually caving to the host's insistence that it's no big deal and I'd love to have you! and that's real as fuck. Alpha and Kokone's relationship, how the former makes the latter feel okay about not being human and actively curious about her robot-ness, is actually the sweetest thing in the world. You can read their being robots as a metaphor for basically any flavor of irl minority, but then also you have a scene where Alpha is able to so viscerally empathize with an aircraft she's remotely piloting that when the connection is abruptly severed she starts crying...which is just spectacular sci-fi. Kind of Shinto? Don't think I've ever seen the trope of android characters feeling concern for non-anthro machines played so straight and delicately. Anyway I want them to kiss again!!!

[Enes Memic · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing

This volume collects volumes 4-6 from the original series, and reveals more about the doomed world. We also get a glimpse into the mysterious airplane that circles the earth, never to come down. And we start to get some development in the relationships as well.

This is a seriously amazing manga and whose status as an all-time classic is well deserved. Highly recommended.

[Beck B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this a little more than the first one. The colored pages were so beautiful and most of the chapters were very relaxing. I think Kokone is my favorite character out of this series so far. She's adorable, curious, and relatable and I hope to see more of her in the second half of the series.

[sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

this manga is always such a pleasant experience 😣

[Nathaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still enjoying the lazy pace and chill vibe of this. They are frustratingly bumping into a larger plot I sort of wish they would address.

[Alina Bodnar]

So cozy! 🥰 love it!

[katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

loving these stories, its so sweet and refreshing!

[Baylor Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

“It’s a rare place where you can be a regular no matter how long it’s been.”

You know those weird, anime A.I girlfriend games? I’ve never played one, but this series is kinda like a wholesome version of that. You just spend intimate, quiet moments with this delightful and cute robot, Alpha. Yes, there’s more to it, but that really is the core of the series. Sitting with Alpha at her cafe, riding along with her on her scooter, joining her for melancholic sight seeing, or witnessing her come up with a silly little dance out on a walk. You can just feel the love of the author for this character he’s created — and perhaps there’s some meta-textual self-awareness of that as Alpha knows she’s a created being and is often contemplating what it means that she’s alive. There is one chapter, I think my favorite, that exemplifies this: a stranger to the reader visits the cafe for the first time in years and we watch their experience and interactions with Alpha in first person perspective, effectively casting you, the reader, into the room with Alpha. The stranger leaves, noting that quote I listed above, “It’s a rare place where you can be a regular no matter how long it’s been.” (alluding not only to Alpha’s kind and personable nature, but also to her ageless, semi-immortality)

I mentioned there’s more to it. So what else is going on? *Light spoilers ahead* We get a few curious glimpses of a solitary figure, “Director Alpha”, who is imprisoned on a plane that orbits around the Earth unceasingly. We learn that all the Alpha models are created in her image. All else about her and her assistant is a mystery.

We see a lot more of Makki, the little girl introduced at the end of the first volume. She has a crush on Takahiro. And so does Alpha? An odd little love triangle given that Alpha appears as an adult — even if she’s really, a somewhat ageless, immortal android. Alpha and Makki begin to get along when Alpha acknowledges that the youngins are near in age and will grow older together while Alpha remains as she is, perhaps doomed to watch everyone she loves pass away eventually. That inevitably is always looming in the peripheral of the series, even if never named explicitly.

But Alpha’s romantic feelings don’t seem to end there. She and Kakone, a newer Alpha model, seem to have a relationship that is stronger than mere friendship. They see something of their self in one another, despite the differences in their demeanors. We also get to see two or three other Alpha models who manage to be a little more different than simply having different hair colors and styles. Kokone has a curiosity about the Alpha series prior to her model, of which information about seems to have been systematically destroyed by an unknown force. We see her making progress on uncovering that mystery.

And there’s the elusive Osprey and Ayase who make intriguing and playful appearances here and there.

