is a Japanese

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series written and illustrated by . It has been serialized in

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...

's manga magazine ''

Weekly Big Comic Spirits is a weekly Japanese ''seinen'' manga magazine published by Shogakukan. The first issue was published on October 14, 1980. Food, sports, romance and business are recurring themes in the magazine, and the stories often question conventional val ...

'' since April 2021.

Plot

Hiroto Ikuta is a 29-year-old freelance worker employed at a fishing pond. His approachable demeanor attracts frequent interactions with elderly patrons, though he becomes nervous around women he finds attractive. Originally from Yamagata, he abandoned his acting aspirations after repeatedly failing auditions. He regularly visits 83-year-old Hanae Wada, a retired school cook who lives on pension, sharing meals at her home. After Hanae's sudden death from

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

, Ikuta inherits her house through prearranged paperwork. He subsequently houses his 18-year-old cousin Natsumi Kobayashi, an art school applicant, becoming her guardian in the inherited residence.

Publication

Written and illustrated by , ''Hirayasumi'' started in

's manga magazine ''

'' on April 26, 2021. In October 2023, Shinzō stated that the manga would enter on hiatus until 2024, explaining that he was not sick, but that he required more time to "draw the manga in a satisfactory way that will leave no regrets," adding that he would still be drawing almost every day until its return; the series resumed on January 6, 2024. Shogakukan has collected its chapters into individual volumes. The first volume was released on September 10, 2021. As of November 28, 2024, eight volumes have been released. In North America, the manga has been licensed for English release by

Viz Media Viz Media, LLC is an American entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California, focused on publishing manga, and distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. The company was founded in 1986 as Viz, ...

Volumes

Reception

''Hirayasumi'' ranked third on "The Best Manga 2022 Kono Manga wo Yome!" ranking by ''Freestyle'' magazine. The series ranked sixth on the Publisher Comics' Recommended Comics of 2022. Alongside ''Nabe ni Dangan wo Ukenagara'', ''Hirayasumi'' ranked eighteenth in the 2023 edition of

Takarajimasha is a Japanese publishing company based in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It is known for publishing subculture-oriented fashion magazines aimed at teens, fashion magazines in general, as well as guide books. History The company was founded on September 22, ...

's ''

Kono Manga ga Sugoi! is an annual reference mook series published by Takarajimasha since 2005 featuring yearly rankings and reviews of manga. The rankings are compiled by surveying professionals in the manga and publishing industry. The first two years saw two s ...

'' list of best manga for male readers. It ranked 24th the 2023 "Book of the Year" list by '' Da Vinci'' magazine. It won the Tokyo News Services' ''TV Bros'' magazine Bros. Comic Award 2021. The manga was nominated for the 15th

Manga Taishō The is a Japanese List of comics awards, comics award recognizing achievement in manga. It is awarded annually to a manga series published in the previous calendar year of eight or fewer Tankōbon, collected volumes in length. The Manga Taish� ...

in 2022, and placed third with 66 points; it was nominated for the 17th edition in 2024, and placed ninth with 49 points. It was also nominated for the 27th

Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Named after Osamu Tezuka, the is a yearly manga prize awarded to manga artists or their works that follow the Osamu Tezuka manga approach founded and sponsored by Asahi Shimbun. The prize has been awarded since 1997, in Tokyo, Japan. Current ...

in 2023. It has been nominated at the Japan Society and

Anime NYC Anime NYC is an annual four-day anime convention held during August at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Programming The convention typically offers arcade games, an artist alley, concerts, manga library (Carolina Manga Li ...

's second American Manga Awards for Best Continuing Manga Series in 2025. The series received positive comments from manga artists, including

Inio Asano is a Japanese manga artist. Asano created the acclaimed manga series '' Solanin'', which was released as a feature film in Japan in April 2010, starring Aoi Miyazaki. He is also famous for the series '' Goodnight Punpun'' and '' Dead Dead Demo ...

Masakazu Ishiguro is a Japanese manga artist. He debuted in 2000 with the one-shot ''Hero'' prior to launching ''And Yet the Town Moves'' in 2005, which won the Seiun Award for Best Comic and an Excellence Award at the Japan Media Arts Festival. In 2018, he launch ...

, , ,

Taiyō Matsumoto is a Japanese manga artist. Active as a professional manga artist since the 1980s, he is known for his experimental style and genre-blending works such as '' Tekkonkinkreet'', ''Ping Pong'', and '' No. 5''. Influenced by Katsuhiro Otomo and Fre ...

and Yama Wayama.

References

External links