Warning! This title contains nudity, sex scenes and adult themes.
Vertical Inc. said it perfectly, "Published at the zenith of the Bubble era, women's comics legend Kyoko Okazaki's representative work captures... the spirit of the times." It is the spirit of the times where people were spending lavishly and didn't care about the future. This is like seeing Japan back in the late 1980s.
pink: (by Kyoko Okazaki) is about Yumi, an office girl by day, and a prostitute by night. She has a pet crocodile named "Croc" who is the reason why Yumi is working in that trade. One day, she meets Haru, a college student who is trying to be a novelist but is still on his "observational" phase. Her stepsister, Keiko tells Yumi about her mother having a new boy toy. After being done with a client, Yumi sees her stepmother with Haru and decided to follow them. She followed Haru to his place and before she knew it, she was hanging out with Haru. The cycle of craziness begins.
I would tell you more but it's too early to spoil (because this is a 2013 release, I doubt that everyone has heard of it so I'll leave the ending to you my dear readers!) I'll at least tell you of what I felt after the reading the last chapter:
Croc fancies you.
You thought of all the hardwork you've done into a project or artwork, you feel the happiness of reaching the finish line. You realize that you're at the end. It's done. You're work is done. You felt so happy about making this project/artwork you're doing that you don't notice the time. You take breaks in between but that doesn't take any happiness away from you, and when the work is over, you suddenly feel sadness. It was too quick! It was too quick. Why is this bitter taste in my mind? I've done this work! I've completed it! But why am I so unsatisfied? Why did it have to end? I love working on this piece, but does it have to end? Of course it does, like everything else, it needs to end.
TL;DR: It was ending so well, but then, darkness swallowed the end. You can never see again.
YOU CAN NEVER SEE AGAIN!
Art: What I felt looking at Okazaki's art, it's French. For me, (I don't know where I specifically saw this kind of art) I feel like it was made by a gown/dress designer. It was made with outlines and nothing else. Maybe French cartoons or something? Just look at the cover art for reference and hopefully you can understand what I'm trying to say. If I were a kid, this kind of style would really turn me off. If I'm not mistaken, this was package in a shrink wrap so people were warned about the age limit. Good thing they shrink wrapped it. I grew accustomed to the style and I sometimes found myself turned on (hopefully, no one think I'm a freak.)
I think it's a mix of pens and watercolor. Perfect.
Panels: Most of the frames don't have panels. It doesn't affect the story at all. It's quite poetic, to say the least. It's not messy, it goes well with the art style and it feels natural. I can't say anything about efficient panelling or expression of movement because it doesn't need to. It doesn't feel like a manga, but it doesn't feel like a novel too. It's like in between the two kinds of media.
Freedom, is my primary feeling in this title, simply because it relies on the white space to fill you up with nothing but the mangakas words through character dialogue. It's quite nice, it's like classical music, you don't really understand why you're listening to it, but you like it, hits the heart.
Not this kind of freedom. Well... maybe... kind of...
Story: Sometimes, it goes through non-sense that doesn't contribute to the story but most of the times, it's expressing the odd world of adults and the working work. It's weird and the whole story is weird but totally understandable?! What? Yeah, why do I understand a prostitute and a playboy's story? I don't know either!
Weird. Weird. Weird. Weird. Weird. Totally weird. The target audience? Adults. Adults who know the reality of the world and how hard life is. People who are "kind of" knowledgeable in taxes, insurance, rent/mortgage, bills and other stuff, are the target audience. The story moves constantly, at work, at some hotel, at Haru's place, at Yumi's place. Anywhere it could go, it will go.
Random gif to ease your pain from reading too much into this review!
Characters: Why are these characters here? Why a prostitute? Why a college student who has a sugar mom? Why is the pet a crocodile!? Why doesn't Croc eat Yumi? Seriously.
Yumi, she's the type of woman who when she wants something, she'll get it no matter what (except steal it.) Her work in that trade is justified because she likes a lot of things. She desires a lot. For the setting of this title, I think it definitely fits her character, a prostitute who knows how to be a "one time, big time" kind of person. She lives in a bubble economy so capitalism wins!
Haru? He's the straight man of this comedy duo. Well, not really, he's more like a ladykiller but with less lady killing abilities. He's a perfect match for Yumi because of his frugality and because he's the dreamer that will carry her somewhere she wants to be.
Their relationship is an odd one and a fast one too. The relationship developed too fast but it's definitely possible. The foundation isn't a stable one which is Yumi and Haruo hanging out together for a short period of time but it's definitely a kind of secure attachment. Weird but definitely doable.
A secure relationship like these guys!
Bottomline: If you are 18+ years old, READ IT. If you are not old enough, don't. I really like this title despite it being a one shot. This is one of the advantages of one shots, they are short, BUT because of the shortness, I feel like it was short-lived. If you are looking for something different to read, definitely pick it up, it's interesting, it's odd, it's different and it's a piece of art.
Addicting Level: 9/10
I kind of like how they started the volume by putting a nude drawing of Yumi at the very first page. The at the back you see just a neon pink page. Strange, but very tasteful.
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