So as you can see, if you’ve followed my rambling thus far, while Alpha is the main event, there are these cleverly slow-developing mysteries and subplots that keep the patient reader’s interest. I don’t get the sense that all this will ever swell into a sweeping culmination of plot-lines and mystery resolutions, but there is satisfaction in watching it unfold, one enjoyable moment at a time.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

YOKOHAMA KAIDASHI KIKOU v2 leans into the pastoral decay that both soothes and enlivens the outer banks of Alpha's quiet life. The manga's character designs achieve an effective, simplistic style, and the book's environmental design eases into a sly pattern of self-determinative curiosity that encourages exploration without being too pushy about it. How the artist managed to successfully slow down a comic book about living in the boonies is anyone's guess.

Alpha continues her thoughtful, innocent life in the middle of nowhere. She strikes up random conversations with Uncle. She teases and plays around with Takahiro, the local boy, as well as his friend, a girl named Makki. Alpha also goes for a swim when she's in the mood to peruse one of the area's beaches. Life apart from the busy world beyond her café continues unabated. It is a life caressed by gentle breezes during gentler sunsets, accented by clouds that gather and separate as if guided by the hands of invisible deities from afar.

The current volume offers readers additional perspectives on the book's secondary cast. For example, a few chapters glimpse the daily work of Kokone, the delivery robot lady who lives down in Musashino. Kokone quietly adores Alpha because of the woman's friendly and easygoing nature. It's a delightful, budding friendship, while an innocent visit and sleepover from Alpha gently nudges them closer together.

Readers also learn a bit more about Koumiishi, the old doctor lady, and her history as a test pilot and engineer for the earliest of the Alpha Series robots. Dr. Koumiishi is a bit sentimental, as are all characters in this manga, but her connection to Alpha, however indirect, is actually quite poignant. One wonders if these visions readers keep having of an advanced Alpha Series, soaring overhead in a futuristic airplane, is an extended fantasy or reality of such a bond.

Like the volume before it, YOKOHAMA KAIDASHI KIKOU v2 is a beautiful book. The character designs are particularly exquisite: rounded faces with puckering, blushing cheeks; eyes that linger a little too solemnly; loose and curvilinear body shapes and body lines; delightful shots of Alpha with her hair down; and stronger, bolder outlines for scenes of greater emotional import. As Takahiro matures, for example, his gestures are more confident and his general presence is calmer. The author doesn't keep track of time, but Alpha's frequent mention of being stuck on the shores of immortality evokes a gentle, if slightly regretful, interpersonal existentialism that can never quite be resolved.

And the background and environmental art follow suit: inset panels of lingering, lazy sunsets, viewed by different characters in different locations; wild grasses that grow as high as vehicles when traversing the backroads; shadowy glimpses of the Osprey, who flits in and out of forests, weeds, rocky shores, and more; and several, gorgeous, full-color pages that focus on a pair of geezers drinking saké on a boat as day turns to evening.

YOKOHAMA KAIDASHI KIKOU v2 is another perfect read for those inclined toward it's curiosities. This manga definitely suffers from a lack of translation notes, but all in all, it's a solid book.

[cyberwebbz]

Sitting on a curb and feeling the breeze flow thru yr hair or hair-like strands of silicon or plastic made 2 look like real hair and feeling like u could really become one with the earth like this, that u are a part of every history that has ever existed or will ever exist and youre really, truly okay with that, if this is where the planet ends then thats fine, everything dies eventually even robots, and maybe someone else will come here then like some aliens, and theyll find everyones remains and think about who we might have been, but only we will really know, its a secret just for us that we get 2 take to the grave, unwhispered whispers caught in a power line carried from one end of the globe 2 another, as a species we r connected by the place that we live and the fact that we r alive and the only time u would ever feel alone is if u were the last person on earth, and well maybe thatll happen, but its not happening right now, right? Whats important is what is and what will be can be thought of when it comes. I want 2 live to my means and nothing more than that… Peaceful and nice! I can feel some of the crazy anime-isms forming and growing naturally like the main robot girl having a crush on a little boy but its okay i can deal with it. Sometimes those things happen in real life and this comic feels so real like its breathing and exhaling in my hands while i turn the pages. Honestly its been a long time since i read the first one so i forgot some of the plot but its not super hard 2 follow. So its a win for me, i think… I dont understand why some japanese books or movies dont translate the titles and some do. I dont think Yokohama Shopping Log is a very bad title… Maybe its just more eyecatching 2 potential buyers 2 see a bunch of foreign words they dont understand. I guess i can get that, although i dont think anyone whos shopping in the manga section would really have that mentality… This is a really light and not dense read 4 how thick the books are i think. Are the pages just really big or something? Some kind of black magic is occurring that i dont understand and frankly am a little bit scared by… The coloured pages in this r so fantastic and beautiful i really love the way they look. Very fascinated by a plane that keeps circling the earth forever after the apocalypse… I actually think that would be very fun i would love 2 live in a cushy plane while everyone else has to grow beans for food. Maybe i just have a rich mentality. Was i born in the WRONG BODY??? I like when robots have weird ports in their body. These ones have to stick things in their mouth to transfer data and its very funny. I am usually immune 2 ANDROIDS like when something says it has a robot and its just some guy its a bit disappointing. But these ones are pretty fun… See i have an open mind!!! I dont think i would want 2 live here but i would definitely want to visit, maybe go on vacation… Post apocalypses are so fun when u arent actually in them!

