River's Edge

What a book!

This 90's manga has the unique stlye of Kyoko Okazaki and is a heavy but also poetic work.

Following the paths of some high school students in Tokyo in the mid 90s, it tells about hard realities of growing up, of being an outcast as well as fitting in but still having to balance complicated feelings and dealing with hard realities. It‘s about nihilism, about the troubles of being a teenager who has to navigate in a socitey that seems to push and pull from all sides.

Despite the rawness and the crudeness of Okazakis style, „River‘s Edge“ has a very poetic way of dealing with all those hardships and with words.

It is not too graphic when it comes to violence and sex scenes, but they do play important roles and the reader should know that there‘s a reason for the manga being recommended 18+.

Overall I really enjoyed reading it and it definitely left a fleeting impression on me.