徒然チルドレン

TSUREZURE CHILDREN

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
12
RELEASE
July 11, 2018
CHAPTERS
212

DESCRIPTION

This manga is for those of you who just can't seem to say, "I love you." Toshiya Wakabayashi's acclaimed school-romance is jam-packed with frustration, embarrassment, and awkwardness!

(Source: Kodansha USA)

CAST

Ryouko Kaji
Masafumi Akagi
Yuki Minagawa
Chizuru Takano
Shinichi Katori
Ayaka Kamine
Kana Ijima
Takeru Gouda
Takuro Sugawara
Chiaki Uchimura
Tomomichi Motoyama
Saki Kanda
Jun Furuya
Haruhiko Takase
Erika Shibasaki
Takao Yamane
Fuyumi Toda
Chiyo Kurihara
Kazuko Hosogawa
Patricia Caulfield
Alice Himemiya
Yuuki Kaga
Kaoru Nanase
Shinji Ubukata
Iori Enomoto

CHAPTERS

RELATED TO TSUREZURE CHILDREN

Cover Art for Wakabayashi Toshiya 4-koma Soushuuhen

MANGA ComedyWakabayashi Toshiya 4-koma Soushuuhen

TV SHORT ComedyTsurezure Children

REVIEWS

TeKSMeLater
90/100
A reflection on Tsurezure Children
Think of your first romance anime. Or your first romance manga—anything of the sort. Then throw it all away.

Cliches are a recurrent element in stories—and the thing is, you will never be able to get rid of them. They are cliches for a reason, and their existence proves to be essential in composing a story. Most writers and enthusiasts of literature believe that there is no thing such as originality; everything exists from being based off of something, with just some modifications to make it stand out from the rest.

Of course, it is fairly common to see overused tropes in the like in a subculture as wealthy as the anime culture—which is the embodiment of Japanese animation and the counterpart to Western graphic novels we encounter today. Content creators are always expected to bring something fresh to the field, so as to not drown in the deep ocean riddled with gimmicks and twists to the usual elements of a story. It has become so that gimmicks are the only things that the norm, and people aren't expecting as much as a good story anymore.

But what if you go back to the basics?—keeping that heartwarming feeling and simplistic vibe of a typical romantic comedy?

Tsurezure Children originated as a web manga in Pixiv by an artist known as Wakabayashi Toshiya, and it consists of several short stories consisting of a boy and a girl—and the gradual buildup to their romances. It is filled with all your usual character archetypes; you have the couple that are too shy to admit their feelings to each other, you have the clingy childhood friend who is also part yandere, you have the senpai and the kouhai, the couple who feels that their love is unrequited—any of the sort, within several 4-koma strips that result in a form of plot progression or character development between them.

Objectively, Tsurezure Children is nothing new—but isn't trying to be one, either. The series works itself as a big tribute to the celebrated and most successful tropes in terms of characters, settings, and plot progression, placing them in true-to-life scenarios mixed with a prolonging and subtle twist mirroring that of misunderstandings—the defining trait of a romance manga.

From a subjective perspective, Tsurezure Children to me is a reflection of the ideal high school life—moreso the high school that you always see as the typical setting in an anime or a manga. It stands as a reflection of my nostalgia from my early days of watching the rom-com slice-of-life stories you see on TV, gently pulling my heartstrings with moments that invoke positive and warm emotions.

Ah, the innocence of youth! This series would be an escapist work in its prime—celebrating on the joys of scenarios to dream of and characters to love with.

Think of your first romance anime. Or your first romance manga—anything of the sort. Then throw it all away.

And relive the experience all over again.
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Plat5
60/100
Trope-y, Cliched but Enjoyable.
Story: 6/10
“Tsuredure Children” is the type of story where the creator goes, “What happens when I make a story with only tropes and cliches, and nothing else?”. Think of every trope (& cliché) you know of in a romantic setting this manga has it; Highschool (should I really mention this?), childhood friend(s), awkward couples, insecure couples, senpai-kowhai, pushy boyfriend, thirsty girlfriend, foreign girlfriend, otakus, age gap, tsundere, yandere, kuudere, wingmen and the newest addition, rapper (spare me if I missed many). Unless you are on a voyage of the most UNIQUE story you’ve ever seen, you would read this manga. The only gimmick of the story is it full of gimmicks and that’s kinda charm but what makes this a little better is, when all non-couple characters meet each other. It gives a feeling that the world is actually there, constantly moving and alive.

Characters: 5/10
Since everyone is defined by tropes you’ll only remember them by that and they’ll stay completely honest with that. Like “Oh, these are the childhood friends 1-2, and those are the president-delinquent”, and not like, “Oh, these are Kana-Chiaki and those are Akagi-Ryuoko”. That’s kinda the point of the story so it shouldn’t really be a problem but it is because;
1. There are nearly 50 characters. FIFTY, for a romance manga. All of them (& their stories) aren’t exactly related except for the fact they’re in highschool, and since each follow its own plot (& trope) and doesn’t get intertwined much, it’s really hard to keep track of them. And what makes this even harder is;
2. (Proceed to the next section).
Art: 5/10
Surprise Manga Quiz. Are the 4 characters in this panel quadruplets or not?
Answer: No! Then why do they look nearly the same?!
Now I don’t want to say the art itself is bad, the designs and drawing style are as cute as the characters themselves but there are 2 main issues.
1. This was one of the only cases when I wanted a color version of the manga because I would really want some colored hair to distinguish the characters but since it’s more of a financial thing than an artistic thing (probably), I’m not mad about this but it’s still an issue because you won’t have this problem if you’ve watched the Anime adaptation. Another thing is:
2. Format. The above panel is actually a panel inside a panel, in half a page, that’s how small it is. The only distinguishing factor between the characters, especially the male ones, is the small difference in their puny facial features, then what’s the point if it’s so small to tell them apart?
Enjoyment: 8/10
Many would think that being completely formulaic would somehow make something uninteresting and unenjoyable, but this manga proves them wrong. One can bash this as much as they want but it’s really the tropes and clichés that make us feel connected to an otherwise completely unrealistic world. Whether a multi-millionaire or a slumdog, a poet or an illiterate, one should ultimately utter the same thing when one expresses their undeniable feelings to their other half, “I SHUSHI YOU” (ask Patty what ‘Sushi’ means). So just enjoy this cliched story about tropey characters because, at the end of the day, it’s the tropes and cliches that we relate to. If it wasn’t for the technical flaws and other hiccoughs regarding some character writing, this would have been the best at what it tried to do, and I wouldn't have to feel a bit disappointed for giving a below-average score.

Conclusion: Recommended
“Tsuredure Children” is, in a sense, a safe manga. You go in knowing exactly what wished for, and you come out getting exactly what you wanted. That’s all.
(Also watch the Anime).
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