What a Wonderful World! is a compilation of 9 tracks or short stories that chronicle a turning point in the life of young adults. All of these tracks deal with characters that live on the fringe of society. They range from middle school outcast, to college dropout musician, to struggling manga artist. Inio Asano takes us through a series of events that cover the depressing to humorous times in life all captured in the urban setting that shows the oppressive tendencies that come with inner city life.

Highlights:

I found all of the tracks to have particular significance, but for the group as a whole the 2nd track, A Town with Many Hills, 3rd track, A Bear from the Forest and the 9th track, Syrup are the stand out vignettes.

A Town of Many Hills chronicles the moment in a middle school girl's life when she makes the move from being the weak, helpless girl that is the focus of much ridicule to becoming the top of the pack. Although, it has been close to 35 years since I have been in middle school I found myself relating to this girl, even though I was never in the position she finds herself.  She is clearly an introverted girl who would rather be a shrinking violet than a lion amongst rabbits. She has become so depressed about her position in life that she is now being followed by a Crow, that is, a shinigami who keeps asking her why she wants to live. She comes across a rite of passage where the participants will push the limits of their fortitude for the right to be the king of second semester. This is where her big breakthrough comes. She decides to get involved and take on all the cool kids by winning the contest. She does win and she also manages to survive the stunt. This brings about two poignant  discoveries for her. First she finds that it was all very stupid and silly to want this role of being king of second semester. Second, the Crow that was driving her to self destruction is now gone.

A Bear from the Forest takes us to the real edge of society with the would be renegade Yakuza and a girl who has clearly dropped out of society. The Yakuza wears only a bear outfit to hide his identity from the girl and he has stolen a large sum of money from his boss. He takes the girl hostage and is using her apartment as a hideout. He keeps her tied up and them offers her a large sum of money to help him. She agrees and eventually becomes much more than just a helper. In the end he is found and she gets the money. But her affection for him is not lasting and she falls back into the same old trap she was in before.

Syrup is much darker, it follows the slacking events of three perennial failures. The young men are unable to pass the college entrance exam and are dealing with the inevitability of what will come. One is addicted to cough syrup and was once a dancing prodigy, but has lost his focus and only wants to fly. The other two also have big dreams that require more than just the typical lip service that comes from youth and the belief that if you wish for it, it will happen. The dramatic conclusion reflect the true sacrifice that may be required to follow unrealistic dreams.

Overall:

I found What a Wonderful World!  to be an easy read that had so much more to say than the basic plot lines offered up. I feel that maybe what it said to me was not the intent of Inio Asano. It is clear that Asano wanted to illustrate the struggles that come with wanting to be more than what you are, along with the disillusionment that comes with growing up. With Inio being 23 when this was first released tells me a great deal about where the meaning of these stories was coming from.  For most creative persons this age is a true time of enlightenment and discovery. Inio does a great job of relating this discovery in the these stories. My only issue is that I found them rather self-absorbed. They were just a little heavy handed in the loss of innocence diatribe put forth. I must admit that we must all travel through this period of discovery and that we will all have our own test of faith in our dreams, some more dramatic than others, but the test will come none the same. 

For the group of readers from 16 to 30 this short series could provide some needed reinforcement to help them understand the issues they feel are so unique to themselves. Life is something that we all must cope with and creative products such as What a Wonderful World!  spotlight the similarities of our existence. The art work is done with a light touch and maintains the realism that is required to hold the essence of the story together. I found myself swept back to an age of trials and tribulations that I had all but forgotten. 

ComicsOnline gives What a Wonderful World! 4.5 out of 5 lost souls.