Being his first series, What a Wonderful World remains Asano’s most representative and successful work to date.

Composed of vignettes from the daily lives of a group of people inhabiting an ordinary neighborhood somewhere in Tokyo, the series is actually a comment about modern life itself and how we can survive in it despite all its rigors.

Amusing, melancholic, funny, strange, thought-provoking—Asano effortlessly shifts from one mood to another, creating stories and characters that are profoundly human and thus always involving. It’s a shame that not everyone will find the subjects the author describes equally appealing since some of them are distinctly Japanese. But overall, it’s a great collection that any discerning manga reader should check out.