^{PART 47 of 52 ONESHOTS in 52 WEEKS
河田悠冶×西尾維新の『ある朝起きたら』 “Aru Asa Okitara” by KAWADA Yuuya & NISIOISIN}

Nisio Isin is the writer behind the famous Monogatari light novel series, which follows high school student Koyomi Araragi and his experiences with several girls afflicted by supernatural phenomena. Beloved for their witty dialogue and colourful characters, the imaginative novels contain all manner of paranormal scenarios, often inspired by European and Japanese folklore.

The author is quite a prolific worker, often penning several novels a year alongside original manga and oneshots, for which he collaborates with different artists and illustrators. This week, I’ll be taking a look at Aru Asa Okitara, one of Nisio Isin’s earliest oneshots, which was published in Weekly Shounen Jump in 2014 and features artwork from Yuuya Kawada.

The 28-page manga tells a gender-swapping story, which is a fairly popular motif in shounen magazines, with many famous manga, such as One Piece, Gintama, Naruto, Fairy Tail, To Love Ru and, of course, Ranma ½, all featuring gender-swapping plotlines or gags at one point or another. The device is often used to stage rather lewd comedic moments, but some authors are more tactful than others, using it to explore themes such as identity and gender dynamics.

Aru Asa Okitara translates roughly to ‘When I Woke Up One Morning,’ which is precisely where it begins. Hatsuko Fukatsu, the heroine of the story, awakens from her slumber dumbfounded. She is unfamiliar with her body, professing that she is, in actuality, a boy! Hatsuko quickly theorises that she—once a he—must have swapped places with somebody else, but Hatsuko doesn’t actually remember who she used to be.

The manga has an interesting premise and an enticing mystery in the central character’s lost identity. Yet it all falls into mundanity as the mystery proves no mystery at all, but rather temporary amnesia. Details surrounding Hatsuko and her possessor’s life seemed to have simply slipped the character’s mind, as they’re all revealed in a revelatory exposition dump. While the ‘twist’ is heartfelt, the way it’s unveiled is clumsy and cheap, with little room for any proper engagement from the reader in terms of clues or foreshadowing.

The manga is rescued somewhat by its central character Hatsuko, who is fun and spirited. There are several well-implemented gags involving speech and gendered language, where the possessed Hatsuko doesn’t quite know how to properly articulate herself as a woman. Hatsuko’s friend is also afforded some great moments, where her suspicions are comedically specific (“For a moment, I thought some boy’s soul had entered your body or something!”). Also included are some more typical jokes about having to navigate changing clothes, which are generally quite light-hearted and tame for the genre.

Yuuya Kawada’s artwork is clean and precise, with the comedic moments landing twice as well thanks to his expressive character art, which makes good use of exaggeration and reaction. While the style itself isn’t especially distinctive, on the whole it is visually pleasing and difficult to critique.

While it isn’t without some redeeming qualities, Aru Asa Okitara is nonetheless a disappointingly straightforward read with a gratingly sudden ending. Nisio Isin’s comedy and lively character’s shine through, but the oneshot lacks the wonder and creativity present in many of his other work, and sadly fails to do anything particularly new or memorable with its motifs.

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