A fairly solid first volume for a slice of life about a man whose dreams of acting were dashed by an inability to speak to any women but grannies. Somehow this lands him a house. We also see his cousin move in so she can attend college. I can see why people enjoy Hirayasumi, it’s just not my fav. I like the main character a lot. I also like how quietly absurd yet authentic some of the situations are in the book. While I understand the general feeling of malaise the girl is feeling, I found her rather annoying.

I enjoyed Hirayasumi and can't wait to read more! It's a warm and comforting slice of life. I gave a 4/5 simply because the plot felt a tad predictable at times, but that wasn't any reason to stop reading. This is a good manga to pick up if you need to just chill for a few hours. The art is super cute, too.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC for review. All opinions expressed above are my own.

4 Stars. Hirayasumi, Vol. 1 follows Hiroto and his life in the house he inherited from his elderly friend, who we affectionately refers to as Granny. Hiroto is 29 years old and incredibly laid back and carefree. This is truly a slice of life manga. Hiroto's 18 year old cousin, Natsumi, comes to live with him and together the two set about "figuring out life." Hiroto works part time and Natsumi is attending art school. Their relationship is a little tense, but eases back into the cozy and relaxed way it was when they were kids. All in all this story is charming and had a ton of touching moments. I particularly liked the relationship between Hiroto and Granny. This was just a good read. Plus the art was interesting, different from your typical manga art, but still very well done and very enjoyable. Thank you VIZ Media, Keigo Shinzo, and NetGalley for providing and eARC for review!

Thank you NetGalley and Viz Media for this arc!

5/5 stars

I absolutely loved this. This deals with so many big life moments in a very relaxed and easily relatable manner. Hiroto is a super chill 29 year old who inherited his house from his elderly friend whom he affectionately calls Granny. He's 29, super chill, and very content in his life right now. His 18 year old cousin Natsumi comes to live with him while she's in art school, and things are a little rocky for them at first, but Hiroto knows she just needs some time and to get used to the big life changes she's experiencing. He's right, and soon they're as close as they were when they were kids. This is a super sweet and touching series that I'm absolutely loving, and I'm very excited to read more of it soon!

Hirayasumi follows a part-time worker named Hiroto, and his idyllic life. While everyone else around him seems to have struggles and tries to fit into society, Hiroto is the one constant due to his carefree and content personality. This truly is an amazing slice-of-life manga already with just one volume, and I am excited to read more and relax while learning more about the characters. The scene with the grandma particularly stuck out to me as well.

I very much enjoyed the unusual manga style, more like an American indy comic, particularly with the lettering, or a children's book. The detail was nice to establish the feel of this home. I wish more had happened, though. I stopped reading earlier, and when I came to pick it back up, I didn't remember where I'd left off, as it was all so experiential and slow-paced. I like the characters, but not enough happened here to convince me to read further.

Absolutely loved Hiroto, his positivity and kindness, and his incredibly sweet connection with Granny. I would endlessly red stories about the two of them! The only reason I didn’t rate this 5/5 is because I couldn’t get past my intense dislike of Nat, but still highly enjoyable and worth reading.

This series feels like a warm blanket on a cold night, just so wholesome. Hiroto and Natsumi are such interesting but laid back characters, and there's so much here that just feels cozy the entire way through. There are definitely discussions about heavier topics, but there's something here that exudes comfort with how Shinzo discusses them. The art is also very nice, and helps bring that energy forward. This is one I would highly recommend.

I loved this! This may have hit me harder than it normally would because (SPOILER) my grandma has recently passed, but I truly enjoyed this. The story was poignant while still being cheerful and I loved the art style. Hiroto is the type of happy go lucky person I admire as someone who deals with crippling anxiety. I’ll be looking forward to how these characters develop in future volumes! Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this wonderful slice of life manga.

