Scan barcode
A review by thenthememoriesfade
Become You, Vol. 1 by Ichigo Takano
5.0
2nd Read (July 2020)
”I wish all the pain could disappear from the world. But without pain, people can’t recognized kindness.”
Ashie Taiyou is 17 year old high school student whose dream is to be a musician. He’s a member of the school’s music club where he plays guitar, but his bandmates decide to quit in order to focus on their studies as the university’s exams are approaching. While hunting for new members, he is going to cross path with Tsukimoto Hikari, a fellow classmate. Taiyou won’t stop asking him to join the club multiples times and from there, an unlikely friendship is going to start.
Taiyou and Hikari are the complete opposite, from their appearances but also their personalities. While Taiyou has light hair and has an easy-going personality, Hikari is the cliche dark-haired guy who sit in the back of the classroom and who barely talk to his classmates but can be quite blunt when he does. As Taiyou states about him, he’s pretty mysterious and he is keeping secrets. Moreover, Hikari is a music prodigy while Taiyou is struggling with guitar but he is working hard in order to improve and he isn’t the type who give up easily. And I think that’s the core of the manga, perseverance. Even though Taiyou is struggling and can lack confidence sometimes which makes him think that he is talentless, his true talent lies in his perseverance. All of those insecurities make him so believable.
Even though I liked both of the main characters, I related to Taiyou a lot more. Indeed, I daydream a lot and my insecurities and the lack of confidence I have in myself, make me my worst enemy just like him. Although, I am a big fan of blunt and introverted characters like Hikari, so that explains why I love him so much. I can’t wait to see their friendship evolved in the next volumes.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Takano’s manga if we didn’t have romance. In volume 1, the romance is not central to the story at all, which I guess is normal because it’s the introduction to the story and to the characters but I’m really curious as to how it is going to develop in the future volumes. Sakura is the typical childhood friend who lives close by and who the main character has been in love with for years. I loved their friendship even though I feel bad for Taiyou because it is a one-sided love. I hope that Sakura’s is going to be more present in the future because I’m curious about her and would like to learn more about her.
If you are familiar with Takano’s work, then you will know what to except: strong friendship, tormented pasts, heavy topics, overcoming hardships and incredible characterization. One of the recurrent theme in this one is dreams, which made me thought a lot about Takano’s previous work, Dreamin’ Sun where dreams were also an important theme and the main plot line was based around this. Of course, it goes hand in hand with the future, so you will find conversations centered around university, exams and career.
I can’t finish my review without talking about the art style. Takano’s art style is incredible, I don’t know what to say anymore because she is my favorite artist and I do think that the drawings were even better in this one than in Orange and Dreamin’ Sun. I guess I feel that way because a lot of them were focused on the Taiyou’s and Hikari’s faces in order to showcase their feelings and good, so good!
I can’t wait for the next volumes. And of course, Ichigo Takano is still my queen!
1st Read (October 2019)
Ichigo Takano is my Queen!
”I wish all the pain could disappear from the world. But without pain, people can’t recognized kindness.”
Ashie Taiyou is 17 year old high school student whose dream is to be a musician. He’s a member of the school’s music club where he plays guitar, but his bandmates decide to quit in order to focus on their studies as the university’s exams are approaching. While hunting for new members, he is going to cross path with Tsukimoto Hikari, a fellow classmate. Taiyou won’t stop asking him to join the club multiples times and from there, an unlikely friendship is going to start.
Taiyou and Hikari are the complete opposite, from their appearances but also their personalities. While Taiyou has light hair and has an easy-going personality, Hikari is the cliche dark-haired guy who sit in the back of the classroom and who barely talk to his classmates but can be quite blunt when he does. As Taiyou states about him, he’s pretty mysterious and he is keeping secrets. Moreover, Hikari is a music prodigy while Taiyou is struggling with guitar but he is working hard in order to improve and he isn’t the type who give up easily. And I think that’s the core of the manga, perseverance. Even though Taiyou is struggling and can lack confidence sometimes which makes him think that he is talentless, his true talent lies in his perseverance. All of those insecurities make him so believable.
Even though I liked both of the main characters, I related to Taiyou a lot more. Indeed, I daydream a lot and my insecurities and the lack of confidence I have in myself, make me my worst enemy just like him. Although, I am a big fan of blunt and introverted characters like Hikari, so that explains why I love him so much. I can’t wait to see their friendship evolved in the next volumes.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Takano’s manga if we didn’t have romance. In volume 1, the romance is not central to the story at all, which I guess is normal because it’s the introduction to the story and to the characters but I’m really curious as to how it is going to develop in the future volumes. Sakura is the typical childhood friend who lives close by and who the main character has been in love with for years. I loved their friendship even though I feel bad for Taiyou because it is a one-sided love. I hope that Sakura’s is going to be more present in the future because I’m curious about her and would like to learn more about her.
If you are familiar with Takano’s work, then you will know what to except: strong friendship, tormented pasts, heavy topics, overcoming hardships and incredible characterization. One of the recurrent theme in this one is dreams, which made me thought a lot about Takano’s previous work, Dreamin’ Sun where dreams were also an important theme and the main plot line was based around this. Of course, it goes hand in hand with the future, so you will find conversations centered around university, exams and career.
I can’t finish my review without talking about the art style. Takano’s art style is incredible, I don’t know what to say anymore because she is my favorite artist and I do think that the drawings were even better in this one than in Orange and Dreamin’ Sun. I guess I feel that way because a lot of them were focused on the Taiyou’s and Hikari’s faces in order to showcase their feelings and good, so good!
I can’t wait for the next volumes. And of course, Ichigo Takano is still my queen!
1st Read (October 2019)
Ichigo Takano is my Queen!