Spacewalking With You Volume 1 Review
Despite only having four volumes to its name so far, Inuhiko Doronoda’s debut series Spacewalking With You has taken Japan by storm. Last year, the series won the 17th Manga Taisho Grand Prize and placed first in the best manga for male readers category of Kono Manga Ga Sugoi. Now the series has come to English thanks to Kodansha, but does it live up to all the hype? Let’s find out!
The story follows Yamato Kobayashi, a high school student who struggles to focus during class and is seen as a delinquent by those around him due to his difficulties holding down a part-time job. But his life begins to change when transfer student Keisuke Uno joins the class…
Uno introduces himself very enthusiastically but Kobayashi and his classmates struggle to interact with him. Uno carries around a notebook of helpful tips for various situations he might end up in, and he shuts down when someone yells or does something unexpected. In this all-boys school, Uno quickly finds himself being made fun of for some of his unusual behaviours, but Kobayashi wonders if he couldn’t improve his own life with some of these ideas.
At work, Kobayashi struggles to remember the instructions and guidance he’s been given, and this has led to him repeatedly being fired because his bosses don’t think he cares about the job. But when Kobayashi starts taking notes and reaches out to his boss and co-workers for help, he sees how easy it is to change someone’s perception of you and cover for your shortfalls.
Because of this, Kobayashi begins to spend more time talking to Uno, and after saving him from a dangerous situation, the two become friends. From here, this heartfelt series explores more of their daily lives, as well as what happens when they join the school astronomy club (Uno is a big fan of anything to do with space!) and meet another rather unique personality in the process.
While mangaka Inuhiko Doronoda doesn’t use any particular labels for their characters, it’s obvious that at least Uno, but most likely Kobayashi as well, are neurodivergent in some form or another. Their struggles aren’t played up for comedic value; they’re sympathetically portrayed in a way that’s relatable for those who may share similar struggles, but also easy to understand if you don’t.
This is especially true of scenes where Uno is being overwhelmed and Doronoda blacks out or blurs his surroundings to show the mental toll the situation is taking on him. While Kobayashi’s struggles aren’t shown to the same extreme, it’s very easy to tell when he’s grappling with his inability to focus or remember things. In general, the art is very well drawn, and the larger print size for the English release allows it to shine. This is more of a comedy/coming-of-age story than a drama, and Doronoda manages to strike that balance well, not only in the story department, but with the art as well.
It’s rare for a character who is so obviously neurodivergent to not only be the lead in a series like this but also to be realistically portrayed. Japan has been improving its representation in recent years, but the process is slow, and it’s even slower in the English market, where you have to wait for someone to license those relevant series. It’s easy to see how, given these circumstances, this series gained such popularity and recognition so quickly, and I hope it continues along the same path.
As mentioned, Spacewalking With You comes to the West thanks to Kodansha and has been translated by Joshua Hardy with lettering by Evan Hayden (George Bao is credited for digital, which I think is for K Manga rather than the eBook). The translation reads well, and the lettering in particular adds a lot of impact to Uno’s way of speaking. There are some translation notes at the back of the book as well as several colour pages at the start.
In Japan, the series is ongoing with four volumes released so far. Here in English, Kodansha has Volume 2 scheduled for a release in August (although some retailers list November) with nothing else dated beyond that. Given there isn’t a lot of this to localise, I can understand the slower pace, even if I’d much rather have more sooner than later!
Overall, Spacewalking With You’s first volume is a heart-warming affair that follows two characters who find themselves a little bit adrift in the world. This is a grounded, but positive portrayal of the struggles we go through if we’re even a little out of step with what society expects. There’s a lot of depth here, and it really deserves to be a manga that everyone reads.
A free preview can be read on the Kodansha website.
Our review copy from Kodansha was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.
© Kodansha / Inuhiko Doronoda
