Yayoi Ogawa
Tramps Like Us, Vol. 1 (2000)
Author: Yayoi Ogawa
Genre: Graphic Novel (Josei Manga/Romance)
Plot Summary:
Sumire Iwaya is a highly educated successful career woman, working for a well-known newspaper company. However, life for Sumire is not as good as it seems on the surface. Her (now ex) fiance has been cheating on her because he couldn't handle the fact that Sumire has been more successful at her job and makes more money. She's recently been demoted to the lifestyle section after punching a sexually harassing boss. And to top it all off, now everyone at work is too afraid of her ice-cold demeanor to make any attempts at friendship. She's lonely and tired of struggling through the life of an independent career woman. Then one day while walking home from work she finds an injured teenaged boy asleep in a box on the street. She takes him in for the night and feeds him - only to discover that he won't leave in the morning. Determined to get rid of him, Sumire tells him that he can only stay if he'll be her pet and do everything she tells him. To her
shock, he agrees, and thus begins Sumire's new life with her pet, whom she's named Momo, after her childhood dog). SPOILER: This first volume includes four loosely-connected stories, in which Sumire and Momo start their unusual relationship, Sumire tries dating a man from the office who is less than happy when he discovers her unorthodox pet, and a man from her past reenters her life. Meanwhile, we learn that Momo has a life outside of being Sumire's pet - his real name is Takeshi Gouda, and he's a modern dancer who's been trained abroad in classical ballet.
Geographical Setting: Tokyo, Japan
Time Period: Current Day (2000)
Series: The first in an ongoing manga series, currently up to volume 11.
Appeal Characteristics:
This series is josei manga, meaning it's aimed more at career women in their 20s, rather than shoujo manga, which is meant for girls and teenagers. Sometimes josei manga has been compared to "chick lit" or Sex in the City, and women who enjoy more thoughtful chick lit may enjoy Tramps Like Us. However, the premise is a lot more than just a romantic comedy featuring a sexy twenty-something. One of the best aspects of Tramps Like Us is its willingness to delve into the darker aspects and downsides of being an unmarried career woman in Japan. In fact, this volume spends more time on Sumire's struggles with her job and the people she works with than it does on her (mostly) failed attempts at romance. One of the points of this story is the confusion and frustration of not knowing or trusting yourself, especially around other people. Above all, the highlight of Tramps Like Us is watching the relationship between Sumire an
d Momo develop. It's not at all sexual - rather, Sumire sees Momo as a stand-in for her childhood pet dog, who was the last creature she ever felt she could be completely herself in front of. Momo sees a side of Sumire that no one else is allowed to see, one that she hides even from her boyfriend. Thus, it is through her interactions with Momo that readers slowly learn about Sumire's character. The character development is slow and subtle, reflecting the fact that Tramps Like Us is an ongoing series, up to eleven volumes at this point. The story, while easy to read quickly, is one that readers are more likely to want to linger over in order to catch the subtle hints at character and motivation given in the illustrations. The artwork is delicate and spare, with emphasis placed on the characters - especially their faces - rather than heavily detailed backgrounds. Sumire especially is drawn with a wide-eyed, girlish innocence that belies her tough exterior, while Momo's shaggy-haired, long-legged frame fits his career as a dancer perfectly.
Read-alikes: Those who enjoyed this first volume of Tramps Like Us (published in Japan as Kimi wa Pet) will want to continue with the series with volume 2, in which Sumire's relationships with her new boyfriend and with her pet Momo continue to deepen - meanwhile, her ex shows up in her life again, and she doesn't know how to respond to him. After reading this and the other volumes in the series, readers looking for a similar art-style and character-based feel might want to try the stories of Erica Sakurazawa, another josei manga artist. I'd suggest starting with The Aromatic Bitters, which features Sayumi, who, frustrated with her stagnant relationship with her life-in boyfriend, takes a vacation with her best friend - and meets another man. As with Tramps Like Us, Sakurazawa's characters are confused and uncertain about their lives, who they should be with, and how to express themselves, and her stories often end with few loose ends wrapped up, which might appeal to readers who enjoy the ambiguity of Sumire and Momo's relationship. Readers who want a slightly lighter take on surviving relationships and the single life might enjoy Nana, a manga series by Ai Yazawa. In this series, two girls both named Nana but with drastically different personalities meet up and end up being roommates in Tokyo. A good American graphic novel to try is Box Office Poison, by Alex Robinson. Although this lengthy novel focuses on a male character and the struggle to get recognition for a forgotten comics writer, it features a large cast of twenty-something characters, and the stories of their lives and struggles with careers and romances is likely to have a similar appeal to that of Tramps Like Us. Finally, I'd suggest that readers also look into Cheat a graphic novel by Christine Norrie. This title tells the story of the consequences of cheating on a relationship, and the subtle characterization and beautiful art style are likely to be a big
appeal to Tramps Like Us fans.
Red Flags: This story is aimed at older readers than a lot of manga that is published here in the U.S., so it features fairly explicit (although very tastefully drawn) sex scenes. Lots of smoking and some nudity.
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