Shimeji Simulation Manga Review- A Strange and Sentimental Story
Written by Rei Caldombra 1/3/2023 Video version: https://youtu.be/c9GIE5h6TNI
This is a hard manga to talk about. Not because it's bad or anything, in fact I think it's fantastic. It's just hard to describe what it's about and put my opinions on it into words. And I actually think this hard to describe feeling perfectly mirrors the tone and subject matter of the manga. There will be direct spoilers for the story.
I first got into Shimeji Simulation after I watched and subsequently read Girls Last Tour (GLT). I absolutely love GLT, so I had to give Tsukumizu's other work a shot. By the way, to my knowledge Tsukumizu's gender identity is not confirmed by them so I will be referring to Tsukumizu as they.
The style and overall tone/vibe of Girls Last Tour carries over into Shimeji Simulation. Both stories focus on two young girls trying to find themselves in the world.
Tsukumizu's art style has not changed since their work on Girls Last Tour. I love their style. The faces of the characters are very simplistic but super cute. There is a lot of portrayal of buildings and structures, with them being incredibly detailed. I love this contrast. There is also a great sense of scale. Characters can go from looking small to large based on how they’re drawn. The style also has the look of rougher sketches. Like you can see in the thumbnail, lines are uneven, not always fully connected, etc. Hard to explain but I really like it. I think it fits the subject matter and something about it just looks very nice.
Shimeji Simulation is a true slice of life. The main focus is the girls just living their lives, with the world they are in being a very strange one. It's got a laid back but weird atmosphere. Things can be nonsensical at times, then very normal and casual. There's a lot of philosophy and poeticism. Topics can include the meaning of life, what people mean to each other, humanity, what objects can mean. One scene I really like that touches on this tone is the scene where Shijima and Majime talk about plushies. This also serves as an example of the manga simply being very cute.
They simply talk about plushies, like why Majime likes them and what nicknames she has for them. But you get this feeling that there is something deeper you can take out of this, even if you can’t quite put your finger on it. Shimeji Simulation’s writing strongly encourages people to think more deeply about normal things. To consider the meaning of objects and concepts. Shimeji Simulation is adept at making you think about and contextualize the world around you. And this theme is expressed and reflected directly through the story.
When it comes to the story it’s also hard to describe. It starts out with Shijima exiting her closet and getting to know people and the world. Some time passes and they meet someone who's kinda like a god. Then Shijima’s scientist sister alters the fabric of reality, making it so everyone’s imaginations directly change the world. What truly makes this story special is that this is not something that is a horrible issue that the story makes clear needs to be fixed. The characters have to live with this. You see the characters adjust to the new way the world works. Some people like it and some people don’t. And the world does not immediately descend into chaos or anything like that. The people change and keep living. Even in a world where reality can change with a thought, life ends up being pretty simple. There is something so special and grounded about this. I think this story is a beautiful representation of the mundanity and simplicity that makes up much of the human experience. While also bringing up how complicated our feelings and places in the universe are.
Later on, reality basically falls apart, melding into this strange amalgamation of everyone and everything. You truly don’t really know what’s going on, as do the characters. The girls get separated, stuck in their own mindscapes. You see how their worlds are very different. But what they both want is to see each other again. They do end up finding each other. But reality does not get fixed. Their wish and what all of this meant is not clearly defined. In the end, all that really matters is that Shijima and Majime end up back together. And what you make of that and everything that led them to that point is up to you.
There are a lot of takeaways you can have, particularly about what life means. I think life in this story can simply refer to being with the people you love. Life can dramatically change and throw things at you that make you uncertain and afraid, but you can push through it by sticking to what is important to you. Shijima and Majime’s love for each other allowed them to find each other amidst a chaotic world and be able to find happiness. As said before. I believe the manga encourages you to reconsider how you view yourself and other people. Everyone sees things from different perspectives and has unique ideas. We see this in the reality controlled by imagination, where everyone has different living spaces, objects, even bodies. And people generally seemed happy. Shijima is able to find Majime by exploring many different places in their world that are dictated by different people. By gaining new experiences and world views, she is able to recontextualize her own. Which enables her to realize her own feelings and get in the space that Majime is in.
I feel this is one of those stories where you can really feel the author's feelings and personality in the work. And despite that, it doesn’t feel like it’s trying to convince you of any particular worldview. Rather it encourages you to look inward and come to your own conclusions. I would love to hear how any of you have taken from this story.
To conclude, I really like this manga and highly recommend it to anyone who wants a bizarre story that encourages deeper thinking while also making you smile with wholesome antics. It truly is a unique read, there is nothing else quite like it. I really hope you check it out if you haven’t. I don’t think this is a story that gets ruined by spoilers. It seems like Tsukumizu has another project in the works, so let’s look forward to that together (I hope the next one continues the trend of the previous protagonists showing up in noncritical ways. I want to see our potatoes, mushroom and egg again). Thank you for reading!
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