Sumida is one of the supporting characters of Shimeji Simulation. She is a second year and a member of the Hole Digging Club. Sumida is a young girl, most likely in her mid-teens. She has green hair done in two pigtails. She frequently carries a sketchbook. Sumida was a member of the Hole Digging Club, but she stopped attending after Ms. Mogawa stopped making pottery. She starts attending club. Shijima from shimeji simulation. I hope you like the model! Contact: Sakuyoistudios@gmail.com - Shijima Tsukishima Shimeji Simulation - 3D model by Sakuyoi (@Sakuyoi) 8489eab.

Tsukumizu’s 2019Shimeji Simulation is an on-going surrealist slice-of-life manga.

Orphan Shimeji Tsukishima was unhappy at middle school and to avoid it, locked herself away in a small closet for two years. As high school approached, she reluctantly left her refuge. To her surprise, she discovers two small mushrooms — shimeji — sprouting from her head.

Shimeji has come to believe that effort is futile and hope is doomed to disappointment, She intends to pass through high school like a ghost, eschewing social contact and accepting whatever dismal fate life has in store for her. But her visualization of the all proves… inadequate.

Majime Yamashita may have been born with a fried egg on her head, but she’s not going to let that stop her from being the happiest, most outgoing person she can be. Thus far her ambitions have not yielded the social acceptance she craves, but she remains determined to make friends and have fun.

Intrigued by sullen, quiet Shimeji, Majime declares herself Shimeji’s friend. When Shimeji remains aloof, Majime decides the only proper solution is to declare to Shimeji that she is Shimeji’s girlfriend . Shimeji doesn’t have the energy to protest. It might be that she even likes madcap Majime a little. Not that she would say so.

The schoolgirl with no will to strive is swept along in the wake of the schoolgirl with too much drive. Shimeji grudgingly joins the hole-digging club and slowly, reluctantly, starts to come out of her shell.

Complications ensue. Shimeji’s older sister is something of a mad scientist. She recruits Majime and Shimeji as minions; they’ll help her construct an arcane device with which to reclaim the world from God. Whatever that means….

~oOo~

You are doubtless wondering why did the sister let Shimeji hide in the closet for two years? The sister is devoted to her work and seems content to let Shimeji find her own way. Indeed, most of the adults in this manga are far too focused on their own issues to offer help or guidance to the teenagers.

People looking for a hormone-driven yuri manga should look elsewhere. Majime and Shimeji may be girlfriends but what that means is that sometimes Shimeji will permit Majime to hold her hand … briefly. While avoiding direct eye contact. Given that Shimeji spent enough time alone in the dark to sprout mushrooms, even that’s a big step.

Girls Last Tour protagonists Chito and Yuuri play minor supporting roles in this manga. How that’s possible is not clear. It’s just one of many odd bits about which one should not think too deeply. This is not a manga in which things make a lot of sense. Stuff happens. Causality is unclear. Detached acceptance is a valid coping skill. So is making friends. None of it means anything but at least if one has friends one isn’t alone, growing mushrooms on one’s head.

I don’t know if this manga is going anywhere but it doesn’t really matter. It’s pleasant in its odd way.

If Shimeji Simulation is available in North America, this is a well-kept secret.

More than a year has passed since Tsukumizu launched their follow-up series to the incredible Girls’ Last Tour, Shimeji Simulation. Like many others, I spent the majority of 2018 obsessed with the story of Chito and Yuri, enraptured by the series’ unique sense of atmosphere and profound insights into the human condition. So when Shimeji Simulation volume 1 went on sale back in February, I naturally picked up without a second’s hesitation.

But was it worth the wait? It presumably took this long for Kadokawa to put out the series’s first volume because of its monthly serialization in Comic Cune, so the anticipation had been building for some time. Would Shimeji Simulation live up to Girl’s Last Tour? Would Tsukumizu’s second gig prove successful? The answers to those questions may surprise you.

Shimeji Simulation and the Shadow of Girls’ Last Tour

Immediately upon opening Shimeji Simulation volume 1, fans of Girls’ Last Tour will feel right at home. Everything that made that series unique is here: a rough yet detailed art style, pitch-perfect character dynamics, a great sense of humor – the list goes on. There are even a couple of guest appearances from Chito and Yuri themselves, which only serve to strengthen the ties between the two series. Nevertheless, there are some significant changes.

The first one comes with regard to our main characters. Shimeji Simulation follows the story of Shijima, a young girl who spent the majority of her middle school years as a hikikomori hiding in a closet, but decides to give high school a go. There, she meets Majime – an energetic young girl wearing a fried egg on her head (don’t ask) who asks Shijima to be her friend. She initially refuses, but it doesn’t take long before the two are as thick as thieves.

Just from that account alone, it should be clear how similar the dynamic of Shijima and Majime is to the dynamic of Chito and Yuri; one of them is black-haired and dour, the other one is blond-haired and energetic. But they are also somewhat different. For starters, there is a process of character development that occurs between the two. Unlike the somewhat static relationship between Chito and Yuri, we get to see not only how Shijima and Majime meet but also how they become friends, changing along the way. It’s a sweet story, and one that is made even sweeter by the constant yuri fanservice performed along the way.

Shimeji Simulation Reddit

By the way, it should be noted that the various appearances made by Chito and Yuri in Shimeji Simulation volume 1 aren’t entirely inconsequential. The two characters have somehow made their way into this world after the end of Girls’ Last Tour and are living their best lives, enjoying all the fruits that civilization has to offer. Seeing these two happy is enough perhaps in itself, but their appearances also serve to strengthen the mystery of the overall narrative, which increases in scope and importance throughout the first volume.

Four Panels of Tsukumizu

In any case, perhaps one of the biggest departures that Shimeji Simulation makes from Girl’s Last Tour is in its format. The series was specifically marketed as a “4-koma” four-panel comedy series, akin to all of the other series that run in Comic Cune. This means that certain expectations are formed – you’d expect it to be something along the lines of Nyanko Days or Pan de Peace in terms of irreverent, fluffy comedy. But things aren’t quite that simple, as Shimeji Simulation volume 1 makes clear.

At least at the beginning, Shimeji Simulation volume 1 plays out normal enough. It follows the natural comedy that arises between Shijima and Majime as they slowly become friends, also introducing us to a handful of entertaining side characters along the way: the arts and crafts teacher Mogawa – who is also the supervisor for the “Hole Digging Club” (as ridiculous as it sounds) – Chito and Yuri, who are living real lives in this universe, as well as Shijima’s sister, as of yet unnamed, who conducts crazy science experiments.

Tsukumizu also follows the format of a 4-koma manga fairly faithfully. Just as advertised, the action of the series plays out in multiple series of four panels, only breaking out occasionally to spotlight a character introduction or make clear a change in scenery.

That doesn’t mean, however, that Tsukumizu’s art suffers as a result. On the contrary, their art style feels more alive than ever. While there is no concrete evidence of this, you have to imagine

Shimeji Simulation Cover