Chibisan Date (ちびさんデイト)

Title: Chibisan Date
Year Released: 2009
Author: Hidekaz Himaruya
Story and Art Design: Hidekaz Himaruya
Genre: Slice of Life


- Chibisan Date (ちびさんデイト) is a Japanese manga series
written and illustrated by Hidekaz Himaruya.
First serialized in the April 2009 issue of Comic Birz.
The story revolves on Chiga Seji a young, talented and pessimistic man.
Seji is a Japanese artist who went to Nantucket, an island near Cape Cod and
"seems to have been abandoned by time" as how he puts it.

~ The story is really good and Nantucket is a good place. The ambiance is really calm and peaceful. I'm happy that Hidekaz managed to write such a story. No, it's not that I overrate him, actually I like his humor. But I mean, this is such a different story compared to his other works. After all, I like slice-of-life stories. And this is so country-ish so it warms my heart. Also, there's a little hint of romance (or something like that) in the story which you can barely find in his other works. And that makes me.. KYAA! Hehehe, Anyway, going back, he also did good character sketches. You'll definitely like it if you give it a try. Oh by the way, I'm going to do a little character review here.


Name: Seji Chiga
- Quite a worry wart for such things. Has a talent for drawing but he had a hard time of choosing a subject for the up coming contest. He left his hometown Yuzawa leaving his old friends and family behind. As shown in chapter 4, a letter from his old friend from Japan was mailed to him reporting the changes that happened the past few years. He was a bit down to see his childhood sweetheart married. (aw, how sad is that?)

~ Well, for me, he kind of represent Hidekaz Himaruya himself in Seji's character. And why would I ever think of that? Well because, he used his real-life experience to make this story (well some of) . Not to mention that he went to US to study leaving where ever town in Japan he used to live. And also, Seji's an artist so.. it can't be helped I guess. And about that childhood sweetheart, hmm, IDK. Ask Hidekaz if you're curious. hehehe..




Name: Mr. Suehiro
- He appears in the story to be like a father figure to Chibi-san and Seji. He is kind and supporting to Seji about his drawings. Though it wasn't really confirmed in the story, he seems to own the house where Seji lives. He works as a potter for a living.

~ Well, he wasn't really introduced very well in the story yet. He seems to be Chibi-san's father because it will be weird if she's not his child. (I can't somehow stop laughing at this part)
Oh well, let's move on.








Name: Chibi-san
- A cute cheerful girl that also likes drawing and Seji and Mr. Suehiro. She likes exploring (I guess.) and helping others out.

~ Uhh, well she's a kind girl that always bothers Seji about going to the lighthouse and more. Though she does that, sure she brightens up their mood. Well what should I say more.. Hmm, I don't have any clue why did Hidekaz entitled this story according to her name. It's not that she has any relationship with Seji or whatever, but, I don't know. o.O









Name: Margaret Baker
- A bright, cheerful, kind-hearted girl that lives in the top of the hill. She developed a romantic interest on Seji since they've met. As she said in her diary, she's a bit stubborn, full of capricious and a bit strange. She has some strange dreams of having some sort of a club that includes writers and artists eating sweets together. (what a dream..) She is also an aspiring novelist but she aims on writing a strange novel that will leave the readers full of questions.

~ Well, as she mentioned in chapter 3, she would like to write a novel leaving the readers asking "Is this a novel?" or something like that. That cracked me up.






Name: Candy Baker
- She's Margaret's older sister and is more skilled in cooking and baking. She makes a distinction with her sister by wearing a yellow dress and ribbon and also having a light brown hair with curls on it. They used to live in Boston before they moved to Nantucket with their father. She also cares for Seji though she doesn't express it like Margaret does.

~ Ahh, to be honest, I like her more than Margaret. Uhmm, I ship her with Seji than her sister. But that's not odd, isn't it? Ahh back to the topic. Their mother wasn't mentioned in the story yet, or I haven't read it yet. It's hard to find the rest of the chapters.






Name: Rienhard Fischer
- One of Seji's closest friends in Nantucket. He catches fishes and other stuffs in the sea for a living. He's worried on Seji and claims him to be "in a slump". Though he sometimes messes around with him, he actually cares for him.

~ Ahahaha, I don't really know but what I wrote up there cracks me up.. Anyway, this guy is like a brother to Seji and that makes me feel uncomfortable.. LOL.









Name: Rani Sujanta Sachdeva
- She sells sweets and (might as well) lives in the outskirts of the town. As her name appears to be Indian, I expect her to be one.

~ Oh, I haven't read the chapter 5 so I can't define her well yet. I can only find the original strip which is Japanese, so I can't read it, really.










Name: Crumb

~ Oh how could I explain this guy. Well, I haven't seen him around the story yet and I can't read his introduction in Chibi-san's site. Uhh, he is good-looking and quite charming too. I wonder if he's an artist like Seji? Well, who knows.