An artist and musician decide to save up and travel to Japan to live for a few months. This is their travelogue of that adventure.

Interesting at start but I could not stay in the story the whole way through. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the free eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

I thought the premise of this sounded interesting, but perhaps it just wasn't what I was interested in at the time. I found it difficult to keep my attention, easy to put down, and a chore to pick back up. For people who are interested in travel journals, I think this would be more appealing. I just didn't find myself captured.

This book had a great premise, with a European couple dropping everything to embark on a once in a lifetime journey of living in Japan. It was fun to read at first, especially since I also had an interest in Japanese culture, but unfortunately it gradually became rather boring as I flip through the pages since the book didn't have a clear plot nor a climax (perhaps due to its slice-of-life nature). Those aside, I pretty much enjoyed the art style.

Hanami is a fun, easy read about a couple's stay in Japan after they realise they have nothing tying them down to their current life. The story is told in a free-flowing way, with a mix of single page snapshots and longer anecdotes. There were some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments (the first experience with a Japanese public toilet!) alongside more moving insights into the mundanity of daily life. There was a sense of appreciation for Japan on every page.

The artwork was stunning and the use of a limited colour palette added to the appeal. With a less rigid approach to line style, Julia Cejas was able to capture emotions in an effective way. I would recommend this graphic novel for anyone interested in travel or Japanese culture.

Thank you NetGalley and Humanoids Inc for providing this e-ARC for an honest review.

While I enjoyed the stories told in this graphic novel, of two young people taking a chance at their dream in another country. I found the fount of the text very irritating to read in a digital format and I did not end upp finishing it.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Humanoids Inc. for the e-ARC. I really enjoyed it!

This book is such a fun peek into life as a foreigner in Japan! Julia Cejas and her husband take us through their year long adventure with plenty of laughs, capturing all the cultural shock and language mix-ups we can all relate to. I loved the blue and red art style it’s super unique and makes each character pop that I can distinct who is who! While the cozy apartment scenes and their language struggles were great, I kind of wished there was a bit more about Japanese culture. It’s a cute, quirky graphic novel that’s perfect if you’re curious about Japan or just want a chill read.

I enjoyed the illustrated diary style this comic has. It really feels like sneaking a peek into someone’s personal sketchbook. In that context the swings in art quality are not as jarring as they might have been otherwise.

The story itself is very cozy, with plenty of fish-out-of-the-water moments from the Spanish couple moving their lives all the way to Japan.

As this is an autobiography it’s hard to hold it against the author, but the fact that all Japanese characters were very minor and stayed firmly in the background felt rather off to me. I understand that not everyone can make friends wherever they move to (god knows I myself can’t) but the lack of meaningful interactions with locals, only deepened the feeling of alienation.

Lovely artstyle with a very tasteful yet narrow and not exactly e-reader friendly color palette. It took quite a bit of tinkering with settings to make all texts legible on my Kobo Clara color. I definitely recommend reading the digital copy on a regular display rather than paper like one, looks and reads much better.

I wished to explore manga, but after i downloaded this, my mood died. Hence will not be reading, sorry!

Circumstances perfectly align for Julia and Marc to finally make their dream of moving to Japan a reality. In Hanami Julia captures their adventures.

Hanami is a collection of vignettes capturing the Japanese spirit viewed through foreign eyes. As someone fairly familiar with Japanese culture I found a lot of recognition in this graphic novel. It shows the joys as well as the bureaucratic nonsense that gets thrown at you when you move to Japan.

I imagine a lot of people visiting or planning to move to Japan will enjoy this, and people already living in Japan might find some catharsis in the pages of Hanami.

Julia Cejas has a unique art style that fits very well with the story being told. I enjoyed spotting the references to other media, and I adored that Cejas listed them out at the end of the graphic novel.

Thank you Humanoids Inc and Julia Cejas for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Sometimes a dream is just a dream—but sometimes we get to live it. When Spain's economy took a downturn and Cejas's partner lost his job, the couple took a leap of faith—they moved to Japan to learn Japanese and explore their creative options for a while. It wasn't permanent (and was never meant to be permanent), but that meant that they could really lean into exploring and enjoying the nuances and quirks of their temporary home.

"Hanami" is structured more as short vignettes than as a fully linear story. For that reason it's a more of a 3.5-star read for me (personal preference for longer stories rather than smaller things stitched together), but the vignettes do work really well both on their own and as part of a longer story. (There's one about sleeping on separate sleeping mats and Cejas insisting that her partner still suffer her cold feet—and, well, for apartment reasons *my* partner and I temporarily have two twin beds shoved together, and he still suffers my cold feet. So I showed that page to him, and it made us both laugh a lot.)