[Terry Mulcahy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. I'd been looking forward to it ever since I finished the first volume of stories. Lots of stories in this one, although some are very, very short. It's a strange world, this post-apocalyptic life on an island being taken over by rising seas, or perhaps sea is the proper noun. With the world ending, life goes on, and those left savor the little things, like tea, watermelon, and simple foods. And like a single small beach, a rare cup of coffee, visiting friends, swimming, doing nothing. There is a distant hint of melancholy, but not depression. It's as if all of that has already happened, and people have reached acceptance of what it is. It's known, for certain, that there is nothing that can change their fate. The utter worldwide destruction of most technology and industry would make it difficult to recover, but the world itself is ending, and that can't be stopped. It is a strange premise to base a series of books on, but a compelling vision, nevertheless. A time to relax and enjoy what time is left. Grow watermelons, and buy and sell other food items, even with land and clean water slowly disappearing. It is a peaceful end for humanity. But what comes next? Even the birds will have no place to rest, to nest, to feed. There are fish that swim and fly. Will they inherit the earth? What of the human-like creature called the Osprey who appears and disappears? Is it an alien? A spirit? A fairy? What is its connection with humanity? Or does it concern itself only with the children? Will it survive? At this point in my life, the story resonates with me. I won't survive forever, and my options narrow every day. In the story, the sparse clumps of humanity are widely separated, and the rising sea takes more land and towns, making even travel less of an option, as it is for me. The rising cost of scarce houses now makes it impossible for me to rent one of those ever again. I can only afford cheap-but-expensive, lifeless apartments, and I must soon leave this nice place I've lived these past sixteen years for one of those. Or move away. At least I can go anywhere. Maybe I will. Simple pleasures.

[Timons Esaias · Rating 4 out of 5]

I offered a disclaimer when I reviewed the previous volume here, that I'm only slightly familiar with manga, so not a fully-attuned reviewer of this work. As with that volume, I'm giving it a four-star review, and will be buying the third volume. This, despite the oddity of this form of storytelling.

To quote my first review, "After the first few pages (this is an easy read, I could have finished it in a day) I had the sense of the world (post-apocalypse, rising seas, reduced population), and understood that the main character is an android. The chapters, though, are not really about that, and they lack significant drama. The events are slice-of-life, there don't seem to be active risks or dangers. The protagonist's needs are minor, and she's mostly not doing much about them. That's not usually a winning formula for fiction."

Indeed, it isn't, and this volume made another thing clear to me: there's no real re-introduction of background facts. This volume would make almost no sense on its own, and I had to double-check a couple of things I'd forgotten in the intervening months.

Again, this is post-apocalyptic without focusing on apocalypse. It's contemplative, it encourages kindness and thoughtfulness and mindfulness. Yes, we realize that the gas at the gas station is slowly going bad. It's not a crisis, it's just a new realization. There will soon no longer be scooter trips to Yokohama to buy coffee beans. Since almost nobody is visiting the coffee shop, we're wondering what's next.

The real girl is jealous of the android, because her boyfriend is smitten. That gets worked out, and in a human way, not really having to do with the nature of androids. I rather liked that.