I went into this manga not knowing what to expect. I liked the idea of it but I didn't get attached to any of the characters. It was okay but I was hoping for more. Maybe it just wasn't for me. The only thing I found funny was how scared Usahara was of Omota Uramichi. I'll read the next volume to see if I like it more.

- M

When we watch a toddler or preschool show with an adult cast, we can forget that the actor is not the same as his character. That she has a real life beyond the screen. That they have real problems. That "kid's show host" probably isn't the life they had in mind. And that's the central premise of this manga. It's a a black comedy, so everything is taken to an extreme. Uramichi walks around with a fixed smile, nearly a grimace, pasted to his face. He talks about futility as he teaches silly dances and introduces story time. It's not just tongue in cheek. IT's stepped beyond that. Its darkness and depression laid bare.

Sarcastic? Yes.
Full of dark humor? Yes.
A ridiculous relatable book for a 24-year-old who is constantly job hunting? Oh yes.

I loved reading through this manga. “Who’s exhausted? Hurting?" "Why aren't you married? Or a daddy?" "I lose a little bit more... Of my life force." Honestly, Uramichi, me too. I think this manga can be a huge hit with the TikTok generation and older. I know that my 40-year-old friends would enjoy this book just as much as I did. I look forward to reading Kuze's next work and supporting them by purchasing this book when it is out for my friends to enjoy too.

I just reviewed Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan 1 by Gaku Kuze. #LifeLessonswithUramichiOniisan1 #NetGalley

Ever felt bad about your life choices? That is basically Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan – a deluge of career and life crisis as a children’s show entertainer. Think if Steve from Blue’s Clues visibly hated his job, yet kept the resentment and chipper attitude in tandem. The concept and its first few pages lay an excellent foundation for many a reader where we see the host, Uramichi Oniisan, telling out-of-character questions and statements including:
• “Who’s exhausted? Hurting? Meeeee…”
• “I’ll cast a special spell on all of you…one to keep you safe from ending up like me in twenty-odd years.”

These kinds of jokes make the bulk of the manga and are some of the funniest I have read. It is a story worth visiting each chapter, especially for someone who likes self-deprecating and depressing humor. Yet, I only treat this manga as a “visit’ as opposed to a straight and thorough read because the comedy tends to be one-note, repetitive, and at worst monotonous. The subject matter is not so visceral to me as it is all played for laughs, yet the flow of the manga gets hampered with the same brand of humor in each chapter. It also gets hard to follow on whose who. I normally mistake one character for Uramichi and vice versa, whether it be from a lack of character development (especially in the first segment) or the similar features and designs. What I notice is that my enjoyment of this work stems from reading one chapter a day. This makes the jokes land fresh without any sort of a blur. Hopefully, the next installment will have more character-development along with its brand of depressingly funny comedy.

I can definitely see this title working for those in their mid 20's, particularly in college, and those in the working world. If I want to indirectly communicate to someone how much I am hurting and hating my life decisions, giving them a copy of this manga would be a first step...kind of.

***ARC provided by Netgalley for honest review***

Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan, volume 1 is a manga about the depressing cast of an educational children's television show. They all hate their jobs, but do their best to push through the adulty tears and teach some kids! :-P It was a bit more cringy than I thought it would be, however, its sort of sarcastic and dark humour did come off pretty funny at times. Neither excellent or awful, I'd say pick up this unique story about the tragedy of career choices if it sounds interesting to you.

I could not stop laughing throughout this whole story! Uramichi Oniisan is so hilarious as a main character, and I especially like the sardonic, dark humor he uses. He is the inner voice in all of us, saying what most of us only think. I love the juxtaposition of him and the cute children; they play off each other so well. I can't wait to see what comes next!

Thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for providing an e-ARC of this manga in exchange for an honest review. All the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
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I was so excited to read this! I had been hearing a lot of good things about Uramichi Oniisan for a while now and I jumped on the chance to review it.

Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan follows 31-year-old Uramichi who is a host on a popular kids show. He conducts typical fun activities for kids such as singing songs and making crafts. He always manages to sneak in some harsh, cold-slap-of-reality and entirely too depressing advice about the depressing realities of adult life in his work. Miraculously, he is never edited out.

This manga was hilarious! In a hitting wayyy too close to home kinda way.