I've never been to Japan and have no immediate plans to change that, but I love reading about this sort of long travel—the sort where you have enough time to feel the rhythms of a place rather than just blasting through the top tourist spots. It's not all sunshine and cherry blossoms: finances are tight, doldrums loom, language barriers persist, and at some point they'll have to think about what comes next. But for the duration...this was well worth the read.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

Thank you to NetGalley and Humanoids Inc for providing a copy for review. All opinions are my own.

Hanami is a graphic novel memoir reflecting on the author's experience living in Japan for a year with her partner Marc. She's an artist and he is an aspiring video game composer, hoping to get the attention of a Japanese video game company.

The memoir is told through a series of short stories and snippets into their lives in Japan and how they navigated cultural differences and struggled through a language barrier. We get to watch them take Japanese lessons, experience a simulated earthquake, buy groceries and even try and fail to ask someone for the time in Japanese. I especially enjoyed the parts with their lessons in the school learning Japanese as well as the "view from my window" highlights.

I really enjoyed the art style the author uses and think it works really well and the colour palette is pleasant to look at.

Would definitely recommend to anyone interested in Japan and Japanese culture!

Thanks to net galley for providing me with a copy!

After Marc loses his job as an engineer, Marc and Julia decide to move to Japan with their savings. The comic follows their life in Japan from cherry blossoms, to the meticulous Japanese way of garbage disposal. It is very a peaceful read, depicting Julia’s experience as a foreigner in Japan. Her struggle to speak with natives and fumbling, and her realisation that her art is just as much a form of communication as any language, was real and wholesome. I loved how the author depicted the Hiragana. I also loved the hanami chapter and the pages titled— “view out of my window”

The art style and colour was unique and at first it threw me off, but it grew on me. I ended up loving it!

Highly recommend if you’re searching for a peaceful, calming read.

"Hanami: You, Me, & 200 Sq Ft in Japan" by Julia Cejas is a charming twist on a memoir that captures the beauty and challenges of living in a tiny Japanese apartment. Cejas's vivid storytelling and thoughtful reflections on minimalism, culture, and the intimacy of shared space make this book both heartwarming and insightful. The author's wit and personal anecdotes create an immersive experience, though at times, the pacing can feel slow. Still, it's delightful for anyone interested in Japanese culture, travel, or minimalist living. A solid 4-star journey into the small but meaningful moments of life abroad.

***Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for gifting me an eARC copy in exchange for my honest opinion

The format is quite interesting compared to other graphic novels with Japan as the based location. Instead of the traditional storyline, the book is filled with small moments of what the Spanish couple experienced during their time living in Japan. Most of the moments were of practical things that you will see happen in Japan, such as how to sort the trash or entering raffle contests to win a watermelon during the summer. The order of the story seems to be of chronological order from the time the couple arrived to Japan to the time they decided to go back to their home country.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an advanced copy for review.

Ohh I loved this!! So atmospheric and cozy and funny and relatable.

It's a biographic slice-of-life story about a Spanish couple going to live in Japan for a few months. All their little happenings are split into separate a few pages long stories that are beautifully illustrated in a simple but atmospheric and unique art style with a limited color palette. I could really immerse myself in the situations, feel the vibe, laugh with the characters and root for them as they experienced this new culture and tried to find and reach their personal goals.

I loved this book!

I got this book through Netgalley, so I read it in English. I am half Spanish, so I would have loved to read it in the original language. I enjoyed this one so much that I might end up looking for it when I next go to Spain to get a physical copy.

I enjoyed the art, the colors, and the vibe! My partner and I want to go to Japan. But always in a touristy perspective. Seeing all that may entail being able to go to Japan and live there for months is a fascinating and curious perspective. The Japanese culture intrigues me, as it does most of our generation. The way the author shows us the bureaucracy, the tough processes, and the struggles of getting to live this short experience is awesome.

I would recommend picking this one up. It's such a quick and enjoyable read!

Thank you for the advanced readers copy of this graphic novel! I really enjoyed reading about this couples journey into a whole new country! They certainly had their ups and downs along the way, but in the end it all worked out for them. A very wholesome, this could happen with anybody sort of novel.

This graphic novel follows a couple as they adjust to life in Japan as foreigners. I enjoyed the pacing of this novel, and the art was very unique and nice to look at. I liked that instead of being one continuous story line, the story was made up of little mini arcs.

This was an interesting look into a period of Julia and Marc's life. We see Julia and Marc uproot their life to start fresh, get familiar with the culture, experience bidets, learn in school, and figure out the trash system. I enjoyed being able to explore Japan through Cejas's illustrations and experiences. I definitely relate to the uncertainties of adulthood and the urge to try something new with a partner. Overall, this was an insightful read and I liked seeing Julia's documentation of their time in Japan.