That’s Not Love Volume 1 Review

Peko Watanabe’s entrance into the English manga market came thanks to the digital releases of 1122: For a Happy Marriage, which proved a memorable read on the subject of adult relationships and the difficulties associated with marriage, children and so on. And now Kodansha are bringing us another of her works, this time in print! Let’s take a look at what That’s Not Love has to offer.

The story follows Akane, a woman who has recently turned 40 and struggles with the weight of expectations placed upon her. She’s married with a daughter in middle school, but since she quit her job when she gave birth, she works from home as a freelance translator while taking care of the household. Her husband is constantly busy with work and Akane struggles to fit in with her friends, whose lives have gone in quite different directions. It’s during a meet-up with her friends, that Akane learns of a new art exhibit by her former cram school teacher Mr. Imai.

Attending the exhibit, Akane can’t help but notice that Imai’s new sculpture bears a striking resemblance to her best friend from middle school, Yukari. The two lost touch when Yukari suddenly transferred away, but Akane still distinctly remembers Yukari making a cry for help that our protagonist ignored, or perhaps didn’t fully understand, not long before. She’s bottled up and carried this regret with her all this time, unaware of the weight it has put on her. And now it’s all come to the surface due to the exhibit and, unable to ignore these feelings any longer, Akane seeks out Yukari.

And it’s here that we begin to see the bigger picture. Both girls were close to Imai, but at the time it was Yukari that Imai was ‘in love with’, as Akane puts it. Despite being young teenagers, there was an inappropriate relationship growing between student and teacher, one that Akane was jealous of because Imai was a handsome young fellow and she also wanted his attention. And once Yukari transferred, Akane’s life went on and led to where she is today. But for Yukari, nothing was so simple and now she lives out in Kyushu, working for a chiropractic clinic rather than in the hub of Tokyo like our lead.

Ultimately this is a story about regret, reconnecting and moving forward. Now an adult, Akane understands that what went on with Yukari was highly inappropriate, as is Imai making a nude sculpture of her now. And for Yukari, the art exhibit and getting back in touch with Akane means having to face up to what really happened when they were in middle school.

I like That’s Not Love for a lot of the same reasons I enjoyed 1122: For a Happy Marriage previously. Watanabe presents us with a cast of adult characters who are flawed and perhaps not living the lives they envisioned as children or teenagers enjoying high school life. The way they’re depicted is realistic; no one lives for 40 years without harbouring some regrets or a desire for aspects of their lives to have gone differently. That’s just part of being an adult.

Obviously this is a work that’s dealing with a very heavy subject matter, which may put readers off, but I think if you’re looking for a more adult human drama then that shouldn’t deter you. It’s not awful for the sake of it, it’s raw rather than going for shock value or being constantly miserable which other series like this can often fall afoul of.

And although the story is told from Akane’s perspective most of the time, we do get to see some of it from Yukari and Imai’s points of view as well. I’m hoping we’ll see more of Imai in future volumes as he’s brought into things relatively late this time around, understandably since it’s Akane and Yukari who take the spotlight. But it certainly feels like an ensemble piece where the thoughts and feelings of the rest of the cast matter to Watanabe and she puts a great deal of effort into depicting it in a well rounded approach.

This extends to the artwork as well where Watanabe draws in a fairly freestyle way. The line art is quite thin and doesn’t always look polished, but it fits well with depicting the emotions of the cast who are in constant turmoil. There’s not a lot in the way of backgrounds as the focus is put firmly on showcasing the expressions of the cast and I think that works to help depict the emotional weight of the story at large.

As mentioned, That’s Not Love comes to the West thanks to Kodansha and has been translated by Sawa Matsueda Savage with lettering by Madeleine Jose, a stellar team for a work that requires a lot of careful attention to detail. This release includes colour pages to open and a page of ‘cultural notes’ at the end.

The series is complete in Japan with 6 volumes. Here in English, Volume 2 is scheduled for a release in July with #3 following in September and then #4 in November. So a nice bimonthly schedule! If you’re looking for more of Watanabe’s work, as mentioned, Kodansha have all of 1122: For a Happy Marriage available digitally.

Overall, That’s Not Love is off to a compelling start if you’re looking for an adult drama to read. There’s a lot of different emotions to unpack here and I’m sure Peko Watanabe will do a fantastic job in doing so as the series goes on. Certainly one I’d recommend picking up!

A free preview can be read on the Kodansha website.

Our review copy from Kodansha was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.
©Peko Watanabe / KODANSHA LTD.