夜回り先生

YOMAWARI SENSEI

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
9
RELEASE
December 25, 2008
CHAPTERS
45

DESCRIPTION

The author, a high school teacher, recounts his 12 years on "night patrol" in Yokohama City, where he comes face to face with youth dealing with issues ranging from self-mutilation to drug abuse.

CAST

Osamu Mizutani

CHAPTERS

RELATED TO YOMAWARI SENSEI

Cover Art for Yomawari Sensei Tokubetsu-hen: Sayonara ga Ienakute

MANGA DramaYomawari Sensei Tokubetsu-hen: Sayonara ga Ienakute

REVIEWS

contradict
100/100
Osamu Mizutani teaches the reader about hope through a passionate and beautiful recount of his experiences as a mentor.
"In my heart, I still believe in these lies. And I will always believe in them. Because it is in these lies that hide their hopes and their will to survive for another day."

Consisting of only 45 chapters, Yomawari Sensei is a short episodic and somewhat auto-biographical manga telling the stories of Osamu Mizutani, a night teacher who roams the lonely streets of Yokohama City, looking to mentor the troubled. Each story arc is short, consisting around three chapters each, which follows a similar structure: Mizutani comes across a troubled youth during the night and attempts to help rebuild their life, where his efforts are sometimes successful, sometimes not.

One thing the manga excels at is the portrayal of the mental torment that all of Mizutani's "mentees" experience. Each and every one of them are introduced with a vice which led them astray from pursuing their true desires, wether it be drug use or violence. Despite being relatively short, each story arc shows a commendable level of depth, in which the author perfectly illustrates the torment, underlying hope and lack thereof of each character which Mizutani encounters. Surprisingly, story arcs that have a bitter ending (usually death) are not heart-wrenching in the slightest, and rather inspiring due to each individual's commendable efforts to change their life for the better. It taught me about the beauty of hope, and how it can completely change one's outlook of their life, regardless of the outcome of their effort.

The manga's art, illustrated by Seiki Tsuchida, also plays an integral role in exacerbating the raw emotions and melancholic struggles of each character. Through a hyper-realistic and detailed art style, Tsuchida effectively illustrates the facial contortions of each character, particularly in the manga's spreads, which are able to portray the genuine emotions and expressions intended for each scene.

However, my favorite part of the manga would be Mizutani himself, who, through my reading of the manga, has become a genuine role model for me. His understanding of the youth is like none other, and introduced to me a more open-minded way to help others. His kindness is inspiring and passionate, and taught me how to truly be there for someone. In no other manga would you see someone like Mizutani, who, by giving his mentees a certain degree of freedom, allows them to truly reflect on themselves, which I realized was the best possible way to motivate someone to instigate change.

Overall, Yomawari Sensei is a manga that holds dear in my heart. With incredible art, characters and story arcs, this should be a Seinen manga that everyone should give a chance.
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RinTohsakaLover
90/100
A True Story from his own lens, Osamu Mizutani showcases the brutal reality of life amongst the rejects of society.
(This review is from 2 years ago, so reader discretion is advised.)
True stories never fail to grab my attention. This is especially true in the manga world due to the abundance of fiction in the genre. I started reading Yomawari Sensei not only because it was an autobiography, a method of storytelling I had yet to see in the manga world, but also because it was short and had good ratings on MAL. I finished it in about 3 hours, and it is safe to say this manga became an instant favorite of mine due to it's almost unparalled reality and beautifully told true stories.

Story:9
Yomawari Sensei is an episodic manga that follows the life of our main character, Osamu Mizutani, a teacher who helps troubled youth. Every chapter is quite simple once you break it down. Mizutani finds a troubled individual, Mizutani tries to help, Mizutani fails or succeeds. While it is very simple it's also realistic, as Mizutani fails to help as often as he succeeds. I was always on the edge while reading and sometimes the conclusions of certain characters devastated me. I really enjoyed this change of pace from many other manga, as the situations Mizutani gets in are gripping with pure practicality and unblemished truth. A few examples would be a fellow teacher who can't connect to his students, drug abuse and addictions, or sexual assault and rape.

Art:8
The art is the weak point of the manga, though it is also really good. The feel and overall art style was fitting for the story and setting and there is some brilliant art hidden in many scenes, but it wasn't anything insanely groundbreaking. I appreciate the style of Mizutani himself, and many of his expressions painstakingly reveal his intent and morose affirmation of his desolate career.

Character:10
A large problem I have with manga is the lack of realism within the characters. In rom-com or Shonen manga it's fine, hell unrealistic characters can be some of my favorites (As Kamina from Gurren Lagann is even my favorite character.) But when a character oriented manga has tropey, uninteresting characters, I lose interest fast. The characters in the manga are flawed, but every one of them feels real, which is to be expected from a manga based on a true story. I can see the characters the mangaka was trying to establish in his former students, and I can relate to their problems in many ways, as Mizutani himself does really give recognition to these lost souls and gives them a platform to finally be presented. I do think the mangaka made himself look a little to much like a saint, but in the end it shows his moments of weakness as well. The character in this manga is easily the highlight.

Enjoyment:9
It was short and sweet, all of the stories brought something new, and the tension built up through out every story always helped the ending become something special to me. Because of it's episodic nature, however, it can be hit or miss with some stories.

Overall:10
An easy favorite manga for me, I have never felt a manga that portrayed life in such a unique and realistic way. Highly recommended.
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