"Pink by Kyoko Okazaki
Long-Winded Review #6 (crocodiles are cute fuck you edition)

Pink is a manga that just doesn't give a fuck. Pink is both anarchic and capitalist. Pink is both punk rock and pop. Pink is both sour and sweet. Pink is pink.

On a surface level, this might come across as a simple humorous slice-of-life story with no plot. And really, it's not much more than that, and that is exactly the point. Pink's philosophy is "fuck assumptions, fuck how you're supposed to feel, fuck all that" This philosophy is perfectly embodied by Yumi owning a fucking crocodile that just hangs out in her apartment, because why the fuck not? This line of thinking permeates the entire manga and it might not be obvious at a first glance, but that's exactly the point. You don't need to be deep and stuffy to send a message to your readers, you can embrace the ridiculous shit life throws at you and laugh it of. Get yourself some sweets, have some casual sex, buy some cool stuff, and move on.

You can be an office worker with a side-gig as a call girl, own a cute ass crocodile, enjoy fucking old men, enjoy eating sweets and hanging out with your bratty little sister, fuck and befriend your step-mom's young boyfriend, embrace capitalism because buying things is fun, enjoy sex with a rude and verbally abusive man that robbed you because fuck it the sex was amazing. Had a bad day? Fuck that, do something fun right now. Life goes on, and why dwell on the negative? Buy some cute clothes and move on.

The art reflects this perfectly as well. Most of the time, Okazaki's pencils are loose and cartoonish. Some might call it amateurish, but it's intended to be just as it is. It emphasizes Okazaki's unique sense of humor and the philosophy of the book. The comedic timing is absolutely flawless and I found myself laughing every other page. I love the exaggerated expressions, I love the ridiculous situations the characters get into, I love the fact that no fucks are given. Just enjoy a damn manga and have fun. All that matters is getting through the day in whatever way makes you happy. Enjoy the here and now.

This manga gets a 10/10 from me. Its unique charm, its humor, its shamelessness, its casual depth is unmatched. Pink is loose and free. Pink is sugary and chewy. Pink is one of a kind. It doesn't take itself seriously, and neither should you. Life is ridiculous so get yourself a cute ass crocodile."

"This is a book of philosophy.

Yumi is a philosophy.

Being Yumi is a philosophy.

If you read this manga entirely without realizing this, you need to read it again.

Every single line in the art is serviceable to Yumi-philosophy.

Yumi philosophy encompasses a lot of things. It encompasses the fact that you can own a bloody crocodile. It encompasses the fact that enjoying apple pie with your kid sister is nice. It encompasses the fact that when you get tied up or fucked over or screamed at, sometimes, you can enjoy it, and even make a living off it. It encompasses the fact that even when you're a completely useless college student, you can win literary prizes. It encompasses the fact that within the small empty bubble that happens to be your life, and within its tragedies, and within its horrors, there is a never-ending array of lightness that you can dance on.

Which is why the ending is the most beautiful ending in the world, because it holds the end of the dream, and yet it never ends. That beautiful lie exists as the essence of Yumi-philosophy. That beautiful lie is something that many people in the world, in their various systems and situations, can ever hope to have, by the end of it, because they know not any other way of subsistence.

Recognizing the horror of that fact, and existing in a bubble world softened by the lightness of Okazaki's drawings and lines, is the essence of the contemporary dream. It's the essence of Okazaki's entire oeuvre.

And, what else can be said, but, it gets you by. That's all you need, to get by."