is a Japanese

slice of life Slice of life is a depiction of mundane experiences in art and entertainment. In theater, slice of life refers to Naturalism (theatre), naturalism, while in literary parlance it is a narrative technique in which a seemingly arbitrary sequence ...

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

written and illustrated by

Kyoko Okazaki is a Japanese manga artist. During her career from the mid-1980s until the mid-1990s, she published her work in ''seinen'' manga magazines, ''josei'' manga magazines as well as fashion magazines. She produced around 20 volumes of manga, the mo ...

. ''River's Edge'' was first published in the women's fashion magazine ''Monthly Cutie'' between 1993 and 1994. ''River's Edge'' follows Haruna, a high school girl in a suburb of Tokyo, and her friends as they traverse the ups and downs of high-school life in the 90s. Themes of bullying,

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

, drug-use and teenage pregnancy are explored through the lens of a

coming of age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

story. The manga was highly influential in Japanese literature. A

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

of the manga was released in 2018.

Kodansha USA Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC is a publishing company based in New York, US, and a subsidiary of Japan's largest publishing company Kodansha. Established in July 1st 2008, Kodansha USA publishes books relating to Japan, Japanese culture, and man ...

publishes the manga in English.

Characters

- The first protagonist of the novel. Haruna is a straightforward and unrelenting teenage girl who saves Ichiro from the bullying of her boyfriend, Kannonzaki. - The second protagonist of the novel. Ichiro is bullied by the other boys at school due to his popularity with girls at school. Quiet and non-chalant, Ichiro is

closeted ''Closeted'' and ''in the closet'' are metaphors for LGBTQ people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior. This metaphor is associated and sometime ...

although he dates Kanna to appear straight. - Kozue is one of the most popular girls at the high school. She is a

child model A child model is a child who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art, such as photography, painting and sculpture. Practice Artists have used children as models for countless ...

and one of Ichiro's only friends aside from Haruna. - Hotheaded and rash, Kannonzaki is Haruna's boyfriend. He relentlessly bullies Ichiro due to his popularity with girls at school. - Ichiro's girlfriend. She is unaware of his homosexuality and is overprotective of Ichiro. - One of Haruna's friends. She dates older men for gifts.

Publications

''River's Edge'' was originally published on May 27, 1994, by

Takarajimasha is a Japanese publishing company based in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It is known for publishing subculture-oriented fashion magazines aimed at teens, fashion magazines in general, as well as guide books. History The company was founded on September 22, ...

in the ''CUTiE'' magazine. Since then, the manga has been reprinted three times: in 2000, 2008, and 2015. In 2023, an English translation published by

was released.

References

External links

*{{anime News Network, manga, 7665 1994 manga Anime and manga about teenage pregnancy Comics about drugs Josei manga Kyoko Okazaki LGBTQ-related anime and manga Manga adapted into films Works about harassment and bullying 1990s LGBTQ literature