Synopsis
With a brand-new guitar in hand and a passion for classic rock, Chihiro Hatono enters high school eager to join the Light Music Club—and take her first step toward greatness! As best she can while being awkward and introverted, anyway. Hatono doesn’t seem like the type to dream about being a rockstar, but she’s got big plans. First, she’s gotta get her band together, and the other starstruck freshmen may be the perfect place to start.
The Good
I’ve heard a lot about Girl Meets Rock! from various manga news outlets talking about its various awards and accomplishments in Japan. As someone who loves rock music but was never part of any music club, I was happy to see what makes Girl Meets Rock! a critically-acclaimed hit for Japanese readers.
For starters, the manga is very grounded. There’s no (or little-to-no) melodrama and crazy shenanigans. While other music club-themed manga like K-On! and Bocchi the Rock! have notable characters and situations that stand out in various ways, Girl Meets Rock!’s characters feel like actual teenagers one encounters in their daily life. The manga is slow-paced in a good way. What I have enjoyed most so far about the manga is the portrayal of the drama that occurs in extracurricular clubs. There are romantic squabbles among the various club members and how they affect band chemistry. But the best part is how quickly those developments are squashed because of the feel-good nature of the story.
Also, the main character Chihiro Hatono reminds me of Skip and Loafer’s Mitsumi Iwakura. Both are young girls trying to make their high school debuts memorable. Both are somewhat awkward, but are kind towards others and end up drawing people who find them fun to be around. Hatono is a character you really want to root for due to her earnestness.
The other characters besides Hatono are well-done and their personalities make me want to keep up with them. There’s one character in particular that I think will definitely get readers’ attention in a big way. Rin Koyama, the bassist for Hatono’s band, is the character who could be the most popular in the series early-on due to her manipulative vibes and how she uses them to help Hatono out.
Somewhere In-Between
While I did say the manga is slow-paced in a good way, it feels like Volume 1 is more of a setup for the really good scenes that are about to come. Volume 1 covers an initial “trials and tribulations” period for Hatono. From the beginning of the manga, she goes from trying to buy a guitar, to trying to find bandmates at her music club, to making time to actually learn the guitar, to suddenly dealing with trying to find a new band after the old band didn’t work out as expected. The writing makes these scenes worth reading even if there’s nothing too exciting happening. There are moments where some characters’ bad past experiences get revealed, but they get resolved quickly. Anyone expecting surprising character moments and/or revelations right at the start will have to wait for now. I think readers will start to see what makes Girl Meets Rock! the hit that it is with the next volume and beyond.
The Verdict
Girl Meets Rock! is a fun and quirky manga about what it’s like to be a part of an extracurricular club while dealing with the drama that often comes with being around people. Although I need to read more of the series to get a better opinion, I appreciate how the story is being told. There’s also many references to Japanese rock songs, so if you’re a Japanese rock aficionado, Girl Meets Rock! is perfect for you. But even if you’re not into rock or never joined a music club, this manga captures in a very human way what makes extracurricular clubs so formative and important for youth of all demographics.
You can purchase Girl Meets Rock! in print on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Bookshop, and Books-A-Million.
Credits
Story: Kuwahali
Art: Tetsuo Ideuchi
Translation: Catherine Delange, Sarah Moon
Lettering: Elena Pizarr
Cover Design: H. Qi
Copy Editor: Biddy MacAdam
Proofreader: Krista Grandy
Production Designer: Christina McKenzie
Editor: Laurel Ashgrove
Published in English by Seven Seas Entertainment
Thank you to Seven Seas Entertainment for providing a review copy. Receiving this copy had no effect on the reviewer’s opinions as expressed here.
Article edited by: Cynthia Caraturo
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