Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō

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Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō volume 1
ヨコハマ買い出し紀行
(Yokohama Shopping Log)
Genre Drama, Science Fiction, Slice of Life
Manga
Authored by Hitoshi Ashinano
Publisher Kodansha
Serialized in Afternoon
Original run June 1994 – February 2006
No. of volumes 14
OVA
Directed by Takashi Anno
Studio Asiadou
No. of episodes 2
Released May 1998 and December 1998
Runtime
OVA: Quiet Country Cafe
Directed by Tomomi Mochizuki
Studio Asiadou, SME Visual Works
No. of episodes 2
Released December 2002 and May 2003
Runtime

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō (ヨコハマ買い出し紀行?) is a manga series. The title translates to Yokohama Shopping Log, and in South Korea it is known as Café Alpha. The series is often referred to in wapuro romaji as Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, or simply abbreviated as YKK amongst fans outside of Japan. The series is also called subtitled Quiet Country Cafe.

The manga was written and drawn by Hitoshi Ashinano (芦奈野ひとし) and was published in the Kodansha manga compilation Afternoon alongside many other famous manga such as Ah! Megami-sama (Oh My Goddess!) and Mugen no Jūnin (Blade of the Immortal). It was first published in June 1994 and the final chapter, no. 140, was printed in February 2006. A short concluding postscript episode was published in May, 2006. There have also been two OAV anime series of two episodes each.

The story is set in a peaceful post-cataclysmic world where mankind is in decline after an environmental disaster. What that disaster is, the reader is never told, but sea levels have risen significantly, inundating many coastal cities such as Yokohama. The reduced human population has reverted to a simpler life, and the reader is told that humans are witnessing the twilight of their age. Instead of raging against their fate, there instead seems to be a quiet acceptance.

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō (YKK) is noted for its beautifully spare pen and ink drawing style, as well as its calm, meticulously paced stories and engaging characters. Some of the chapters have no dialogue at all, and in most of the stories the dialogue only amounts to a few lines.

Contents

[edit] Features

Café Alpha's logo
Enlarge
Café Alpha's logo

The main character of YKK is Alpha, who runs an out of the way coffee shop on the lonely coastal Miura Peninsula of Japan. Alpha is a humanoid robot ("robot person") who has been entrusted with the shop by her "owner" who has left on a trip of indeterminate length. Alpha is open, cheerful, and gregarious, though she spends much of her time alone.

YKK is unusual in that it can be said to have almost no plot. Each chapter installment is more like a "slice-of-life" story depicting Alpha and her interactions with the world, as well as the characters she meets when she occasionally leaves her café to shop for supplies (thus the "shopping log" reference in the title). The stories do have continuity though, and seemingly insignificant details in early chapters will suddenly arise again to pull a later chapter together. Overall, however, there is a distinct lack of a linear plot other than to follow Alpha (and occasionally some of the other characters) engaging in quotidian activities.

YKK is noted for deep characterizations, meticulous attention to detail and pacing, and the seemingly infinite open-endedness of the story. There is very little that is explained explicitly by the author, so fans of puzzles, enigmas and speculation will find a deep, interesting world full of curiosities. The stories unfold in a meandering progression, and are by turns funny, touching and nostalgic.

The one plot device that is evident in the series is how the naive robot Alpha learns to navigate the human world around her. Robots, we are told in the first chapter, are immortal, and it adds an interesting juxtaposition to the gentle decline of the human race. The origin of the robots, their purpose (if any), and their relationships with their so-called "owners" (who seem to act more like guardians) are unknown.

By having Alpha explore the world around her, the author points out the small wonders of everyday life. Whole chapters are devoted to brewing coffee, taking pictures, or repairing tiny model aircraft engines. As Alpha experiences these things, the author also makes us aware of their passing: the aircraft engine runs out of gas; her motor scooter breaks down; the rising waters encroach on her coffee shop; the neighborhood children she loves grow up and move away. In evoking a nostalgia for this loss, Ashinano follows the Japanese tradition of mono no aware.

[edit] Major characters

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
  • Alpha Hatsuseno: A type A7M2 robot, one of only three production prototypes. She runs "Café Alpha". Alpha has a surprising affinity with all sentient beings.
  • Ojisan: (literally, "Uncle") He is a grandfather figure to Alpha. He runs a gas station where Alpha fills up her scooter and is the actual grandfather of Takahiro. Refers to himself as a bum, and seems to have some regrets about not pursuing a relationship with Sensei.
  • Takahiro: The grandson of Ojisan. He meets Alpha at age nine, and Alpha quickly takes to him as if he was a younger brother. He grows up through the story and eventually moves away at approximately age fifteen.
  • Misago: A mystery woman who lives in the inlets and bays near Alpha's café. She is an ageless wild-woman who lives in the woods stark naked and eats fish she catches with her short fangs and impossibly fast movements. She will only show herself to young children, and shies away from contact with adults. She does not age, and is not aware that children grow up. She is regarded as somewhat of a mythical creature. Misago means osprey in Japanese.
  • Sensei: (Literally "Doctor") An older classmate of Ojisan's generation. She played a part in the creation of the A7 series of robots, and hosted Director Alpha in her home (and thus was presumably Director Alpha's "owner"). Her last name is Koumiishi, although she is always called by her title.
  • Kokone Takatsu: A type A7M3 regular production type robot. She is the first other robot that Alpha meets, and they become fast friends. Kokone began to develop feelings for Alpha when she delivered a package (containing a camera from Alpha's "owner") to Alpha during the course of her job as a courier. Kokone is sweet, shy, and somewhat intellectual, an interesting counterpart to Alpha.
  • Ayase: A wanderer who travels endlessly, relying on his Kamas (a large predatory flying fish) to live off the land. He likes to see the curiosities of the land.
  • Makki: A girl several years younger than Takahiro. She likes Takahiro and is initially jealous of Alpha. As she gets older, she becomes closer to Alpha. Her name is actually Matsuki, but everyone seems to call her Makki.
  • Director Alpha: The A7M1 prototype of the A7 series, and thus the "older sister" to the other A7 robots. Both Director Alpha and Alpha, the main character, acquired their names because they were the initial models, or "alpha-types", of their robot series. She bears Sensei's last name "Koumiishi" and is a director on-board a stratospheric aircraft/spacecraft called Taapon.
  • Maruko Maruko: A type A7M3 robot with a rather prickly personality. She works as an artist and is unique in having changed her last name from her owner's to something she decided for herself. She likes Kokone and is often jealous of Alpha.
  • Nai: A (presumably A7M3) robot. He is unusual, as male robots rarely survived for unknown reasons. He flies a modified T-6 Texan aircraft and runs a delivery service. Nai is quiet and impassive.
  • Saetta: The young daughter of Makki and Takahiro. She is the latest character to meet the Misago.

[edit] Mysteries

  • What is the nature of the natural disaster that caused the world's oceans to rise?
  • A large portion of the top of Mount Fuji is missing.
  • It is unknown why robots were created or what their purpose is, since none are slaves or servants.
  • Plants used for food are oversized, or have exceptional yields.
  • Who is Alpha's owner, and where did he go?
  • Some plants are strangely reminiscent of manmade objects, such as luminescent plants that act as streetlamps.
  • What are the "water gods", strangely beautiful mushrooms with human faces, that have begun to grow in the wilds?
  • Are the human-like fungi and lamp-like trees really, as Alpha seems to think, the "recollections of people that the earth remembers"?
  • Why are male robots so rare?
  • Animals appear to have been engineered, such as the "Kamas", a flying fish that lives entirely outside water.
  • What is the purpose of the Taapon, and why is it never able to land?
  • Why will the Misago only show herself to children, and why is she unable to comprehend that they become adults?
  • Why are the humans in YKK's world dying out? Food seems plentiful and there are no apparent plagues. Or are they just fleeing Japan?

[edit] Curiosities

  • The A7 series of robots is named after a line of superior Japanese WWII warplanes that never saw production. The character Saetta's name may be inspired by an Italian WWII warplane built by Aeronautica Macchi, now known as Aermacchi.
  • Ashinano seems to be influenced by Chinese culture and myths. The gekkin guitar is of Chinese origin, and the Taapon aircraft is reminiscent of the myth of the great bird Peng.
  • Some personal names seem to be inspired by geography surrounding the Yokohama area. There is a bus stop named Koumiishi to the south of Hayama. Atsugi airfield is located in Ayase. There is a place called Maruko where Maruko's gallery is supposed to be.
  • Sensei's surname is Koumi'ishi (子海石?), "child-sea-stone." Her personal logo (which can also be seen on Director Alpha's pendant) is colored in ultramarine, the name of which was "born" from precious stones that came from overseas.
Spoilers end here.

[edit] Publication

A total of 140 chapters have been published which have been collected into 14 tankōbon volumes by Kōdansha's Afternoon KC division. The series is in Japanese, and there are official Korean and Chinese editions. There are unofficial English and Russian fan translations.

Although not part of the series per se, the July cover date, 2006, issue of Afternoon has a six page postscript episode to the series. This episode (titled "Touge") does not have a chapter number.

There is an artbook and a postcard book accompanying the manga series (ISBN 4063301966 and ISBN 4063300412)

There have also been two OAV anime series of two episodes each. The first OAV series was released in May 1998 and December 1998. The second series was released in December 2002 and May 2003. In both serieses, Hekiru Shiina is Alpha's seiyū.

[edit] External links

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