Today’s review is on Kowloon Generic Romance, penned and illustrated by Mayuzuki Jun, renowned for her After the Rain romance manga. The object of the review is also a romance, albeit an unusual given how few animanga are set in Hong Kong.
More precisely, its setting is based on Hong Kong’s Kowloon Walled City, a fort turned into a densely populated Chinese enclave after the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory was signed between Qing China and Great Britain on 1898, leasing the New Territories of Hong Kong to the latter. From the 1950s to the 1970s, it was controlled by local triads and had high rates of prostitution, gambling, and drug abuse. By 1990, the walled city contained 50,000 residents within its 2.6-hectare borders.
Either way, it has been completely demolished since 1994, just three years before Hong Kong’s handover from Great Britain to China. Apparently not so in Kowloon Generic Romance.
First thing of all, the setting is dystopian in nature, far from a model city and tightly packed, albeit truer to modern reality and not grimdark at all. There is interplay of slow burn adult romance, sci-fi mystery and... wholesome slice-of-life, which can seem like a paradoxical combination, but stands solidly.
Its slow burn adult romance is contrasted by quick development of plot, and its slice-of-life in turn by a sci-fi mystery raising more and more questions on the true nature of its world. There are quite some plot twists, owing primarily to its mystery element. Speaking of which, there are two overarching mysteries, one on the female lead and one on Kowloon Walled City. I may not spoil details, but will note influence from classic cyberpunk.
On its environment, it can feel claustrophobic, overcrowded yet also oddly cheerful, authentic and packed with its fair share of surprises hiding in its corners. Immersion in this environment is aided by Mayuzuki’s quite rich and detailed artwork, be it character designs, the wasp nest architecture of the city or food porn shots, usually involving Chinese cuisine.
Themes treated include identity (whether it is meant to be inherited or rather forged), authenticity (in interpersonal relations and personal identity) and preservation of the old versus destroying it for the sake of innovation or moving on.
Connected to the last is the theme of nostalgia, interwoven into the very plot and especially important in order for the romantic chemistry to give fruit.
Despite that however, they have remarkably different personalities. Kujirai is an introvert and largely unconcerned with the rundown atmosphere of the Walled City, open into trends and prefers new experiences. Kudou instead is an extrovert, traditional, a creature-of-habit and more concerned over the Walled City’s condition.
Apparently mismatching, one thing that unites those two is nostalgia, over which many questions are raised. For example, whether it can be triggered by new experiences rather than sticking to old ones. Nostalgia aside, their chemistry can be sweet although I need to address an overarching issue: a “status quo bias”.
Some conflict and tension gets too easily bypassed or resolved for the sake of returning things to status quo and to keep a steady breezy tone, even in situations where some developments should have been questioned and pondered far more. Of course, I keep in mind that this could be intentional to make for thematic exploration and a tone shift on later chapters, but by all means this persistence of keeping status quo intact can feel jarring despite all the wholesome and interesting moments involved.
Either way, Kowloon Generic Romance is a nice, original read, one I look forward to getting more chapters released and one I wish it leaves me with nostalgia recalling it.