My Solo Exchange Diary Vol. 1 (My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness)

good

OK.I'm wrong a lot,but maybe it's true. Nagata Kabi's  first book  drew an autobiographical story of a young adult, having a troubled past, trying to catch up to all the things adults do - things her troubles kept her from learning. So, she immersed herself in the project with passion. Or something that felt like it.That project, that book led her public and her publisher to want more. Lord knows, I'm not Asian, female,or gay, but I found a lot of myself in her story. In this, she begins to come into her own. She has an income (from the first book), moves out of her parents' (into minimalist living), and starts to reach out to the social life that's been reaching out to her for so long. It's "a day in the life", or some other genre that lets you dismiss the human difficulty, or a saga of bravery unfolding. Bravery is still brave even if no one else sees it.But someone did see it,and read Kabi's first book, and reached out to her as a possible friend, and possible intimate friend - because of Kabi's book. But, being attracted to Kabi's jagged bits, this relationship has its own jagged bits. Which I don't understand because it's a work in progress and, as of publication date, left open ends.So, I've pre-ordered the next volume. The story is kind of low-key, but also an autobiography in [almost] real time. It matches my own life in small ways - small. but that matter at least to me. It's warm,it's personal, and I think it's human - in the sense that it matches what every other human knows, or will, or should.-- wiredweird

Personally I prefer the prequel, but only for its narrative-like structure--if you don't mind small anecdotes and life stories, definitely pick this one up! Nagata's writing only becomes more insightful; and the final entry got to me the most because it was so accurate to an experience I had in my life--honestly I think this series is applicable to both the lesbian and aro/ace crowd!

If you want a emotional punch in the gut, Nagata Kabi's work is for you. She rarely pulls punches or hesitates to catalogue her life in all its nitty gritty detail. It is honest, raw and far more real than most autobio comics get. If you've ever dealt with depression, struggled to prove your worth to your peers or parents, or feel whole this comic is very much something you should read. It doesn't have a 'narratively' satisfying ending (given its auto-bio comic, thats not surprising) but it makes you think about your own life. Seeing Nagata Kabi struggle makes you think about your own struggles and getting that ball rolling is usually more than enough to change aspects of your life.Her artwork has improved by leaps and bounds since her first book, you can see and feel the confidence in her linework without it losing that loose almost sketchy artwork that drew me in originally. She has a strong grasp on details without it ever dragging down her sense of movement or the mood she wants to convey. She experiments with depicting her emotional state more with images/visual short hand than plainly telling us this time, which works fantastically. I still find myself going back to the pages where her parents find out about her first book and linger on how she handled it.I'd highly recommend this book to anyone struggling to make a life for themselves and wanting to find solace with someone else who understands.

I honestly have never related to a person more than I have with Kabi Nagata. It’s so hard to put the things into words that are similar between us, from our views on ourself, to that on family and love. This book has let me know that maybe I’m not so abnormal with myself and my family dynamic. I’m gonna go get the rest of her books right now! My favorite mangaka hands down :)

No matter how you feel about the author, there's no denying that this is a story of complete brutal honesty and emotion that hooks you in from beginning to end. As someone who suffers with anxiety and who has suffered from depression in the past, I completely relate to everything she feels -- even things I would probably never admit outloud or even to myself.The story is in a diary format, covering day to day experiences and changes going on in her life. There are some times where it's a little hard to follow given the lack of concrete dates for when things are happening, but that also helps in that you aren't thinking too hard about how much time has passed.The art is also consistently great, with the sketchy style and occasional switch from color to black and white really helping you to get a feel for the mood the artist is going for.I can't wait for volume 2!

Non buono quanto il suo predecessore, ma comunque eccellete.

Debo decir que no es taaaan epicamente bueno como la precuela pero esta bastante buena de todos modos, me identifico mucho con la protagonista y es muy interesante.Increiblemente emocional y honesta, se ve que la autora es muy transparente con lo que escribe y dibuja.

This book is most certainly a sequel to My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness: if you haven't read it, you absolutely must. If you've read it and liked it, then you'll love My Solo Exchange Diary Vol. 1. The art is significantly better than the first book while retaining the same distinctive style. Nagata is clearly more comfortable now with using the art to get across her feelings without using additional explanatory text. She has clearly grown as a person, as certain elements that were touched upon in the original and presented simplistically are revisited with more nuance and a clearer perspective. However, her character flaws are on full display and she seems to do very little to made herself look better or to hide the truth. While the story is autobiographical, Nagata's framing of it is masterful. Without knowing where she's headed, she manages to write a clear but complicated emotional arc that is highly relatable even if you haven't been in her shoes.If you're curious, this volume starts while My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness was being released digitally and ends after it'd been published in Japan, so we get to see some of the effects of her success in Japan and her feelings on it, but nothing regarding her international success. The Seven Seas physical release is of excellent print quality and the redraws are almost impossible to discern from the original art style (like when text is replaced outside of speech bubbles.) This is one of the best volumes of any manga I've bought all year.

Eu tenho a idéia de que talvez não seja necessário ler o prequel para ler este manga. No entanto, como seu antecessor (que eu também recomendo), o que mais gostei neste autor é que ela lida com questões muito pessoais que nem todas as pessoas estão dispostas a discutir (depressão, ansiedade, relações interpessoais, identidade, sexualidade, entre outras). Uma das coisas que eu mais gosto é a honestidade do autor em contatar sua história, que mesmo que você não se sinta 100% identificado com ela, pode chegar ainda a sentir empatia pelas coisas que ela vive e desejar-lhe o melhor.

The art is brilliant and I love the story that she tells, it sounds like someone taking my life and slightly adjusting it.The only real differences are some more complex gender issues and a different age but it reads like my backstory.The end of this book (spoilers ahead) sounds almost precisely like a time I experienced in my life where I made the exact same mistakes that the author did which is why I have a strong suspicion that she does in fact love this person but she is overthinking the situation and is essentially not allowing herself to love them.I seriously want to reach through the book and slap her because I know she is going to wake up in a few years and realise what a horrible mistake it will be if she ends this relationship.To be fair part of the reason I am writing this review is in a hope the author will read it and listen to me when I say that I have been in the exact same situation and I wish with all my hear that I could go back to that time and not do exactly what you are doing.