Jun Mayuzuki became known in France for After the Rain, a taboo romance of a high school girl with her supervisor. This time, she's back with Kowloon Generic Romance, a pure dystopian seinen with nostalgic taste. We follow the daily life of Kujirai and Kudo, two real estate salesmen from the walled district of Kowloon. A labyrinth in the heart of Hong Kong that has managed to keep its cachet of yesteryear despite the new technologies of Gene Terra.
An unexpected renaissance
Reiko Kujirai is a 32-year-old woman like so many others, working in a real estate agency. She seems to have only two passions in life: cigarettes and watermelons. Yet, thanks to Gene Terra's revolutionary eye drops, she will blossom at the same time as she seems to improve her eyesight. Her vision of the world will grow, she realizes the beautiful things that surround her and enjoy them. Including his colleague Hajime Kudo. Kudo is a neglected man who loves the traditional look of his neighborhood and the memories that live there. He has a visceral hatred for Gene Terra for strange reasons, sometimes surprising by the strength of his resentment. While one might think he is totally disillusioned and disinterested in his work, he will repeatedly prove the opposite. Kudo is kind to Kujirai, annoying him for good reasons but which still remain secret for the moment. 
The birth of a romance?
The relationship between the two thirty-somethings is quite strange, juggling between indifference and friendship. Quite typical of seinen, Kudo and Kujirai keep arguing over trifles simply because they have a different vision of life, the future and the past. Without realizing it, they influence each other, developing strong, sometimes unconscious feelings. However, everything happens very slowly, each action has its importance with repercussions more or less essential to the story. The romantic relationship takes its time to set up. Even if it seems to be the first emotions for Kujirai, concerning Kudo, it is quite the opposite. All their interactions remind him of happy or sad memories related to his former love. The difference in the way they apprehend their emotions only makes Kujirai more endearing and Kudo mysterious. Will his past prevent him from opening up to his colleague or will the latter succeed in unravelling this knot of enigmas that surrounds him? 
Kowloon, the real protagonist
As complex as the duo's feelings, life on the streets of Kowloon is difficult, tortuous like its alleys. The love for this unique place in the world is almost as strong as the one could have for his soul mate. So it's not surprising to see Kudo refer to it quite often, as the reason why people don't leave and companies try to set up shop there. Kowloon is a character in her own right, almost the real heroine of the story. The details brought to the drawings of the city by Jun Mayuzuki are incredible. We feel the special atmosphere of the slums, the sticky heat of the Asian summer. The variety of places is such that we discover the small boui-boui and other originalities at the same time as Reiko. The graffiti in Chinese ideograms, the food, the outfits, the mahjong games, everything is there to immerse us in a Kowloon more real than life. Jun Mayuzuki takes aback with the slow pace of this first volume. Kowloon Generic Romance can leave a rather mixed feeling because of its groping plot. The reader can easily get lost, or even let go of the adventure if he is not used to the codes of the seinen. Yet an unexpected and surprising redemption appears in the last pages. A huge plot twist changes absolutely everything, pushing to reread some scenes and making you want to read more.
