Just as struggling manga creator Shizuo Oguro finds an editor who believes in him, the editor quits and he’s assigned a new one who not only hates his work and him personally but also urges him to quit - poor Oguro-san can’t catch a break!
The fourth volume of Shunju Aono’s I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow sees the series take a bleaker, more melancholic tone. Two years have passed since Oguro-san decided to become a manga artist and he hasn’t achieved success yet – doubt is setting in, reinforced by his unpleasant, much younger editor’s negative view of his work.
But it’s an important obstacle for any creator to overcome: questioning the quality of their work as well as taking the staunch indifference of publishers, let alone readers, and it’s interesting to see Oguro-san deal with it. It’s definitely not the most pulse-pounding of reads though and the story inches forward at its own pace.
The B-stories sees Miyata, Oguro-san’s best friend, discover some bad news from his ex and we get the secret origin of Unami, Oguro-san’s new editor. I’ve never been that interested in Miyata and the hefty flashback to their high school days was quite boring, though Unami’s story was tragically compelling.
While the overall story isn’t the most gripping, it is enjoyable to see the creative process revealed and what artists have to go through to make the books readers take for granted. And though it feels like a gloomy entry, it’s ultimately affirming and our likeable protagonist is the stronger for his struggles.
Volume 4 is a decent entry in a series that fans of slice-of-life comics might enjoy, particularly any wannabe artists out there looking for inspiration. Ganbatte, Oguro-san!
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