There is something to be said about slice-of-life stories and how they touch your heart in unexpected ways. Upon reading the premise of Hirayasumi, I knew this story about two cousins in Tokyo “figuring out life” would be right up my alley. As much as I love romance, drama, and supernatural stories, I relish slice-of-life stories. The human experience is so vast and complex, and at the same time so universal. I find that slice-of-life stories capture the common humanity in all of us, regardless of where we are in life.

Created by award-winning mangaka Keigo Shinzo and published by Viz, Hirayasumi is a slice-of-life manga following two cousins. Hiroto Ikuta is a 29-year-old man who works part-time at a fishing pond. He loves to plan dinner and does not have a girlfriend. He befriends an older woman who dies and leaves her house for him. After inheriting the house, Hiroto’s 18-year-old cousin Natsumi, moves in with him to attend art school in Tokyo.

Each chapter of Hirayasumi is akin to a stand-alone short story. While it seems to go in somewhat chronological order, they each feel so full and rich on their own. We see Hiroto deal with the loss of “Granny,” trying to connect with his younger cousin, dealing with changing friendships, and navigating life. His younger cousin Natsumi is trying to adjust to life in Tokyo while feeling like an outsider. She secretly wants to be a manga artist, gets too drunk at a freshman party, and desperately wants to make friends.

On the surface, Hirayasumi is charming and the comfy art style Shinzou has chosen for this series aids in the charm. But underneath the surface, the story feels nostalgic almost. Although it takes place in fast-paced Tokyo, Hiroto and Natsumi seem to move in their own slow and steady stride. They may not figure it out all out tomorrow, but there is no rush for them to do it anyway. They will get there one day.

Reading Hirayasumi felt like eating a sweet treat after a savory dessert. Every chapter is so satisfying. I am looking forward to the continuation of this series and watching Hiroto and Natsumi navigate the life challenges that await them.

In a nutshell: A heartwarming, low-stakes manga that follows two young people living their everyday lives in Tokyo. Perfect for those looking for a stress-free read!

Hirayasumi is a slow-paced, slice-of-life manga that follows the daily adventures of Hiro and his cousin Natsumi in Tokyo. He works part-time at a fishing pond and she is an art school student who is self-conscious about drawing manga. Both of them live together in a small house that Hiro inherited from Hanae (an older lady that he befriended during his time in Tokyo). The story is low-stakes, reflective and peaceful: it is the epitome of a gentle read.

Hiro is very carefree as a character—although he is nervous around pretty women his age, he seems to take life at his own pace. Natsumi is your typical college freshman who is having issues adjusting to a new city and new setting. Volume 1 spends a lot of time setting up the characters and giving the reader insight into their personalities and motivations—it is definitely a manga for people who prefer heavy character development over fast-moving plotlines. Hands-down, the best part of the volume were the interactions between Hiro and Hanae: the development of their unexpected friendship is showcased through small vignettes of their weekly dinners together and his visit to her when she was hospitalized. It was very heartwarming!

While it’s not a title that stuck with me long after I read it, I would happily grab volume 2! This is a great manga to read while traveling or during a lunch break: it is easy to pick up, put down and pick it back up again!

Thanks to NetGalley and VIZ Media for the ARC!

One of the best slice of life manga I’ve read! I love how Hiroto is so calm and carefree. He’s so refreshing as a character.

I think there were a lot of things that were relatable in this story for me personally and that made me love it too. Natsumi trying to be cool and make friends. Yomogi being so rushed and stressed. A little too dedicated to her job.

Just a lot of good perspective on living and slowing down. I will definitely read this until the end. I’m hooked.

I found this to be reasonably enjoyable but I think I was expecting more. It was fairly slow paced but I guess this is because it is part of a series and the storylines don't need to be finalised within the one volume. It seems pretty obvious where each of the character's journeys are headed. I did find it interesting to experience a graphic novel which has older characters and I liked that the content was still appropriate for teens. This gives it a broader audience.

