Ok, after all that horny nonsense we need a palate cleanser of a manga. I thought this next book would be ideal for that purpose but after reading it I'm not entirely sure...
WASH IT ALL AWAY (Kirei ni Shite Moraemasu ka), by Mitsuru Hattori. First published in 2017 and first published in North America in 2025.
PLOT:
Wakame Kinme runs a small laundry shop in the seaside town of Atami. The locals love her because of the care she puts into each order, whether it's the smallest repairs or her willingness to do deliveries. You'd never guess that such a kind and happy young woman was suffering from amnesia, unable to remember anything prior to two years ago.
STORY:
Wash It All Away is iyashikei through and through. It's all about soaking up the good vibes of its heroine, her regulars, and the quant town in which they all live. Maybe that's enough for some people but the more I read, the more fake it felt. This book doesn't feel comforting, it feels like a commercial.
When I picked this volume up, I expected it to hyperfocus on the process of doing laundry in much the same way food manga hyperfocus on the process of making a fine meal. It wouldn't be the most exciting subject for a manga, but there's some interest to be mined out of the process of industrial dry-cleaning, something which is normally done out of the public eye. There's definitely a bit of that going on in this volume, but far much more time is spent just following Kinme as she goes through her daily routines, making visits to local shops and enjoying the seasons as they pass. If nothing else, the laundry business gives Mitsuru Hattori an excuse to cycle in new characters as needed to keep things moving.
If only Kinme and that cast of locals were the least bit interesting. God knows Hattori wants us to love Kinme, considering how much praise they heaped upon her through the rest of the cast and how many moments in this book clearly exist just so the reader can marvel at how cute, dedicated, and quirky she is. The problem is that all this cute, quirky fluffiness makes her feel utterly fake. She never seems to feel sad, mad, frustrated, or anything remotely negative. There's only a couple of moments that hint at Kinme's life being anything other than sunshine and roses. The first is when she casually notes towards the end of one chapter that she has amnesia. The other is a quick vision of herself towards the end of the book that suggests that whatever likely triggered this amnesia was traumatic.
This goes double for the rest of the cast. There are a couple of kindly old grannies running quaint local businesses, the requisite sassy older woman best friend, a precocious little girl who immediately treats Kinme like a big sister, and a teen boy whose entire purpose is to remind the reader that Kinme is hot and that you should find her hot as well. All of characters are pleasant but paper-thin - this is the Kinme show, and Hattori does not want you to forget it for a minute. You'll have to forgive if I find that sentiment anything but soothing.
ART:
Mitsuru Hattori certainly tries their hardest to make this book look as pleasant on top of feeling pleasant. The character designs are cute and friendly with their round eyes, cute fashion, and naturalistic poses and expressions. The scenery is also lovely. I have no idea how much it resembles the real town of Atami, but there are plenty of cozy shopfronts, tree-lined streets, and seaside views. It even goes out of its way to make the act of dry-cleaning look as cozy and homespun as possible, with Kinme relying mostly on handwashing, hand-brushing stain removers and dye, and hanging her wares out to dry on outdoor racks.
The scenery it wants you to appreciate the most, though, is Kinme herself. This becomes evident on the first page of the book, a color spread of her and a few other ladies in a hot springs bath. There are so many first-person perspective panels of her leaning and bending over entirely so she can thrust her cleavage or her butt into the frame. It's awkward enough when it's explicitly meant to be from the perspective of the teen boy crushing on her, but Hattori does even when nobody else is meant to be around. It feels intrusive and sketchy and it totally punctures the mood of the book every time it happens.
RATING:
This manga is published by Square Enix Books. This series is complete in Japan with 10 volumes available. 5 volumes have been released and are currently in print.
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