'Seto Utsumi #1' by Kadzuya Konomoto is a manga about two friends who sit on some stairs by a river and talk. That didn't draw me in, but that it got made into a movie and a tv series did.

In 8 plus stories, over 164 pages, nothing much happens besides dialogue. These two friends meet and talk about, well, not much. There is some competition over badminton, or whose sparkler will last the longest. There is a recurring bully that doesn't seem very threatening, and there is the girl that one of the boys awkwardly likes but can't ever seem to get the nerve up to approach. There is a bonus story at the end of this volume that explains how they met. And that's about it.

I suspect you'd have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy this. It does remind me of other conversation driven media I've seen, but with more of the cynicism of youth thrown in. The art is really quite good. The characters don't do a whole lot, but the perspective is fluid and doesn't make the lack of plot feel static and boring. It's probably not for everyone, but I kind of liked it.

I received a review copy of this manga from Akita Publishing Co., Ltd. and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this manga.

This manga gripped my heart in all the right places. I loved the art, the main character easy to relate to, the story interesting and heartfelt.

There's no real plot, just Seto and Utsumi sharing pieces of their lives with each other in the most casual way, through conversation. What I love about manga is that dialogue really drives the story and I loved reading the two of them get closer and just weld together as friends. The art in facial expressions was beautiful and there was so much atmosphere in it all.

It's different and I loved diving into their lives, being a part of the conversation somehow. The lack of direction made for casual conversation, which felt light and uplifting to me.
This was so...awesome!

A love the art and it had a very interesting story, but I struggled to connect to the story. I do want to read similar stories from this author.

Was a very interesting story and I loved the art.. the main character was very relatable. I liked it more then the film

Seto Utsumi is a solid three stars and it's great they are making a series of it - I can see how this would work with live action actors. Seto Utsumi is about two guys, Seto and Utsumi that are friends, but mostly they just hangout after school. They sit and talk and the manga contains their conversations and there's no real plot. The series is slice of life and the guys are so normal! It's amazing and makes this very interesting and oddly so, different. Konomoto actually dives inside the heads of the guys and both Seto and Utsumi seem so real and understandable. Even when they're not, since that's what being a teenager is about. It's awesome. The lack of direction is both good and bad, since the manga would've needed some red thread to keep it together better. It would be better if it moved chronologically, since it's hard to follow the conversations now. Konomoto uses time (as in the story moves forward), but it's mixed, so that hinders the whole thing.

The art is great and very seinen like, even though this is shounen or that's how I at least interpreted this. Konomoto's line art is precise and powerful making this look very neat and easy to follow art-wise. Both of the guys have lots of facial expressions, which is great and very much needed. There's an interesting atmosphere in the manga too and all these little things make Seto Utsumi very "ready". I just wish the structure would've been clearer, since then this could be four stars easily. I probably need to check the show too!

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

Well, this was quite boring. Yep, I finished it all as, for some reason or another, I just couldn't stop reading. This book contains 7 (plus one, so 8) chapters, and most of the story is this. Two guys, Seto and Utsumi, meet up after school (or during vacation) and talk. Maybe play some badminton once (who plays badminton near a waterway?), but generally talk, talk, talk, talk, and more talking.

And they talk about all sorts of things. From the scary spider that Seto hates, to the girl, Ichigo, Seto loves, to Utsumi's face and how he always looks like he knows everything (which he probably does), to school stuff and bullies, to how to tie a tie (which was by far the most boring chapter).

It was quite fun to see these two get closer with every talk they had, discovering more things about each other, helping Seto with his romance.

The last chapter (with unreleased material) tells us how these two met. It was quite bland as well. :P Utsumi was just spending some time, sat on some steps. Watched Seto (still in football team) run by, and then later sit next to him. And thus began with their talking and talking and talking.

The art was what kept me reading this manga. It was just too good. So many details, the lines were sharp, facial expressions were fun(ny), backgrounds where gorgeous and detailed. I loved it.

But all in all, wouldn't recommend. Unless you really like to read about people just talk. :P

I usually don't read Japanese manga and I didn't watch the movie either. But i wanted to try. It is an okay story for me. It is exactly like description. If you like that kind of story you definetely read.