I received this arc from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Meet Hiroto Ikuta, a carefree 29-year-old adult who moved to Tokyo to become an aspiring actor. However, his career didn't last long after fumbling scenes involving a female actress. Hiroto now holds a part-time job at a fishing spot. After work, he has a routine of visiting a retired 83-year-old named Hanae Wada. Hanae is someone who is very bitter and annoyed with the world around her. However, she finds peace whenever Hiroto visits her. The two happened to meet by coincidence, and though their personalities are opposites, Hanae and Hiroto are able to find comfort in each other's company. The story takes a sudden turn as it reveals Hanae suffers a heart attack and passes away. In her will, Hanae passed her house onto Hiroto for his personal use.


Three months have passed since Hanae's death, and we're introduced to Hiroto's 18-year-old freshman art student cousin, Natsumi Kobayashi. Compared to Hiroto and Hanae, Natsumi is very reserved but isn't afraid to speak her mind. As the two settle into the new home, they banter a bit before Hiroto eventually bursts into tears, overwhelmed with emotion. Then the next day, it's Natsumi's first day of school, and the two take a communal photo to begin their new cohabitation, in which both Hiroto and Natsumi are going to experience "change" through their own means.


Throughout the volume, the story flips between two different perspectives. Hiroto's, while carefree, attempts to navigate through the realities of a being a single adult. On the other side, there's Natsumi's, in which she wants to fit into her student body and navigate through struggles in her freshman year of college. Each chapter flips between the two as they go through a scenario, but there's also times where the two come together to converse and talk about what happened during their day. This allows the story to set up the contrast in perspective between Hiroto and Natsumi, which works really well here. The story did a good job establishing these experiences as "grounded" and "lived in," but they're also so different that it makes you want to root for both Hiroto and Natsumi's success in their endeavors.


For example, when the perspective shifts to Natsumi, we see her having a hard time making college friends. We find out that because of a magic trick gone wrong at orientation, she has become self-conscious about how others perceive her. When she tells Hitori that she is frustrated with the whole thing, Hitori attempts to cheer her up before heading out to see his best friend, which inspired Natsumi to try again at socializing by attending an upcoming freshman mixer. At the freshman mixer, she got drunk and was on her way home. At one point, she stops to puke, but the people who encouraged her to drink abandon her at the train station. Another college student noticed this and approached her with a water bottle, and at that moment, Natsumi made her first friend.


Switching over to Hitori's perspective: After he hears about Natsumi's problems, he heads out to meet up with a high school friend named Hideki Noguchi. Compared to Hitori, he's what Hitori describes as a "successful" adult in that he's been married for a year, has a stable job at a furniture company, and is a kid on the way. The two banter back and forth about life until Hideki announces that this might be their last hangout. He says that life is starting to take up more of his time. Hitori's is disappointed in the news; however, he accepts reality and instead has a positive outlook on the situation, hoping that his baby is healthy.

The manga's pacing allows both Hitori's and Natsumi's story arcs to stand on equal footing without one overpowering the other. In addition, the simplistic but expressive art style also helps isolate the emotions our main characters are going through in each scene. All of these aspects combined led to a very solid read as I flipped through each perspective and wanted to see more of our characters.

The only nitpick I can see is that the story focuses on just Hitori and Natsumi. If you're not interested in either, you're not going to connect with this story. The story takes its time "growing" its characters for a long period of time..

Outside of that, I really liked what I read and wanted to see more

I enjoyed getting to learn more about Natsumi and Hiroto in this slice of life story. The struggles and emotions both characters experience feel grounded and relatable. It got me invested in wanting to see how both are they're going to navigate through life. The pacing and art style compliment the story that Keigo wants to tell. This is definitely a must read if you're looking for a grounded slice of life story that's gonna invoke emotion inside you.


Verdict: Buy it

A soft, warm slice-of-life manga about living comfortably at a slow pace and appreciating the little things in life, like a home-cooked meal. I enjoyed the story, though it didn't blow me away. I'd pick up the next volume.

