Author: Hanamizawa Q-Tarou
Volumes: 9
Released: Q4 2002 – Ongoing
Matsumaru Fumihiko is your everyday salary man who dreams of a position in the marketing department of his company. After being stood up by his beautiful co-worker he goes to throw away his cinema tickets when Onda Aka interrupts his tantrum, saying it would be a waste to throw away the tickets and that she would like to watch the film with him. During the film Matsumaru can't help but notice Aka is mouthing along to the film, and is told upon questioning that she is a voice actress, and dreams to one day be the voice over for Audrey Hepburn. At the end of the day, they walk home and go their separate ways.
While getting ready for bed, Matsumaru notices smoke and sirens. Noticing that there is a fire nearby he rushes out to watch, because apparently everyone loves an emergency and watching people die horribly in fires is a great source of entertainment. Lo and behold, Aka is there sitting outside with the few items she was able to save from the inferno that is currently burning in, surprise!, her apartment.
With nowhere to sleep, Matsumaru recommends that she stays at his own apartment, at least until she's sorted everything out. They then proceed to go to his place, get undressed, and have sex. After waking up, Matsumaru realises Aka is missing and finds a note from her saying “I have to go, goodbye.”
After getting to work, it turns out that a proposal Matsumaru made to the company for a commercial (while he was drunk, no less) has been accepted, and he's the one to sort everything out. When introduced to the voice actress chosen for the commercial, he's in for a big surprise (I say surprise...), as Aka is the one who was chosen!
The Manga follows three main points, those being her progression in Voice Acting, his progression in Marketing (I say progression, he just seems to stay in the same place but does lots of things) and the relationship between Matsumaru and Aka.
Yet again I have begun reading a Manga series after watching its animated comrade, in this case, however, I can't say I'd recommend watching or reading one before the other to prevent disappointment or amplify excitement. The Anime consists of nine episodes, each one around ten or twelve minutes long.
Now normally with such a short amount of time to each episode I had expected the series to be a big confusing mish-mash of stuff that would make the series seem rushed and half-arsed, but it turns out that was completely the wrong assumption. Rather than cramming as much as they could into a small container, small, important bits from the Manga were selected and moulded together to make a finely crafted piece of art. It even had a good ending that left the door ajar, so it was final enough to satisfy the viewer, yet if another series was to be made there would be nothing stopping them. Had I read the Manga before watching the Anime, I have no doubt that my satisfaction in the latter would be just as fulfilling.
As you would expect, the Manga goes far deeper into the story than the Anime, but without confusing the reader with horrible intricacies and plot twists. At the same time it goes against any romance cliché, without there being the stereotypical characters you'd expect in romance stories. Aka is not tsundere, shy, lively, sporty, cool or mysterious. There isn't really any category you can place her in other than 'human'. The same goes for Matsumaru, he's just your average salary man; kind-natured, hard working and slightly lecherous.
That's one thing I like about slice-of-life series: characters are realistic, and while they portray the average human being, they have personalities, skills and traits that make them individuals without having to rely on the characters in other genres than seem to have been generated using some kind of Character Creation Wizard.
The story itself isn't so far-fetched either. Okay, so there are unlikely conveniences here and there to help the story progress, but a deus ex machina here and there never hurt anybody. What I like is how real the story is. There are no epic backgrounds filled with death that cause a shitty little “oh hey the main character is depressed because a repressed memory was brought to the surface now watch her struggle for a bit before her friends help her get over the ditch” story arcs. The most adventure you get is when they go to an island in the south to shoot a commercial, and there aren't really any surreal scenarios with a level of depth and confusion that rivals The Mask's pocket.
Now while I am harping on about the realism of the series, it isn't without its quirks. One character, a prestigious Anime director and director of an Anime Aka stars in, is one of the quirkiest characters I've seen in slice-of-life productions, and the mascot for the actual commercials itself is a weird fusion between a cat, a tree, and sweets.
At the moment, Rec is a fantastic read, and I doubt it could disappoint a single human being. If it does, then I will need to be presented with proof that the person is actually capable of sentient thought.
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