Satoko and Nada Vol. 1 (Satoko and Nada, 1)

Satoko is a Japanese student studying at an American university, so, while she knew her dorm roommate wouldn’t be Japanese like her, she was still surprised when Nada opens the door while wearing a niqab. Nada is a student from Saudi Arabia who had become a little lonely and wanted a roommate, but she wanted to broaden her horizons by not having a fellow Muslim as her roommate. Now Satoko and Nada are taking on the US together and thoroughly enjoying themselves in the process.Satoko and Nada has a very cute premise, although I was a little surprised that this comic (which I believe was originally a webcomic) does not appear to be a strictly autobiographical account by Yupechika. That’s what I would normally expect from a story with a rougher art style and a super-niche premise like this, and also since a number of Satoko and Nada’s discoveries about America seemed both very spot-on and things that you would need to be in America to experience. Perhaps more Japanese people than I would expect to know how different American “sushi” often is from Japanese sushi, but I still doubt many of them would know that you need to specifically signal at a bus to flag it down (or at least that has been the case in all of the places I’ve lived), two things that surprised Satoko. Satoko and Nada’s realization over these details (although usually it’s Satoko who’s confused, Nada has been in the US longer and seems to be an old hand at many of these things) feels like something that a USian reader can also laugh at easily because it’s no secret that our country is a bit strange in many ways!With the sheer number of details that Yupechika gets “right”, I would not be surprised if they were an exchange student or if they had a number of friends who were in college. However, there were some parts of the story that didn’t seem quite right to me as someone who has gone to two different American universities, but thankfully those were just details, not major plot points. The biggest detail which felt off to me was Satoko’s conversation partner Kevin, a third-generation Japanese-American who is an absolutely enormous weaboo and really feels like a gag character. His interactions with Satoko do lead to some insightful punchlines (like why you don’t attach headshots or birthdays to your resume), but overall he felt more like an anagram of cringey traits from an entire anime club’s worth of nerds.I wouldn’t consider any of those details to be a potential turn-off for prospective readers, but I could see where the art might push some people away. As mentioned earlier the art is very basic; the lines can be a bit rough and unvaried (as if the art was drawn on a tablet without any pressure sensitivity), nearly every page is in the exact same four-panel format, and the backgrounds are mostly nonexistent. However, the characters remain easily distinguishable from each other (the fact that Satoko and Nada has a fairly small cast likely helps) and the art isn’t actively bad, it simply feels inexperienced. It works in so much that the art allows for the story to move forward, but the art never elevates or contributes to the story in the same way that a masterfully done comic does.Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to the next installment in this short series and I think that Seven Seas has found another title which could be widely adored by both manga fans and newcomers alike.- Helen

As an Arab and a fan of manga, seeing this is mind blowing. It takes a very comedic look at the different Arab culture, mainly Saudi since Nada is Saudi, and use it to educate the audience. Our avatar is Satoko, who is the typical Japanese girl. Her experience is grown greatly as each page shows comedic reactions, situations, and even some slight drama between strange friends from worlds that are even more strange to each other. It shows how two people from completely different views can become friends if they just get to know one another.I can't highly recommend this book enough. It is refreshing to see something like this exists.

The art style is so interesting and striking, first of all. I absolutely love it! The story is a slice of life that follows Nada and Satoko and it’s really informative as well as cute!! Read it!! I can’t wait for volume 2!

This was so sweet reading about the growing friendship between two college roommates. I want to emphasize to the public though that Nada is not representative of all Muslims. I loved learning more about Saudi Arabian culture through her and about Japanese culture through Satoko. The illustration was well done and communication clear.

Satoko and nada are really good friends. They respect each culture and backgrounds. The story is very interesting and informative. I love this book very much.

Humorous slice of life that informs the readers who perhaps don't know much about Japanese and Saudi culture or who want a woman's perspective on it that I would say is realistic.

Superbe petit livre qui décrit la rencontre entre une japonaise expatriée aux USA et sa nouvelle coloc musulmane. On en apprend à la fois sur les clichés mais aussi sur la culture, en fait les trois cultures, la japonaise l'américaine et l'arabe. J'adore cet auteur et j'espère que l'on va voir plus de tomes ! Le format est yonkoma c'est à dire une suite de mini histoires en quatre cases.

サトコとナダは好きな漫画で、英訳版ないかな？と思ったら……。あった！ワクワクしつつ注文。読んでみましたが、訳者さんの苦心と努力がひしひし伝わります。特に、ナダは普通の女の子というサトコのモノローグはどう訳すかな？と思っていたら、"But it turns out that Nada's not that different from my other friends(でも、結局はナダも他の友達と変わらないです)"という訳で、おー！こう訳したかと感心しました。一方で焼きたてのパンと一緒に食べるとおいしいチキンスープのくだりは何故かチキンの香ばしい匂いに改変されていて、あれ？と困惑したりします。多少改変された箇所があり、少し引っ掛かりますが、読みながら英語の語彙力は増えたので星４つ。

もともと四コママンガなので、難しい語彙や長文がなく大変読みやすいです。おそらく初級レベルや中学生でも読めるでしょう。teenと書いてありますが、どの年齢の人が読んでも楽しく読めると思います。