I absolutely adore the tiny little kids and their comments whenever Uramichi slips into his moods mid-show. Uramichi's coworkers are a band of adults whose sole purpose seems to be to expound upon exactly how many ways life can screw someone over.

I also love the little glimpses into "off-screen" Uramichi and how these hint at a deeper story of this amazing character.

Also, I have to add that there are full lyrics to the wacky and adorable jingles sung by the hosts of the show!

I think it goes without saying that this was an absolute delight to read! The pacing was perfect, the artwork somber, beautiful and adorable in all the right places and the dialogue was very well thought-out.

I cannot wait to read Volume 2!

Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5 stars

Uramichi is the charming "oniichan" from the morning Japanese children's show ... who is completely mentally dead inside. He is a bachelor, lives a recent life as a modern loner and is a bit depressed, but he has something to say to the children (whether he wants to go to work or not ... he doesn't want to go soon). He's not really alone ... everyone in this show with a little something (a little ?!) depressed from real life outside the studio, where they have to sing, jump and laugh (although even the kids are used to that something they are not in order xD).
The title is very fresh, with soft sarcasm and irony, with great clean art. Although we talk about how its theme is depressing, the story is not difficult or sad, only within the limits of how one understands the theme of loneliness ... Our Uramichi is convinced that to be alone and to be lonely is not one and also, so hope is definitely alive in him ... although kids tend to make him think it might not be so xD
I had a lot of fun. The anime adaptation, which was marked last year for this one, will turn out perfectly. Kamiya Hiroshi, I am convinced, will be as attached to this role, I can hear it. Miyano Mamoru and Sugita Tomokazu can also be defined as right in the top ten.
I would be happy to follow the series!

The original of this review is in Bulgarian, as it is my native language. The link below leads to it.

This was a very fun manga, the story follows a group of audlts who are actors/characters in a young children's tv show. Uramichi is very cynical and you can just tell how beaten down he is. I laughed and cringed reading this, it was everything I feel as a failed adult even though I know there's no time limit to completing my goals and progressing/growing as a human 😓 Anyways I highly reccomend this series, I think it's fun and relatable.

Pessimist Uramichi is a children's TV show host who somehow keeps getting away with feeding cynical and nihilistic lines to the kids he works with on his show. The manga didn't really work for me - it's full of "dark humor" but it doesn't quite land in translation and the visual gags aren't enough to make up for that. It might be a fun anime show, perhaps even a delightful dub if they go the route of Panty and Stocking's dub which was often improved for western audiences. But as it was, the manga didn't really feel well paced or funny.

This manga was different from all the other mangas I've read so far. It was messy for me, and I cannot tell if it's good or bad.

*already been posted on my bookstagram
While I am continuing to post my regular content, the BLM movement is still going on. Please keep referring to my story and linktree to find ways to help out.✊🏻‼️
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WHAAAAAAT?! Em finishing another netgalley arc?! Say the world is ending! LOL in all seriousness, I saw this manga volume on
@akaashi_momo’s instagram, and once it popped up on my netgalley feed I instantly requested it, feeling so happy I was accepted to read & review this for you all!😁
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Life Lessons With Uramichi Oniison is a manga following of course, Uramichi who works on children’s tv show, as the host. On a show where the stereotype is to be upbeat and cheery, he instead uses it to talk to the children about the less normal, like his struggle with depression among other taboo topics.🤗
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This was very cute, with a lot of dark humor, which is MY type of humor, but other than that, this manga didn’t really do much for me. The story, although funny, didn’t really flow. I also kept mixing up the main character and a side character, which was kinda frustrating. I totally recommend this if you’re looking for a different type of story, but for me personally, I don’t think I will continue with the other volumes.😚
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What’s the last graphic novel or manga you read? Let me know!💋
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Dm me to talk about all things book or writing related! I’ll be looking forward to it! —Em😌

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A hilarious and absolutely fun read! The story follows Uramichi, a cynical tv show host for children who use to be a gymnist. He is so cynical and extremely funny and relatable. The story also features many of his coworkers and all their lives. The story is funny, and I can’t wait to read more from this series!!!

*Thanks Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

** First Thing's First I Would Like To Thank Netgalley For Allowing me To Read The Book in Return For my Honest Opinion **

The Manga goes Straight into what needs to be said as Uramichi is Being Asked by one of the little kids about why he is single and unmarried at 30.

It's a Hilarious Down to Earth Manga and I love the Sarcasm that's installed through out the book.

