Light-hearted manga about young adults navigating life. I didn't really find it humorous which is what I expected going in so the overall reading experience was underwhelming but the art was well-crafted.

Slice of life manga about a slacker in her early twenties who is attempting to dodge all responsibilities (rent, repaying loans to her friends, etc) with varying levels of success. The humor is very slapstick and the art is cartoonish. I can see how it would appeal to fans of that style of comedy but it's not for me, unfortunately.

It's funny because I don't typically like comics. I was surprised that I liked this! I expected to enjoy it, but I really liked it a lot!

This is a very fun read full of genuinely hilarious skits from the characters. Not only is it full of humour, without me realising it, it even touched me about hope and dreams.

This is the kind of story I would totally read after an exhausting and tiring day. It's just so much fun and it leaves me feeling happy and craving for more.

Interesting concept, but the plot was disjointed and had to follow. However, the artwork was relatively strong, and with a bit of polish this series might flesh out and become more appealing.

A quirky unique manga from the creator of Nichijou, full of wacky and zany Japanese humour. City is made up of a series of short character driven stories all centred around the city they live in.

Nagumo is dirt broke, unemployed and has a gambling addiction. She's also behind on her rent payments. She steals an expensive idol, breaks it and ends up working at a restaurant to pay back the owner. The owner just so happens to be the son of her landlady, so it's all very messy. Hilarity ensues. Nagumo is a pretty entertaining, lazy bum that makes everyone's lives a living hell. Basically, Nagumo is a toned-down version of Haruko from FLCL.

There is no real linear story in City; it comprises of little stories that overlap here and there with recurring characters like Tatewaku, the gullible teenage boy who pratfalls at every joke that his father and sister chuck at him. There's also wacky policeman that is completely incompetent at doing his job and some minor characters who are thrown slapdash into the middle of things.

Overall, City was a fun read but it left me wanting. I love the simplistic style, fast pace and blurry action. I enjoy how everyday life is flipped on its head and transformed into something a little crazy, but I feel that the author was reluctant and left a lot of the potential hilarity untapped. I'd definitely want to read the next volume.

"Perhaps if I kept stacking up such happy moments, I'd have a crazy amount of happiness"

I picked this book up for the cute cover art and ended up enjoying the style quite a bit. This manga relies on slapstick humor that at times was very confusing, yet I ended up liking the oddly paced stories that overlapped and skipped around a bit. Primarily following one young protagonist who is broke and always trying to borrow money to pay her rent, this book weaves together a restaurant owner, a police officer, an elderly woman, a young lady working for the news with the horoscope section, and more characters together in the city in which they all live. City is a quick read with a very cute art style.

Well, City is actually better than Nichijou, which was a good thing, since I'm not a fan of absurd Japanese humor. Arawi's style is so distinct and his humor isn't the easiest one to digest, really. The art feels slightly unfinished compared to Nichijou. Everything happens in a nameless city or it could just be called City, who knows. Different characters do things, work and live and there's interaction and happenings. Slice of life basically without any deeper meaning or plot. Midori Nagumo is the supposed main character and she's out of money and tries to come up with plans how to make money and not lose her apartment due to it. Like this, all the characters are somehow bound to Nagumo and her craziness. Basic Arawi, then. This works for a couple of books, but tends to get boring along the way when there's nothing to the comic. For now it's OK.

The font is absolutely hideous and it varies. It looks detached from the comic and I just don't get why it changes for no good reason. The basic one looks cheap too and doesn't fit with the style at all. The art looks slightly crude at times and the line work is shady from time to time too. City is newer than Nichijou so this makes no sense unless Arawi has changed for more rougher style. I'm amazed this series was translated, since Arawi and his humor aren't the thing here. Yet, it's good that stuff like this gets translated and not only the most obvious ones - just that there could be better ones.

'City, 1' by Keiichi Arawi is the first manga I've read that had me laughing out loud at the strange characters and situations.

It all takes place in a small section of a city. Midori Nagumo owes money for her rent and her elderly landlady is after her. This sets in motion a chain of events including a restaurant punch card, a friendly policeman, a boy wearing a lucky miniskirt, and a surprising martial arts master. When it's all done, I met quite a few characters and lives in this little section of the city.

I loved the humor and the art style of this manga. A lot of times, the humor can kind of go over my head, but the ludicrous situations and the weight put on normal things made for some great comic setups.

I received a review copy of this manga from Vertical Comics, Kodansha Comics, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

I feel like this book was the preview of a really awesome series. We were introduced first to Midori - this young girl with an extremely snarky and self-serving attitude. She's avoiding her landlady - a crazy strong old lady - because she can't pay her rent. Why? Because she gambled it all away! I was surprised when the synopsis referred to the girl she is constantly pestering for money as her "best friend". Midori isn't exactly the type of girl I would want as a best friend. One who can be described as keep your friends close, your enemies closer. As I said, self-serving.

Then there was a brief blip about a girl who thought crumbling an eraser was fun. Was this a flashback of Midori before she became a college student? If so, oh my gosh girl, what happened to you?!

Then there's the little blip about the broccoli. Though I consider our broccoli-photographing girl a bit crazy to consider Midori a friend, I enjoyed their encounters. And the hilarious thing is - as she's laying on the floor taking a photo of broccoli, I thought oh my gosh, you're a booknerd with food! Because how many times have I set books up on the floor and sat there with my phone, trying to get just the right picture? 

Final verdict - I am eager to see how this series progresses. It's definitely one that I will be buying in paperback format so that I can give it the attention it deserves. Midori is definitely one frustratingly intriguing character.

City 1 is a surreal fast-moving episodic Sunday Comics-style manga.

