Crack the first volume of Skip and Loafer, Misaki Takamatsu’s charming teen life manga

THIS REVIEW IS SPOILER-FREE.

by Arpad Okay. Skip and Loafer is Mitsumi. She’s from a remote town, ambitious, well-meaning, kind of square but so earnest you feel a little bad for thinking that way. She’s barely a teenager and already picturing her retirement as an accomplished elderly public servant. The first step in Mitsumi’s master plan: attending high school in the city so she can test into a good college. Yeah, she’s pretty dorky. Super charming.

So says Sousuke, and so say we all. Skip and Loafer is Sousuke. A babe, everyone wants him or wants to be him, maybe Mitsumi included. They hit it off, despite her unpredictable bouts of totally mortifying behavior… but they’re not for real, are they? Is it friendship, flirting, misdirection, or authentic? This is what Mitsumi didn’t expect: people are wildly unpredictable. The city is big and full of unique lives; some of the folks you meet don’t act like the friends and family you grew up with.

Misaki Takamatsu’s rom-com teen life comic fixes fate so that Mitsumi becomes not a politician but a misfit magnet. Her weird forthright temperament in the middle of the everyday big city high school social push-and-pull makes her stand out and spurs all the other kids tired of the typical gossip to trade contact info with her. A bunch of outsiders who are all typecast — because nobody knows what they’re like — become friends with each other.

Takamatsu is a wordy writer! The translation team had their work cut out for them and rose to the occasion. Nicole Frasik and T Campbell’s translation and adaptation wrangle the constant dialog in a way that keeps Takamatsu’s screwball pace. Vanessa Satone’s lettering brings an organization and clarity that makes the quantity of reading possible. Skip and Loafer shines as a comic because of all the thought bubbles. Nobody is who they seem, so there’s a thrill getting to see what they’re really thinking when characters interact with each other. Takamatsu’s humorous but honest take on friendships confesses to those times when we’re inwardly questioning what the hell is wrong with superdoofus while still being there for them.

Takamatsu’s art style is much more manga, obviously, but really wonderfully underworked in a North American indie way; it resonates with the slice ‘o life comic aesthetic I’m used to. There’s a sketchbook touch — the art is unfinished-looking in places — but the details left out make what’s there more dynamic. The mix of spare and specific really works for me. I like the classically rendered handsome boy, and the leading lady’s look is part Hargreaves’ Little Miss Busy and part anime cat.

Skip and Loafer landing in the middle ground between detail and simple art leaves room for fun flexibility and comedic reactions/overreactions. They don’t feel aesthetically out of place when the somber moments come. The screentone adds a nice touch, the gray adds dimension to the sparse line style, and the dots create visual noise to enliven the flat monochrome. Between that, the intentionally unfinished yummy sketch touches, and the dearth of thought bubbles, this is a very comic-y-looking comic.

It’s a sweet, fun, charming read, lightly dosed with serious moments. With a million tiny payoffs instead of big swing moments, Skip and Loafer can still be a little more situational than slice-of-life. But I guess a lot of being young is knocking down milestones after each other like dominoes. Episodic stories to jot in your diary suits the situation. The focus of Skip and Loafer is set on friends, people figuring out who they are, the self-discovery of what others bring out in you. The pleasure of this book is blossoming relationships, and its drama is how delicate a blossom can be.

8 out of 10

Volumes one through seven of Skip and Loafer are available now. For purchasing information, click this.

Seven Seas Entertainment / $12.99
Written and Illustrated by Misaki Takamatsu.
Translated by Nicole Frasik.
Adapted by T Campbell.
Lettered by Vanessa Satone.

Check out this 7-page preview of Skip and Loafer, Volume One, courtesy of Seven Seas Entertainment: