#Kujirai Reiko

[profilepicparadise]

I'm surprised that she's totally normal.

source: Kowloon Generic Romance (九龍ジェネリックロマンス, Kūron Jenerikku Romansu) - Jun Mayuzuki

#jun mayuzuki #kowloon #kowloon generic romance #九龍ジェネリックロマンス #Kūron Jenerikku Romansu #Kujirai Reiko #Reiko #Kujirai Reiko Kowloon Generic Romance #aesthetic pfp #discord pfp #anime pfp #pfp #pfp icons #profile photo #anime #manga #manga pfp #pfp art #profile pics #profile pic art #profile icons #anime profile pictures #profile picture #profile images #romance #romance manga

[xitty]

#kowloon generic romance is SO GOOD. just finished vol. 6 #kowloon generic romance #reiko kujirai #jun mayuzuki

[animehouse-moe]

Kowloon Generic Romance Volume 3: The Walled City

Yes, I know I was at TCAF a week ago and I'm only now reading Kowloon volume 3, but it's just not been something I was really itching to read until this weekend. And I feel like letting it sit was worth it because this volume really grabbed me and made it feel like we were moving at a million miles an hour with its foreshadowing, timeline shenanigans, and the steamy but ill-fated romance between Kujirai and Kudou.

⚠️Warning: Volume 3 Spoilers Ahead⚠️

It's been quite some time since the last volume so a lot of this work feels fresh. One of the things that remains a talking point is of course the art, but I still really like the paneling and layouts of the manga. It feels plenty dense and full, mimicking the surroundings the comprise the walled city of Kowloon, but it all feels deliberate, as the space is used to its full potential in conveying character reactions or details.

Things as simple as a smile beginning to crack in a character's face.

Or grasping finer details and character acting with smaller panels to form an almost storyboard.

And then there's of course the spreads that Mayuzuki includes, which are just beautiful. Simple at times, for sure, but it doesn't detract from the wonderfully expressive and unique character designs, or their sense of motion throughout.

Anyways, hurtling towards the story, I'll certainly say it's not as "fun" as the first two volumes. It's not got as many curveballs as it gets into the nitty gritty, and admittedly that might be something people out there won't be a fan of. It pivots to a more central idea of focusing purely on the romance between Kujirai and Kudou, but rather than relegating any foreshadowing or theories to the background, just places them directly in plain sight. Though that doesn't mean Mayuzuki's hitting you over the head with a sign, as there's plenty of pieces that only poke their heads out. Take this first chapter for example.

There's two pieces that separate this groundhog day-esque situation. The first, Kujirai on the right doesn't have glasses on. And the second is that Kujirai is referred to as a senior in the left panel, while a junior/underling in the right.

You can see something similar with Kudou's observations vs the current Kujirai's circumstances.

This actually has a few pieces of importance placed in it. Obviously, first and foremost, is the little Gene Terra plushie. Kudou's observations of the old Kujirai mention that there's "nothing cute" in her apartment, whereas the plushie disqualifies that.

Additionally, and this is a massively out of left field, tinfoil hat theory, the flowers are different. I wouldn't have thought much myself if the meaning of a sunflower wasn't brought up in this volume. Anyways, I'm not an expert, but I think I've got 2 of the 3 flowers down. The bigger of the two flowers in the first arrangement is a Calla Lily, but I don't know what the other smaller ones are (the leaves are on separate stems). Regardless, a white Calla Lily is a very common and popular flower, and is used to represent beauty and purity. A bit of an interesting yes/no piece, as Kudou certainly sees Kujirai as pretty, but the purity part not so much. As for the second flower, there's a chance that it's a Spider Chrysanthemum, which is a flower that in Chinese culture (sorta works because it takes place in Kowloon) represents things such as a new life.

On to the second arrangement now, we've just got a hibiscus flower, whose meaning changes based on color. If it's orange, it's all about luck and good fortune, while red is centered around romance and love. Both of which work for Kujirai, so it's hard to really pick the correct one out.

So, to finally get to the point, there's a chance that Mayuzuki is using the flowers to tell a story of the two Kujirai's, the one that Kudou was infatuated with, and the one that is infatuated with Kudou. Hardly something that's a huge reveal or is important, but if true, is a really cool little detail to add.

Moving onward, there's a lot of very literal symbolism in how we approach the story and the characters this volume, with Gene Terra at the center of it consistently, thanks to pages like these.

Putting Kujirai into a diamond isn't exactly some abstract idea, as Gene Terra itself is represented as this shape. Similarly speaking, this volume continues the trend of an inverse person occupying somebody's space and life. Xiao Hei gives us a great example, but in a different direction than what we're used to.

This is the first time that a shadow/inverse character has spoken, so it's interesting to see how they speak. Xiao Hei uses the third person regardless, but they don't talk in the past tense.

What is it? The feeling of nostalgia personified, that chains a person to their surroundings? Their other half that arrived in Kowloon first and exist in some format on Gene Terra? It's hard to say, but it plays similarly into the whole conversation on sunflowers.

Kudou's immediately averse to them, and in a sense, sees them as someone watching him. Could it be true, or just a superstition? Another unanswerable question, but one that can help contextualize these inverse characters.

Speaking of Kudou, as I fly all around the place in terms of story, this little detail. A simple throwaway line, but one that fits perfectly considering the differences that Kudou's picked up on in regards to the differences of the two Kujirai's.

And the knowledge of that difference comes to a head with Kujirai in this volume, as she can no longer take the swings in mood and personality that Kudou exhibits. I think overall, it's an interesting conversation that a lot of people end up tackling in media, what comprises the self.

Kujirai contends that she chooses what to wear and how to act, but Kudou fires back. Before the conversation can be concluded though, it's cut short by Kujirai fainting. A very weird twist of fate that makes it feel like the mask of Gene Terra is slipping.

And, before this volume you'd think, "Nah, there's no way that Gene Terra could do something like that", but it's hard to discount with what we know now. A futuristic city lurking outside of Kowloon, a discussion and desire of the absolute. Doppelgangers and/or lookalikes that slink away from the walled city. Hallways and passageways that shift and seal to hide away changes. There's a whole lot of sci-fi that seeps its way into the story, and establishes another interesting concept atop it.

A fight against nostalgia.

#kowloon generic romance #九龍ジェネリックロマンス #reiko kujirai #hajime kudou #manga review #manga recommendation #anime and manga #manga #romance manga

[dropintomanga]

Kowloon Generic Romance - A Perspective from a Cantonese-Speaking Person

After reading Mangasplaining’s great interview with Jun Mayuzuki and hearing a lot about the series, I jumped into the 1st 3 volumes of Kowloon Generic Romance. As someone who’s been to Hong Kong and whose mother lived there for a short while, the series’ grand theme about the persistence of nostalgia does make me think about Hong Kong culture.

The series focuses on a potential romance between two real estate agents who work together in Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong. Reiko Kujirai and Hajime Kudou both live their daily lives working, eating, and contemplating the status of the dystopian metropolis they live in. What starts off as an interesting romance drama suddenly becomes an ongoing mystery regarding identity and what it means to live as someone who feels strangely out of place, but deserves love as much as anyone.

I won’t go into too much detail about the plot, but I will talk about the area that the manga covers - Hong Kong. I’ve been to Hong Kong twice and I find it to be one of the most interesting places in the planet. I went to Mong Kok Shopping Center for anime goods, walked around Kowloon (the Walled City is not there anymore), saw the Avenue of Stars at Victoria Harbor, ate at Causeway Bay and much more. Before moving to the U.S., my mom lived in Hong Kong for a period of time all while getting help from a friend. Although Mayuzuki hasn’t been to Hong Kong, her recreation of it in Kowloon Generic Romance does make it feel like I’m there - or maybe an old part of Hong Kong that’s trying to fight constant change.

An East Asian island filled with so many people living in tight quarters, all balancing the need to move forward versus taking the time to stop and connect with family and friends. For those who are unaware, Hong Kong was ruled by Great Britain from 1841-1997. From around post-WWII until the 1980s’, Hong Kong found itself and become a thriving country. It has a very interesting mix of East and West aesthetics. While one can argue Japan mixes East and West very well today, Hong Kong was the king of showing the beauty of both sides of the world. The Society for East Asian Anthropology has a wonderful essay about “Old Hong Kong” and the nostalgia for it.

What’s funny is that there’s characters in Kowloon Generic Romance that mention how people in Kowloon have nostalgia for it a la Old Hong Kong vibes. Like it’s the same as love. A while back before reading the manga, I watched a video of a woman who left Hong Kong and she talked about how much it’s changed. One thing from the video that stood out to me was the mention of the Cantonese Chinese dialect (which is widely spoken in Hong Kong) possibly becoming an afterthought compared to Mandarin Chinese (the most popular Chinese dialect and one of the top languages in the world). She said she’s committed to keeping the Cantonese dialect alive in the U.S, where she currently lives, for the Chinese communities there.

There’s a scene in Volume 3 of the manga where an antagonist character laments on how the citizens of Kowloon seem stubborn in promoting their traditions in the face of urban development. They think nostalgia as an emotion that’s annoying. I figure that this character would find the woman I just talked about who’s trying to save Cantonese out of a sense of nostalgia to be annoying. It’s funny because some people might argue “Why study Cantonese? Mandarin is spoken everywhere where Chinese is spoken.” I speak Cantonese conversationally, but I find it to be fun. I have fond memories of interacting with fellow speakers of the dialect. Once upon a time, I made some friends due to learning Cantonese from anime. Speaking Cantonese helped me get closer with my parents as well. Lately, the dialect has helped me come to terms with being a person of Chinese descent.

I think about my fellow Cantonese speakers all over the world. I wonder how they would feel if no one spoke it anymore. Would they fight to keep the dialect alive? Would they just don’t care due to the demands of modernity?

I’ve also thought about what Hong Kong residents felt during the 1980s’ and early 1990s’. I was exposed to so much Hong Kong cinema as a child, which was really popular around that time. Although I didn’t understand the themes beneath the surface due to my age, I got to see how filmmakers expressed their thoughts and views on life in Hong Kong before the big handover to China and shortly after.

Kowloon Generic Romance has taken me back to those films and an appreciation of Hong Kong culture in some way. The manga does remind me of the 1994 Wong Kar-Wai film, Chungking Express. Both are love stories based in Hong Kong featuring individuals struggling with loneliness, finding themselves and learning to cultivate love in a fast-paced world.

I’m nostalgic about many things - especially things from the 1990s’. But when it comes to anime and manga nostalgia, I remembered that I got into anime due to Hong Kong culture. I watched Cantonese dubbed episodes of Dragon Ball Z.  That’s how it all began for me. Chinatown was my source of video games in the late ‘90s as a teen and everyone selling them spoke Cantonese. It was also a source for Chinese-translated manga when English-translated manga was about to hit its boom. Reading Kowloon Generic Romance made me think about those days of discovering fandom in the Cantonese Chinese community. 

It also makes me wonder about my place in the Chinese hierarchy in the future. I already struggle with thoughts about belonging and now with so many Chinese speaking Mandarin as their main dialect, I feel like I’m being phased out. Maybe I’m Reiko Kujirai herself. 

I do know that a lot of propaganda use nostalgia for nefarious purposes due to its emotional nature. But I don’t think nostalgia has left me in despair. Some traditions definitely need to pass on to newer generations. Yet I never found myself trying to chase the past to a huge extent. Maybe that’s it. Let nostalgia come naturally. Be like the citizens of Kowloon/Hong Kong and don’t let an entire outside institution define nostalgia for you.

It’s important to have treasured memories that YOU own, good and bad, because they help to cultivate the person you want to be. I appreciate what I have now because of certain nostalgic memories that I personally chose to experience. They unlock our vulnerable selves and tell us that our experiences with our loved ones make life worth living.

That way, nostalgia can help you go forward, whether you want a generic yet satisfying life or a romantic one.

#Kowloon Generic Romance #manga #Jun Mayuzuki #nostalgia #Hong Kong #Hong Kong culture #psychology

[haganenoyuki]

I thought giovanna might look cool with reiko kujirai's glasses

she's not mad just very serious

#guilty gear #doodles #I have that ram avatar a few places but I don't actually play her right now so I figured it was time to draw a new one #I haven't done a high res drawing in forever #I accidentally used the pixel art brush the whole time so there's no antialiasing #you can't really tell when it's zoomed out though #and it makes it easy to do recolors so I might do some of the alt palettes later

[blouptalking]

Kowloon Generic Romance

Mayuzuki Jun

54 chapters (ongoing)

drama, slice of life, romance

“Welcome to Kowloon Walled City: a dystopian townscape where the people are brimming with nostalgia, and where the past, present, and future converge. Amid the hidden emotions and extraordinary daily lives of the men and women working in its confines, a tale of romance begins to unfold for real estate agent Reiko Kujirai—one that feels as familiar as Kowloon itself…”

(Resume from Yen Press)

Story: 9/10

The more you read, the more the tale and the mysteries begin to make sense. I was rather confused at first, especially since I started reading Kowloon Generic Romance without any knowledge about the plot in advance. But I think that's what got me interested in the story and what got me hooked. I thought it would be a kind of slow-burn romance, but I was surprisingly wrong. Though, the more I got in the story the more I felt like the romance was really secondary. The manga is still in ongoing so I'm certainly going to keep reading it.

Cast: 7/10

Strong and memorable cast. Each character has its own charm and I really enjoyed reading about them and their stories. For the two MCs Reiko and Hajime, personally, I was not under the impression that they were a good match. Their relationship hasn't affected me as much as I anticipated. I guess that's because I had the impression that the romance wasn't the main focus of the story. At one point, I even felt bored by their romance because I felt like it was blocking Reiko from growing up and developing her own character.

Art: 9/10

Beautiful art! As expected from Mayuzuki Jun. I had a great time watching After The Rain in 2018, and it’s probably one of my favorite slice of life. I was very pleased to find this lovely art style in Kowloon Generic Romance.

This is what I would also call a “windy” art style. Everything just feels very refreshing. The background is very detailed as well and it helps you get into that dystopian mood somehow.

Enjoyment: 8/10

I really enjoyed reading Kowloon Generic Romance. It was very interesting and I never had any boredom. I would recommend reading it without knowing anything about the plot to truly grasp the vibe and have the mystery's surprise.

Overall: 8/10

#Kowloon Generic Romance #九龍ジェネリックロマンス #manga review #manga recommendation #book recommendations #manga #romance #seinen #slice of life #drama #bloup review

[kuronekkosan]

Kowloon Generic Romance/クーロんジぇネりッくロまンす

by Mayuzuki Jun

Reiko Kujurai is a real estate agent in the busy walled city of Kowloon. Every day she wakes up at 7, puts on the news, slices up a watermelon and smokes a cigar. She then heads to Wong Loi Realty Company for work where she shares workspace with Kudou Hajime who annoys her to no end but also somehow makes her feel conflicted. It is pretty mundane a life with a busy city, shortcuts, eating out for lunch and nursing a work-crush. But one day she finds a photograph of someone who looks just like her and Hajime taken at a restaurant. There are subtle differences between them and a very baffled Kujirai sets out to find some answers in this maze they call the city of Kowloon.

It is a slice of life with the perfect dose of suspense and mystery. We also see a futuristic construction plan for the city going on in the background, a lot of traditional eateries, daily life of people and a very sketchy pharmaceutical company called Hebi-numa (yep, the snake is in the name itself).

It is pretty enthralling a story with interesting characters and setting. The city is based on the real life Kowloon Walled City.

The art is very pretty and can be suggestive at places. The way the artist shows the fast city life and the traditional eateries along with human life is so beautiful! This manga won't disappoint!

#kowloon generic romance #クーロんジぇネりッくロまンす #jun mayuzuki #seinen #drama #mystery #psychological #romace #slice of life #slice of life manga #manga screenshots #manga #manga screencap #manga aesthetic #manga art #kowloon #nostalgia

[blisscast]

[Kowloon Generic Romance] More at my blog blisscast.wordpress.com, link in bio. ℹ Journal Page 23 about Kowloon Generic Romance is out NOW! Link in bio. . Kujirai Reiko is a young woman in her 30s, working as a realtor in a real estate agency in the Kowloon Walled City. She lives a regular and relatively relaxing life, going to work every day and taking care of renting and selling flats all around Kowloon. One day, Reiko finds out that she doesn't need to use her glasses anymore, and discovers that as her sight got better, she started noticing things that she couldn't before. Although, is it truly more convenient to see what was hidden under your nose this entire time? Maybe there was a reason why you didn't need to see it :) . I'm sorry for the short post today but today I had to travel to get to Lucca Comics & Games ✨. I'm really excited, and tomorrow will be my first day with a ticket! I'll tell you about it soon ( ˙꒳​˙ ). . #kowloongenericromance #kowloon #kowlooncity #walledcityofkowloon #shenmue2 #shenmue #shenmueii #fuchsiaaesthetic #gamergirl #gamergirls #manga #mangafan #mangaedit (at Viareggio, Italy) https://www.instagram.com/p/CkRPKK5Io0m/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#kowloongenericromance #kowloon #kowlooncity #walledcityofkowloon #shenmue2 #shenmue #shenmueii #fuchsiaaesthetic #gamergirl #gamergirls #manga #mangafan #mangaedit

[evermorebabey]

~ KUJIRAI REIKO 🌸

#Kowloon Generic Romance #kgr #kujirai reiko #seinen #screencaps

[tsukkicons]

⇢  kowloon generic romance

⇢ like or reblog if saving.

× © on twitter @blweperiod ×  

#kowloon generic romance #kowloon generic romance icon #kowloon generic romance header #pack manga #manga icons #icons manga #kowloon generic romance manga #reiko kujirai #hajime kudou #icons reiko #headers #header tumblr #header twitter

[teapotart]

"I've only got eyes for you"

Commission for @flowerymoments 🌻

(commissions info)

#kowloon generic romance #jun mayuzuki #reiko kujirai #commissions #markers #i'm not sure what i think about this series but it surely has good and inspirational things

[swimduckling]

#manga #kowloon generic romance #reiko kujirai #mangacap

[flowerymoments]

top 5 (or 10) prettiest anime/manga characters

1. Sesshomaru 2. Nana Osaki 3. Reiko Kujirai 4. Mokuren (Please Save My Earth) 5. Yona 6. Haruka Tenou 7. Nico Robin 8. Lady Eboshi 9. Miyamura Izumi 10. Vermouth (Detective Conan)

#bluyuki #i wanted to put Howl too but run out of spots haha #and Ran from 7 seeds #i also remembered shishio from hirunaka no ryuusei like he's really pretty but you know... the manga is like that same with tsubaki plant :( #all of this to say that yamamori mika sure knows how to draw pretty boys 🤫🤧 #ask

[newsintheshell]

Lu e la Città delle Sirene, svelato il trailer italiano del film

Il premiato lungometraggio animato di Masaaki Yuasa sarà mostrato in anteprima al Lucca Comics & Games 2019. 

Yamato Video ha pubblicato un primo trailer per l’edizione italiana del film d’animazione “Lu e la Città delle Sirene” (Yoake Tsugeru Lu no Uta), del quale aveva annunciato l’acquisizione un paio di giorni fa.

La pellicola, della durata di 108 minuti, è stata diretta da Masaaki Yuasa (Ride Your Wave, Devilman: Crybaby, The Tatami Galaxy) presso lo studio Science SARU (Yoru wa Mijikashi Arukeyo Otome, Devilman: Crybaby) e sceneggiata assieme a Reiko Yoshida (Aria The Animation, Romeo x Juliet).

Il film sarà proiettato doppiato in anteprima in occasione del Lucca Comics & Games 2019, sabato 2 novembre alle ore 15:00 presso il Cinema Centrale di Lucca. In apertura dell’evento ci sarà un’introduzione a cura dello staff Yamato Video, mentre a seguito della proiezione saranno presentate le anteprime dell'editore.

Di seguito trovate il cast italiano:

Lu CAROLINA GUSEV

Kai MATTIA FABIANO

Yūho VITTORIA BARTOLOMEI

Kunio RICCARDO SUAREZ

Teruo FRANCESCO BULCKAEN

Isaki ROSSA CAPUTO

Presidente ROBERTO DRAGHETTI

Direttore ORESTE BALDINI

Nonna Tako DORIANA CHIERICI

Prete PAOLO MARIA SCALONDRO

Docente responsabile STEFANO THERMES

Fuguta FRANCESCO VENDITTI

Nodoguro STEFANO SANTERINI

Kameda LUCA BIAGINI

Kujirai ALESSANDRO BUDRONI

Shiira GIANPAOLO CAPRINO

Esojima LEONARDO GRAZIANO

Higesoridai GIANLUCA MACHELLI

Nonno PIETRO BIONDI

A seguito alla separazione dei suoi genitori, il giovane Kai si trasferisce in un piccola insediamento di pescatori dove leggenda vuole che la baia sia infestata dalle sirene, creature malvagie divoratrici gli uomini. Nel tempo libero Kai compone musica e finisce per attirare la curiosità di una giovane sirena di nome Lu. Kai e Lu avranno modo di intrecciare un profondo legame in grado di superare le credenze popolari e ogni diversità tra il mondo degli umani e quello degli abitati del mare.

Il lungometraggio, uscito in Giappone il 19 maggio 2017, lo stesso anno è stato premiato al festival di Annecy.

Autore: SilenziO))) (@s1lenzi0)

[FONTE]

#anime #Lu e la Città delle Sirene #lu over the wall #yoake tsugeru lu no uta #animazione #cartoni animati #film #dub ita #yamato video #tim vision #masaaki yuasa #newsintheshell #news in the shell

[swimduckling]

#manga #kowloon generic romance #reiko kujirai #mangacap

[swimduckling]

#kowloon generic romance #manga #reiko kujirai #mangacap