Play it Cool, Guys began as a webcomic collection and is lastly obtainable in bodily type with two extra unique chapters. Launched localized in Englis by Yen Press (Initially revealed in Japanese by Sq. Enix), Play it Cool Guys Quantity 1 is written and illustrated by mangaka Kokone Nata, translated by Amanda Haley, and options touch-up and letters from Lya Blakeslee. This slice of life comedy manga is a skinny quantity, with six small chapters. The primary 4 deal with every of the “cool guys,” Hayate Ichikura, Shun Futami, Takayuki Mima, and Souma Shiki, with the final two bringing them collectively.
To place it merely, Play it Cool Guys is only a collection of vignettes that showcase the lives of 4 quintessential “cool guys” who simply so occur to be a bunch of clumsy dorks. Engaging and starting from final 12 months of highschool to a longtime salaryman, every certainly one of them is admired by these round them for having all of it collectively when in actuality they’re carrying numbers backward, pushing a pull-door, lacking the opening on their coffees, and a forgetting their wallets. As a snapshot of life, Nata does an outstanding job of clueing the viewers into every of the characters’ idiosyncrasies, not simply of their clumsy errors however in how they deal with them.
Whereas Play it Cool Guys is a straightforward manga, Nata takes their time establishing character dynamics and personalities that additionally make it a enjoyable character research that pays off when the 4 of them cross paths with one another. That is achieved by figuring out all of them as absent-minded dorks with small variations that preserve their private tales fascinating and never too comparable.
Hayate is the “embarrassed and introspective sort,” main him to overthink each mistake he makes. A university pupil with no scarcity of admirers, Hayate can’t get out of his personal head lengthy sufficient to really feel fashionable. However, highschool third-year Shun is the “bluffing stoic sort,” telling everybody round him that each one his errors are intentional – taking part in it cool to get previous them. Subsequent is my private favourite Takayuki who’s the “unaware and unaffected sort.” He’s calm and utterly unbothered by his clumsiness; the truth is, these round him fear about it greater than him. One thing which will come along with his age because the oldest of the primary characters at 27. Lastly, you’ve got Takayuki’s youthful brother Souma who, not like his brother, may be very conscious of his errors however whose optimism makes him the “self-accepting optimistic sort.” Sporting the unsuitable socks, welp, I suppose it’s a trend assertion. Whereas he’s much like Shun, he really believes that his errors aren’t unhealthy, whereas Shun sees his clumsiness as elements of him that he can’t let folks see.
However past sturdy solo characters, Nata brings every of their “cool guys” collectively excellently. On the finish of every chapter, Nata has them crossing paths earlier than transitioning into the subsequent vignette. And when Nata brings the characters into one another’s orbit, my BL-loving heart can’t assist however flutter, particularly in relation to the way in which that Hayate and Takayuki hit it off. Whereas this won’t come to fruition, it’s a component that I believe opens up potentialities for future volumes to discover how every of the characters grows with one another and are influenced by each other. That may occur with out romance, however for Hayate and Takayuki, not less than, it doesn’t look like that would be the case.
The intricacies within the character work are matched equally by Nata’s beautiful artwork. Play it Cool Guys Quantity 1 is full-color, and Nata makes use of that to their benefit with every chapter a special colour representing the totally different characters. As an alternative of being printed on common white paper, every web page background is notably a pastel matched to a corresponding sort. The final two chapters of the amount are additionally totally different colours.
General, Play it Cool Guys Quantity 1 is a fast learn with a big effect. It’s enjoyable, cool, healthful, and actually actually relatable. Ever neglect to plug your headphones in? Ever begin strolling in the wrong way of the place you’ll want to go? These cool guys do it on a regular basis.
Play it Cool, Guys Quantity 1 is offered now wherever books are sold.
Play it Cool, Guys Quantity 1
TL;DR
General, Play it Cool Guys Quantity 1 is a fast learn with a big effect. It’s enjoyable, cool, healthful, and actually actually relatable. Ever neglect to plug your headphones in? Ever begin strolling in the wrong way of the place you’ll want to go? These cool guys do it on a regular basis.
Kate is co-founder, EIC, and CCO of BWT. She’s additionally a Licensed Rotten Tomatoes Critic, host, and creator of our flagship podcast, But Why Tho? and Did You Have To?. She additionally manages all PR relationships for comics, manga, movie, TV, and anime. She has an MA in Cultural Anthropology and Non secular Research specializing in how popular culture impacts society.
