Suppli 1
Posted: February 11, 2008 Filed under: Suppli 9 Comments »I really, really want to follow and support this kind of release. This is a josei series about an office lady totally married to her job. She breaks up with her boyfriend of seven years and loses herself in work to try and avoid the problem, all the while feeling self-conscious about being over 25 and not married. I really want to like Suppli, but I just can’t.
It’s biggest problem so far is that it’s extremely messy and hard to follow. There’s a lot of disparate text all over the page, some of which is speech, some of which is the main character’s thoughts, and some of which are the thoughts of the other characters. Text not in speech bubbles is sometimes spoken out loud, which confused me in a lot of scenes. I have trouble keeping some of the characters straight since the main character has a lot of coworkers (though it’s not hard to figure out and follow the three or so main coworkers that she latches on t0), and because I don’t know a lot about how a commercial is made, I can’t figure out what she’s talking about and what she’s doing at work sometimes.
I think it’s intentionally messy since the main character has a chaotic job where she pulls all-nighters and has an insane amount of work at all times, plus the fact her emotions are in a turmoil after breaking up with her boyfriend and being on the market again, so to speak. The thoughts often weave in and out of whatever she’s working on. There’s an almost constant drone of text, and while it is successful at showing how many different things are going on at once, it just does not work. Not at all.
There were two possible romantic interests for the main character at the end of the first volume, and if the plot starts focusing, I have a feeling that the romance may be decent once the character settles down with one or the other of the two guys. The main character herself is great. She doesn’t really have a lot of self-confidence, and God knows I’d love to read more about women who favor their job over what they perceive to be their love life. The detail given to her work life is welcome (even if it is a bit chaotic), and the wide range of frustrations, failures, and successes depicted on the job really rings true. I just wish one thing or another was discussed at length instead of brief snippets of the 50 or so assignments she’s got at once. It did get better about this towards the end, though.
I’ve got serious doubts, but I’m willing to see if maybe the story takes off in volume two. Maybe all the messy stuff was just buildup to a smooth transition to a linked work and love life, which I believe is the ultimate goal. If it succeeds, it’ll be a great series.
Also, it’s just 6 volumes. Theoretically this means the mangaka knows where the story is going and will get it there in a timely fashion.
Oh man, am I glad to hear it’s only 6 volumes long. That does give me hope that it will settle down and become a proper workplace romance-kinda story.
i think this the like the first time i fell in love with a manga…i’m sorry it wasnt the same experience for you.
I think the story may just be lost on me for whatever reason, it seems to have gotten good reviews on a few other sites.
You might like Hataraki Man by Moyoco Anno? It’s not licenced here yet but from what you say about Suppli it’s basically the same premise, emphasis on all of the good points you’d mentioned above. There’s a definite focus on relationships in the office and the nature of work itself (too much? too little? where does it all lead? why do we do it? who do our colleagues think they are?) and the way it handles the characters’ personal and professional crises is very refreshing. Plus there’s a tragic wilting romance on the side involving the workaholic main character that is quite poignant.
I’m a huge fan of Moyoco Anno, so I’ve been waiting for someone to license Hataraki Man for awhile. I actually was interested in Suppli when I first heard about it because it sounded like the same type of story. I’m kind of glad to hear all that about Hataraki Man. Have you read Suppli to be able to compare the two? It kind of makes me curious about how this type of story is handled by other artists now, because I know this is sort of a common plot/genre for manga aimed at women.
Hataraki Man is indeed awesome, but it’s technically a seinen, not a josei. And it’s being put on hiatus while Moyoco Anno takes a long leave of absense due to health reasons. Unfortunately, if she doesn’t get better, we may never see the end of the series. There’s a completed 11-episode anime for it, tho.
Oh yeah, I just heard about Moyoco Anno, I hope it’s nothing serious. I did know that Hataraki Man was seinen since it runs in Morning, but I figure it has to be at least as good or better than Flowers & Bees, another really girly series for boys (in that case, more shounen since it ran in Young magazine).
It’s hard for me to comprehend Hataraki Man being aimed at a male audience since it stars a female OL fighting for her place in a world of men. Then again, Morning has a history of series which seem like they would be more for a female audience, or at least not specifically males (I see Gon and What’s Michael both as sort of general audience, or at least not really for older men, and it’s baffling to me that a 4-panel series about OL and housewives runs in the same magazine as Vagabond).
I keep waiting for Hataraki Man to be licensed in English. I figure it has to happen eventually, though maybe the hiatus will slow things down a bit now.
I was wrong — this is 7 volumes and continuing.
And count me in for Hataraki Man in English. It looks fabulous!