Pimpin' time!
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou
Time for a manga pimp! Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, or "Record of a Yokohama Shopping Trip" (or just YKK for short) is fabulous and you all should read it. What's it about? Well...
It's ostensibly a science fiction manga, taking place in a unspecified post-cataclysmic future time. Sea levels are rising, radically changing the landscape of Japan, and the human race is slowly dying out. The central character is Alpha, an android who doesn't age, who quietly observes the changing world while running an out-of-the-way coffee shop. The science fiction elements are intriguing, but not really the main focus of this manga. It's very slice-of-life, with a meandering "plot" and a subtle, beautiful love story running the course of it.
To be perfectly honest, I originally checked it out because I heard there was yuri (for those of you who might shy away from girl-love, it's very subtle and non-explicit), but I was completely won over by its charms and hooked within the first volume. There is yuri, yes, but even without it, this manga would have charmed the socks off of me. There's a feeling to it, a bittersweetness that runs through the whole thing, as things change and move on, while Alpha remains largely the same. And you can't escape the fact that all through the course of the narrative, the human race is diminishing. There are a lot of things hinted at, but never explicitly explained, and plot elements that dangle without resolution, but none of it feels artificial. It's not very text-heavy, often relying for pages at a time on just the art (which is simple but beautiful) to carry the story and emotions.
If you'd like a bit more information, check out the entry in Wikipedia.
Since I'd love for more people to read this, I've uploaded all fourteen volumes. Please check it out and let me know what you think! Enjoy! ♥
Downloads
Volume One
Volume Two
Volume Three
Volume Four
Volume Five
Volume Six
Volume Seven
Volume Eight
Volume Nine
Volume Ten
Volume Eleven
Volume Twelve
Volume Thirteen
Volume Fourteen
I'd appreciate a comment if you take, just so I know if there's any interest. Also, please let me know if
there's a problem with any of the links/files. I was having some internet issues while trying to upload this.