Wave, Listen to Me! 1 (WAVE LISTEN TO ME GN)

I’ll start with the funny story about me picking up this manga and reading it – I was interestedbecause, hey, there is an upcoming (at the time I got the book) anime about it, and also, a young woman debuting in radio despite being an amateur sounded like an interesting plot; I read the synopsis on Netgalley, not the one on Goodreads so the author’s name didn’t really click for me. The art sytle tended more towards a semi-realistic style than general manga, or even in the josei genre, and I was like – huh this is sorta like the Blade of the Immortal in style, and lo and behold, after reading it and updating it on Goodreads I was like, wait, this IS FROM the guy who did Blade of the Immortal, which totally gave me whiplash because the tone of this one is so different from it! Anyway, yeah, so that was a surprise, mostly because of my inability to remember names.Moving on the review of this manga, it is, as said, a comedy josei about a waitress, Minare, at a curry restaurant, who, when duped and dumped by her long-term boyfriend, rants about it drunkenly to a stranger at a bar, and then hears that same rant being broadcasted all over Hokkaido by a radio station. Turns out the stranger was a radio show producer, and he invites her to host her own show, because he sees innate talent (she is very good at speaking without stammering or stuttering) and a unique voice; Minare isn’t sure if she should take up the offer, but since her job at the restaurant is already on the rocks, she wants to try it out. This first volume introduces the characters, the loud boisterous and impulsive Minare, her co-worker Nakahara who subtly not-so-subtly wants to marry her and have them become a curry power couple, the radio producer, and an assistant on the radio station who takes in Minare as a roommate and becomes friends with her, as well as a shady neighbour, the owner of the restaurant, and many more minor characters who might have something bigger to add to Minare’s storyline hopefully soon.The highlight of the story is Minare herself, who is an absolute disaster of a person; she is also pretty imaginative, spinning stories on the fly, and quite opinionated (which sometimes does get her in trouble). She is also pretty random, going on weird tangents, and well, it can get a bit confusing sometimes. I don’t know in which direction the storyline is heading at this point, and it is anyway too early to tell, but since the humor and jokes don’t land well often, I feel it could have been better served in a 4-koma style, to bring out the random nature of Minare’s bursts of dialogue.

[I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review]I used to read a lot of manga as a teen, but have been reading less and less as an adult, preferring to pick up a graphic novel or comic. However I was drawn in by the front cover of this manga and after reading the description I thought I would give it a try.WAVE, LISTEN TO ME! follows Minare, a young lady who upon going through a bad breakup is drunk in a bar complaining to a stranger. The stranger, Mato, is the chief director for the local radio station MRS (Moiwayama radio station) who decides to record Minare’s rant and play it on the air. After the great reception it receives he offers Minare a job in not-so lucrative time slot of 3.30am. Minare, having annoyed her boss at the curry house for the last time, takes up Mato’s offer and the premise for this manga is set up. Whilst there are also a few side plots that do not expand in this volume.We meet several characters around Minare’s life and those that work at the radio station, each with a defined personality that adds some great comedic touches to the story.It is during this first volume that we discover Minare’s life is quite a mess, with no goals (as often pointed out to her), and a messy apartment, she sees this job offer as an opportunity to take some control of her life (and hopefully marry a celebrity!), whether she can succeed is yet to be determined.The art work is expressive and really builds up the environments around the characters, with the paneling being easy to follow once you get used to the right to left reading (if you have only read western maga).It is hard to rate just one volume of a large arc, but I would recommend picking this up if the premise intrigues you. I am certainly interested to see where Hiroaki Samura takes this story.