Cigarette Girl & Mundanity

First Read
I really had to process this manga. I initially read half of it, put it down for 2 hours, and then read the last half. And then I slept on it for two days. I really couldn't make up my mind about it. The storylines are open, just like life, and it was kind of hard to accept that at first. I do like media that examines life through its most mundane elements and overlooked aspects. However in Cigarette Girl, I often had to look at the little details within the frame or re-read the panels to complete the joke or story. Then I would find some sort of satisfaction from these character's lives.

But at the end of the day, these characters are in the middle class, lonely, single, and floating through life. So ultimately; pretty relatable. Therefore I question why this was such a hard manga for me to connect to. I guess we all want to find media, even with the slightest bit of an idealized reality. I respect Cigarette Girl and think I'll give it a second read, because Mundanity is valid, dammit!

Matsumoto is definitely telling a story here, through this lonely middle class of children raised after WWII. He raises some questions about expectations of marriage and relationships. Early on, in the story Naruko Tsurumaki's Love (my favorite), there was a hint of commentary on a generational divide.

Second Read
I suppose this was a tough read initially because I actually do relate to these characters so much that it's hard to be confronted with such a "mirror image" of aspects of my life in a manga. I don't mind stories without happy endings, there's no need. But the lack of closure I felt upon my initial reading of Cigarette Girl was a struggle to reconcile with. I wouldn't say it was depressing, more so melancholic or lonely. Cigarette Girl showcased a niche aspect of life that we all experience, but don't talk about. It showed that people, at the core, really don't change. People just adapt. That's life, and it's really about being decent enough to get by.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just a note on some points made in class: I was rather frustrated by the discussion that ensued over Cigarette Girl. As I said, I feel the manga had a lot to offer in terms of examining the overlooked aspects of our lives. I think it's important to take in media that is not always idealized and escapist, with an open mind. In the case of Cigarette Girl, I believe it helps ground us and our own mundane lives and managing our day to day expectations. It's important to talk about the niche aspects of life, I believe there's a lot to learn in slice of life pieces such as this (and Abandon the Old Tokyo). We can't continue to (excessively) glorify our media and then claim mental health and interpersonal relationships are overlooked and underrepresented, can we? Maybe I'm biased because I respect media literacy, but it's important to have an open mind about the media you consume so that we can continue to facilitate discussions on these overlooked aspects of life and relationships.