Asadora!

Review by Booklist Review

Once upon a 1960s screentime, Japan's NHK broadcast serial dramas in the mornings, a genre called "renzoku terebi shōsetsu," literally "continuing TV novel," shortened to "asadora," meaning "morning drama." Legendary Urasawa ingeniously riffs on the bygone genre, replacing "terebi" with "manga" to create Renzoku manga shōsetsu Asadora!, truncated Stateside as Asadora!--a nod to "morning drama," but also Asa-drama, after his titular protagonist, Asa Asada. Following a foreshadowing preface of disaster, the first volume opens in 1959 Nagoya, just before what will be Japan's deadliest typhoon catastrophe. Asa runs through the streets to summon the doctor for her mother, who's in labor with the family's twelfth child. No one seems to remember the elementary schooler's name: "It's like I barely exist. All because I've got so many siblings." When she's grabbed by a panicked burglar mid-crime, her disappearance goes unnoticed. Holed up in an abandoned building, the unlikely pair stay remarkably safe. Amid the unfathomable destruction that follows, Asa and her would-be kidnapper become local heroes. Replete with Urasawa's signature details--spunky youth, mysterious old man, catchy tunes, monstrous fears--Asadora! debuts with promising spectacle.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Followers of Eisner winner Urasawa (the 20th Century Boys series) will recognize familiar tropes in this promising series opener: a looming monster apocalyptic threat, well-researched Japanese history, and cinematic framing within the rich landscape of 1959 Nagoya. Asa Asada's mother is in labor, and Asa has been tasked with finding the family doctor despite an approaching typhoon. One of 11 siblings, Asa is sure she won't be missed when she is kidnapped by war veteran--turned--criminal Haruo Kasuga. Forced to take shelter from the storm together in a cargo container, Asa and Kasuga later emerge from the crate to discover a destroyed town, and that they've drifted far away from Asa's house. Forming an unlikely alliance, Asa convinces Kasuga to help typhoon survivors and find her way back home. Urusawa excels in focusing on human drama and multifaceted characters, and the storytelling is matched with dynamic, classic realist manga artwork influenced by Osamu Tezuka. Equal parts heartwarming and mysterious, this first volume will be a sure hit for Urasawa fans. (Jan.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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Review by Library Journal Review

The first volume in this new ongoing series from Urasawa (Sneeze: Naoki Urasawa Story Collection) opens with a glimpse of Tokyo engulfed in flames as a gigantic monster rages through the city in 2020 before flashing back to 1959, as a young girl named Asa Asada races across the port of Nagoya to fetch a doctor for her mother. After being mistaken for a wealthy doctor's daughter, Asa is kidnapped by Kasuga, a war veteran planning to ransom her in order to purchase an expensive pilot's license. Kasuga quickly discovers his mistake, but before he can release Asa the pair are forced to take shelter against a typhoon. When the storm finally passes, they emerge to a scene of utter devastation and set out in search of Asa's family. This leads to a tantalizing cliff-hanger ending. VERDICT While this opening volume is largely devoted to worldbuilding and character development, Urasawa's masterful storytelling, idiosyncratic plotting, and richly complex, empathetic characters combine for a thoroughly entertaining and intriguing introduction to what promises to be an epic story.

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