Nagumo (20) doesn’t have her rent money. She tried to double her money by playing the horses and lost. Her landlady, called the Granny, is insistent. Niikura, Nagumo’s best friend cannot loan her the rent money. Nagumo goes through many schemes trying to pay her rent. Granny is a street brawler (literally).

City 1 contains twelve 12-page stories. All involve city life and build on each other. Some are ironic, some are humorous but all do not seem like traditional manga.

I’m not sure if the problem is in the translation or me not understanding Japanese culture well enough despite my worship of Studio Ghibli and mecha anime. Do Japanese really touch the gills of a shiitake mushroom or rub an eraser to relax? City 1 is clearly meant to be a madcap comedy. It fell short of that for me. However, tastes vary so I’ll give this comic 3 stars.

Thanks to the publisher, Kodanska Comics, and NetGalley for a copy.

Very funny and had characters that are actually relatable. I believe some of the older teens at my library will enjoy reading it when we purchase it!

This was a fun and enjoyable read, which I would recommend for almost any age above seven or so. I am eager for the next book in the series. The whole book is a bit random, but I love that, and a lot of times it made me laugh out loud. The illustrations were thrilling, and (I don't know if it was translated, but if it was) the translation was brilliant.

1.5 stars

I do like manga but I didnt enjoy this volume. I liked the artwork but I didnt really understand what the book is trying to convey. It seems to be about the antics of the main character who is always broke and borrowing money from a flatmate. I think some of the jokes and the storyline have been lost in translation. Not a good one for me, although the artwork is enjoyable.

Copy provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

It might not be readily apparent since I read such a large volume of fantasy and science fiction, but I've always really enjoyed a good slice of life manga or anime. I was extremely excited to pick up just such a manga from the creator of Nichijou. City Vol. 1 by Keiichi Arawi is a slice of life manga with surreal humor and great characters.

City Vol 1 is set in an unnamed city somewhere in Japan. Our main character is Midori Nagumo, a college student with no cash but plenty of get rich quick schemes. She lives in a regular apartment building in a regular city that is filled with memorable, definitely unordinary people. This story revolves around Midori as she struggles to pay off her debt to the landlord and the people who live and work in her neighborhood.

Midori is a great character. She is always in debt and always has a scheme. Alas, most of her schemes don’t come to fruition and her elderly landlord will go to any lengths to get her cash. Her best friend knows better than to lend her money, going out of her way to avoid such scenarios, but to little avail. Midori’s reckless, irresponsible, and tons of fun to read about.

Though Midori is the main character, there is a large supporting cast. All of the characters are related somehow, even if it isn’t quite apparent at first. Chapters tend to be short and focused on a smaller set of characters. Indeed, we don't see much of the city itself. The majority of the action takes place in a few key locations that are all in the same neighborhood. Character's cross each other's paths, sometimes without knowing their connections. It's a small world filled with quirky people who are each just trying to go about their daily business.

This is a slice of life manga with plenty of surreal humor. If you like that genre, you’ll probably find at least some chapters that you’ll really like. Certain sections prove more memorable than others, but overall the manga was quite a fun read.

The art is unmistakably Arawi’s. Or, if you’re like me, makes you exclaim ‘oh, that looks like Nichijo!’. Characters are downright adorable and have rather expressive faces. Basically, if you enjoyed Nichijou’s art style you will enjoy City as well.

At the end of the volume is a map of the city where the story takes place. Unfortunately, nothing on the map was translated. While I like the concept of including the map and appreciate this inclusion, not bothering to translate anything on it renders it rather useless for anyone who can’t read Japanese.

City Vol 1 by Keiichi Arawi is a great slice of life manga that was ton’s fun. If you like slice of life manga I would highly suggest picking up a copy of this.

I am trying to expand my reading and have recently gotten into graphic novels. This was a super quick and fun read. Looking forward to continuing the series. Loved that each was different but in the end in all made sense.

I received this manga from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

The newest manga by Keiichi Arawi, and sadly I am not impressed. :( I was really looking forward to getting this manga, but I am now putting it off my list.

The idea is pretty neat, this story follows the weird/bizarre lives of people living in a city. No clue which city, it is just a city. We see a boy working at his parent's restaurant, an old granny, a police officer, a girl who probably will be rich if her friend finally paid off her debts to her (plus this girl loves making weird photographs), then we have our so-called MC who is frankly highly annoying and dumb and needs to grow up. These are just a few characters, there are more! Making it more confusing, though I am already happy that the manga isn't only about our annoying MC, Nagumo.

I had a laugh at the beginning when we first met her, but then I noticed that the way she is acting is something she always has done. And it just pissed me off how she treated her friend. How she kept going to her to have her do all sorts of things or just to beg for money.

The stories are also not really funny, just like the jokes just fell flat. I also had that problem with Nichijou, some jokes just didn't work with me, but whereas Nichijou was still mostly hilarious, this one was not. There was actually one scene that had me in stitches and that was the grandma parts. Dang, that lady is awesome. You should definitely not mess with that woman.
Oh, and the editorial trio chapter also was funny, well at least how they made those horoscopes. :P Just turn the wheel and shoot a dart. Yup. Perfect way to bullpoop your way through a horoscope.

The art, well it was typical of Keiichi Arawi. Silly art, silly faces. It did fit with Nichijou, and it also fits with the weirdness that is City.

Plus I do quite like the city everyone lives in. It seems like an exciting place with never a boring day. Manholes opening up, strange statues, weird policemen, crazy people running around. Yup, I wouldn't mind living there.

But will I be continuing this series? Sadly, no. It just wasn't for me. Which is a shame as I was looking forward to something new when I finished Nichijou.