[Manga Review] I Love "Animal Doctor," Which I Have Sold and Bought Back Many Times

How is everyone doing?
This is Shusho.

As I mentioned briefly before,
I am a fan of paper media when it comes to manga.
E-books are wonderful, but
the fact that they are heavy, bulky, and have nowhere to be stored
becomes a fun challenge of thinking about where to put them,
and I absolutely love the bliss of huffing and puffing
as I bring them home from the bookstore after buying a bunch.

I am more of a "Ribon" fan than a "Nakayoshi" fan, and more of a "Hana to Yume" fan than a "Margaret" fan.

I also loved Minako Narita's "Alien Street,"
and I loved Natsumi Itsuki's "Marcello Monogatari" too.

But the one I am truly in love with is
Noriko Sasaki's Animal Doctor.
This is a manga that was also adapted into a TV drama.
It is an unprecedented blockbuster that sold over 20 million copies across 119 chapters.

In the first place, I cannot read "heartwarming pet stories" at all,
and I cannot watch programs of that kind either.
For something to be "heartwarming," there is usually "horrendous misfortune" beforehand, right?
I just can't. Yeah, I can't.
Instead of shedding tears and saying "I'm glad you're happy now,"
I get too focused on the "horrendous misfortune" and cannot feel moved at all.

I get too pulled in by the "misfortune," and my imagination runs wild,
making it so painful that it feels like an arrow has pierced my heart.
Even at my real workplace,
I have literally issued a gag order, saying, "Don't tell me moving stories about animals; what if I have a mental breakdown!" It's a bit pathologically bad.
The faces of my beloved pets at home immediately come to mind, and I just fall apart in tears.

HOWEVER!!!
This manga has absolutely none of that!!!

The protagonist, Masaki Nishine
(The kanji for 'Masaki' is broken down, and he is called "Ham-tel" in the manga)
Ham-tel's "Grandmother"
The Siberian Husky "Chobi," who becomes the reason he becomes a veterinarian
Grandmother's pet cat, "Mike," who speaks in a Kansai dialect in the manga
The strongest creature in the Nishine household, who knows no fear, just a total ruffian,
the White Leghorn (chicken) Hiyo-chan.

He enters the veterinary department despite hating rats,
and on the photo of a rat in his textbook,
he writes "I am a squirrel. My tail was shaved" to cover it up.
His friend Nikaido

He loves Africa, is rough and boorish, and doesn't care about being busy at all.
He is the person who said to Ham-tel when they first met,
"You will become a veterinarian. I'd even bet this Casio Mini (calculator) on it."
Professor Urushihara

He loves horses and is like a meticulous British gentleman. Even when a student's scheme
caused the horse Serika to get snot on him, he didn't get angry.
Professor Sugawara

She loves cleaning blood test equipment. The cat she keeps at home
keeps a subtle distance from her.
Graduate student Seiko Hishinuma

And many other dogs, cats, rats,
stories about zoo training, stories about winter dog sled races,
stories about the national veterinary exam—I take my hat off to the attention to detail in the research.

Anyway, the fact that "there isn't a single story where an animal is pitiful"
is why my favorability rating for it is through the roof.

There are mutterings of the animals' feelings throughout,
but they are written in a brush-pen font,
and instead of "~nyan♡",
they are written in everyday language like,
"Well, I'll teach you how to catch a rat from now on,"
so there is absolutely no forcing of "See? Isn't it cute?"
It's not just heartwarming and chuckle-inducing; it's a manga that carries the danger of getting so hooked
that some people say it's dangerous to read on the train.

And it is not a romance manga.
It is just heartwarming and lovely, and with all the veterinary students bustling about,
you can feel that this is what a university is like.

The lines are thin and it has a unique worldview,
but even reading it again now, the fun is the same as it was back then, and it is a manga
that is worth reading with a fresh feeling forever.
I feel the spirit of a professional who finishes even the fine details,
like the screen tones in the manga or drawing the cross-hatching by hand.
I think it is worthy of being called a "masterpiece."

In the manga, it is called "H University Veterinary Department," but
it is a famous story that she did research at the Hokkaido University Veterinary Department for many years.
She left behind an anecdote that she would always bring a box of sweets to the veterinary department and keep asking students, "Can I follow you around?"

I'm sure there are many people who became veterinarians because of this manga, aren't there?

Even though I'm talking about it so passionately, why did I sell it and buy it back...?

I always realize it only after you're gone.
I'm always like this.

I took your kindness for granted.
I believed you would always come to me.
Sometimes, you know, I would see you in the rental section at TSUTAYA.
Oh, why did I think it would still be okay?
Where did such baseless confidence even come from?

Yes

Before I knew it, you had disappeared
from the genre of collected volumes...

Ah!!
If only I had realized sooner!!
Could we have started over?

I want to start over with you, no matter what, no matter what!!
Even if your appearance has changed, my love remains the same.
I'm sorry for realizing it so late.
Once more,
Just one more time,
let me take your love for granted.

Collector's Edition: Animal Doctor, all 6 volumes, bought in one go.

Ugh, so expensive!

Six incredibly heavy manga volumes in a bookstore paper bag.
No, this weight is my penance.
Do you think you can make up for all your past rudeness with just this much weight?
You fool!! Know your place before you speak!

I'll go into a nearby cafe and first apologize to the books for all the rudeness I've shown until now.

Thank you so much for coming to me.
Can you forgive me for everything up until now?
No, you don't have to forgive me.
In fact, don't forgive me.
I've decided that even if I'm not loved back, I will live on just by loving you.
So... yeah. I'm still too nervous to even touch them. I gently stroked the cover with my index finger.

The pancakes and iced coffee I ordered arrived.
I spread the butter, red bean paste, and whipped cream evenly all over.
I'm the type who puts milk in iced coffee.
I stir the iced coffee pointlessly with my straw, and let out a small sigh to calm myself down.

"Buying in one go" is a well-chosen phrase.
Hey, Jeeves—wait, who is that?

Seriously, enough already.
My internal monologue is way too busy.
My character isn't settled at all.
There's the woman crying and begging, the man who sounds like some kind of lord, and the me who is being calm in the real world.
This manga that came to me is driving me crazy.

I glance sideways at the "Animal Doctor" in the bag.
Every time I swallow a bite of pancake,
it's also true that the feeling of "I've really done it now" wells up.

I snapped a photo of the inside of the bag and sent it to a friend.
"I've done it now."
A reply came back immediately:
"It's fine to have done it!"
My heart soared at those words,
and now I shall make a fresh declaration.

I will never, ever let go of this love (manga) again.

For the rest of my life, I will protect your place (the bookshelf) with my life!

Because that is the only way I can atone for my sins.

I went home, took off my makeup, took a bath,
quickly ate dinner, and made some tea,
preparing so that I wouldn't have to do anything else,
so that I could sleep holding only these feelings of love (my thoughts on reading it).

Sigh...

The love for six volumes was heavy, but

the fact that I was an "adult" who could afford to buy them when I sought that love for six volumes

has never made me happier than I am today.

Animal Doctor is a masterpiece.

You should definitely read it too!!!

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