Asa Asada’s mother is going into labor, and poor, unnoticed, forgettable Asa is sent to track down a doctor. But, on her way home from the doctor’s, two events happen that change her entire world. The first is the arrival of a horrible storm. And the second is that Asa witnesses an attempted robbery. Kidnapped by the would-be-burglar and trapped in a warehouse during a typhoon, Asa learns quite a lot about the man who took her hostage, and he learns a lot about her. When the storm subsides, the two emerge to discover that the entire town has been devastated.
But…here’s the juicy part. At the end of volume 1, Asa makes a shocking discovery about that storm. Since it’s at the end of the first book, this has the potential to be a major spoiler, so I won’t say anything else here. But, it’s quite a shocking revelation that sets the stage for the rest of the series.
Asadora! is a fascinating historical fiction manga series, following young Asa in the aftermath of those events. And while I really can’t say much without giving plot away, I can tell you that this is a great world-building series with sympathetic and well-developed characters. If you enjoy a narrative that spans decades, and a mystery that deepens at every turn, then I highly recommend this fascinating series.
If you’d like to read something by Naoki Urasawa, but aren’t ready for a full series, we have two of his standalone manga in our collection: Sneeze (a collection of short stories) and my personal favorite, Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams, the story of a desperate man who becomes embroiled in a plan to rob the Louvre.
