Just one year apart from “Henshin no nyusu,” “Boku wa mondai arimasen” (lit. “Nothing wrong with me”) marks a dramatic, introspective turning point within Natsujikei Miyazaki’s manga prose. In these seven one-shots, her characters are required to act as proper adults in a world (namely, the real world) that is not proper at all, making compromises that feel eerily relatable.
Everyone has a hobby. But what if your hobby was so shameful that your own wife and child would turn their backs on you if they found out? Such is the conundrum of the family man in “Asa no basutei” (lit. “Morning Bus Stop”), who will have to choose between his doll collection and his loved ones. Far more problematic is the hobby of the only male tenant of the Namanuma Apt. Complex in “Maison de Namanuma” (Id.). Installing a wiretap in the apartment of the only female tenant is definitely against the law, but what if that was just a means to protect her from a much bigger danger? In the end, even if you have no hobby at all, like the clerk in “Chizu kara” (lit. “From the Map”), people will look down on you and assume you are a social reject. Unless you marry a complete stranger and move out of your parents, which surely counts as ‘acceptable’ enough.
While not giving up on her penchant for silly names and linguistic puns, in “Boku wa mondai arimasen” Miyazaki no longer provides the reader with the comfort of open endings and out-of-this-world settings. Sure enough, the kind of Japanese suburbia featured in her panels is not meant to be a real-life reconstruction. Still, it is clear that no surreal turn will allow the so-called heroes (?) of this comic book to eschew their duties. In this respect, the title itself leaves room for interpretation, as it could also be understood as “It’s fine for me”—the exact same words uttered in “Asa no basutei” when the main character is asked whether he would burn his doll collection for the sake of his reputation. Indeed, while most of the human types showcased in the manga do not exhibit any serious problem with their attitude, they eventually have to bow under the weight of norms and just accept compromises that deny their true nature.
In addition, in “Boku wa mondai arimasen” girls take the lead, standing out as more resolute and logical than their male counterparts. Boys, for their part, are but indecisive cogs of a larger system that they do not trust yet are unable to defect from, just like the husband of the quiet young woman in “Chizu kara,” who accepts to move into a prefabricated house monitored 24/7 by his company just to avoid the shame of not earning enough for rent.
Structured as a manga survey on conformism in seven chapters, “Boku wa mondai arimasen” at the same time represents Miyazaki’s personal reflection on the curse and blessing inherent in the artist’s mission: to criticize a society which she will never fully be a part.