TW: death of a friend, hospitalization, anxiety

Slice of life is one of my favorite genres when it comes to manga so when I read the synopsis of Hirayasumi, one of Viz soon to be released debuts, I was intrigued. I read about a 29-year-old, carefree Hiroto Ikuta “who doesn’t have a girlfriend, a full-time job, or a plan for the future—and he couldn’t be happier”. This volume delves into his life with a special inheritance, the reintroduction of a family member and transitions, and changes that enter his life that challenge his carefree way of living. Along with my curiosity of the manga’s contents, I was also curious about the manga creator as I haven’t read anything by him. A quick chat with Cousin Google revealed a body of work of one shots, anthology work, and series mostly focusing in the slice of life genre with room for aliens, erupting volcanoes, carefree characters, and folks unsure of life’s paths.

This first volume of Hirayasumi opens to…an exasperated Hiroto Ikuta with a camera trying to rush his younger female cousin Natsumi, so he can snap a photo of her first day of attending college. Hiroto is twenty-nine years old, almost blissfully carefree and lives life at a slow pace with a job at a simple fishing pond. He has lucked out into inheriting a slightly shabby but great little house in the heart of the city. He wishes he could fall in love but hasn’t figured out how to do so in the city he calls home. Months ago, he befriended Hanae Wada: a crabby but secretly lonely and secretly very sweet older woman who would invite him over to eat a home cooked meal. Nicknamed Granny by Hiroto, their visits together twice a week were anticipated by both of them. Both oddballs, they became like family to each other…until Granny’s passing.

Meant for teen audiences, Hirayasumi is a manga featuring characters experiencing and attempting to deal with anxiety, confusion, and grief. While the work is not as slow paced as other series and books in the genre, the manga’s true charm is developing a narrative about found family (Hiroto and Granny) and re-connecting with your real family (Hiroto and Natsumi). Hiroto, obviously grateful for the house left to him, still has moments of grieving her and not feeling like he enriched her life. He did–the flashback scene of how she came to the realization that she wanted to leave the young man her home is a tear-jerking one.

As I read each chapter of Hirayasumi, I could not help but feel this is a manga that will land in the comfort manga category for readers. The little house itself is a simple one-story home known simply in Japanese as a hiraya. Yet for these two young people, learning to live with each other and figure out life as they know it amidst the transitions and everyday problems, the little home has become their place of rest, their place to retire from the world. Hirayasumi is for the slice of life lovers, the seinen genre fans and those who love ordinary stories about ordinary people moving through life.

Read more here: https://blacknerdproblems.com/hirayasumi-is-a-slice-of-life-dream/

A must read for anyone who enjoys slice of life manga. This is a lovely story about found family and savoring the small moments in life.

Published by Viz and available May 21, 2024, Hirayasumi is a seinen slice of life manga staring an easy-going part-timer and his anxious art student cousin. I was instantly drawn into this beautifully illustrated, sweet story about life. This was definitely my favorite of the handful of volumes in this review batch. The omniscient narrator adds a lot to the story. This will definitely appeal to fans of slice of life (a manga genre focusing on day-to-day life) and anyone wanting an emotional but gentle read.

5/5

Hirayasumi follows the laidback life of Hiroto. This slice-of-life is sweet and delightful. It tackles some deep issues with such care. One of my new favourites.

Heartfelt. Wholesome. Warm. These are the feelings that radiate from this book. I’m not the biggest slice of life fan, but this story does it for me.
I relate so well to both main characters. I hope I get to reach this story forever. I anlso liked the narrative side text of the story. The asides were so cute yet informative of the characters.

I wish the author good health in their future, and for a full recovery. I can’t wait to read more of this series.

A well illustrated, delightful first volume in this new manga series. Contemporary and delightful. Heartwarming and uplifting manga experience that celebrates the simple joys of life, slow-paced living, and the beauty of human connections, with a dash of humor and whimsy