The cast of characters are all in their own way quirky but they all come together to make a good set of characters.

** First Thing's First I Would Like To Thank Netgalley For Allowing me To Read The Book in Return For my Honest Opinion **

The Manga goes Straight into what needs to be said as Uramichi is Being Asked by one of the little kids about why he is single and unmarried at 30.

It's a Hilarious Down to Earth Manga and I love the Sarcasm that's installed through out the book.

The cast of characters are all in their own way quirky but they all come together to make a good set of characters.

Absolutely hilarious title! I'm so excited to see quirkier manga getting a translation. Speaking of translation, the work done on this book was absolutely stellar. Comedy is so difficult to translate, and I was rolling in laughter as I read. Thank you so much for letting me read this.

This was a random pick and didn't even read to figure out what it was about I just jumped right in. Overall I would have to say that this book was pretty funny. See the host, actually the cast, really has no businesses working on this children's show and I couldn't help but laugh at some of the things that happen on and off the show. I enjoyed getting to see these quirky characters and look forward to seeing more from this series.

Funny story with great characters but the story can feel a bit repetitive after the second chapter. Uramichi outlook on life can feel daunting after a while and you hope he will lighten up a bit. However the concept is solid and will keep you reading.

This was a pretty funny and relatable manga about adulthood. I really enjoyed the whole sarcastic tone used throughout the story. I definitely liked Volume 2 more because we get more insight on the characters. Some of the parts were a bit boring or slow, but for the most part this manga was really entertaining. One thing I liked was how Kuze included a glossary at the end to explain the cultural nuances and words. I also thought the play on names for the characters was really clever!

Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan is wicked! This is something else, I can tell you that. The self-loathe, dark humor and the children being a mirror of sorts made this awesome. Uramichi is in his 30s and hosts a children's program and hates his work and life altogether. The TV program isn't normal though and somehow pinpoints the life choices of the characters and is so dark and funny. The irony and everything is something you have to experience yourself. The manga consists of chapters that are their own stories basically and it's no wonder, since the manga started as an internet series. This is also the downfall on some level, since the core doesn't evolve. Yet. I hope Kuze makes the story line evolve, since the theme is narrow and soon used.

The art looks awesome and the facial expressions are the best part of it. The whole thing looks so contradicting and the things said are totally something else, so points for that. The series is extremely refreshing, but soon needs something more. So, this is more like 3.5 or even 4 stars, but I'm playing it safe, since it depends on how Kuze can enrich this. Try it if you want to read something else entirely! I even laughed out loud and that's rare (haha).

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

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Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan 1, by Gaku Kuze
★★☆☆☆
278 Pages


Unfortunately, this one just wasn't for me. I was actually tempted to DNF a few times, but persevered to see if the story could improve, or turn the story around. I'm sorry to say, it just never happened.

I think it's supposed to be satire, adult humour and dark comedy, but it just...isn't? It fails to make me so much as smile about 80% of the times, and didn't ever make me laugh. Also, what's with that weird triangle shape imagery? Does it mean something, that I just don't understand?
It felt a bit endless and repetitive, with phrases and scenes repeated almost exactly, just with different words and costumes. Monotonous. It feels like it got lost in translation, somewhere, like an inside joke between friends that, when explained to someone else, just isn't funny. Instead of being funny, it just feels like an insult and making fun of people with depression.
It kept breaking the 4th wall, to refer to “chapter” and “this book” which I always find irritating.
The names and appearances of the two male leads are so similar that it's often hard to tell who is talking, and who is who, until one starts thinking about triangles and one starts acting depressed.
It seems there were Translation Notes at the end, that explained every character's name was a pun of some sort – my absolute worst style of humour is puns, so this irked me – but it bothered me that they waited until the END of the book to tell us. It would have made so much more sense to know this beforehand, the way the original Japanese manga readers would have. It also waits until the end to explain some of the cultural aspects which really didn't help my understanding. In other manga's I've read, there's a line or small print paragraph beside the panel that references it, and that's much better than leaving it until the end of the book when it's out of context.

Overall, I thought the artwork was stunning, and typical of what I expect from manga and the yaoi I read. However, the story was abstract and strange, with an abrupt ending. The plot went nowhere and failed to sum-up or build towards a “reason” for the story. I actually found the kids to be the most mature characters, and funniest people of the story. The rest was just lacklustre satire.