Slow Loop

Slow Loop (Japanese: スローループ, Hepburn: Suroo Ruupu) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Uchino Maiko. Initially published as a one-shot in Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara Forward on the June 2018 issue, it subsequently began serialization in the magazine in the November issue of the same year. As of March 2020, 13 chapters have been collected and published into 2 tankōbon volumes.

Story

When Hiyori—a young girl whose deceased father taught her the joys of fishing—headed out to sea for some alone time, she never thought that she would encounter another girl there. After a while, this girl—named Koharu—and her end up fishing and cooking together, and they get to know each other a bit in the meantime. During their brief time together Koharu finds out that the reason that Hiyori went out to sea that day was that she was hesitant towards meeting her new stepfamily that same evening. But what a coincidence! Koharu is also meeting her new family tonight! "No. It can't be a coincidence..." Follow these two 'sisters' and their new life together!

Characters

Main Characters

Hiyori Minagi (海凪 ひより, Minagi Hiyori) A first-year highschooler who serves as the story's main heroine. Due to being taught fly fishing by her father during her youth, she is quite fond of fishing at a sea near her neighbourhood. Losing her father due to cancer at a young age, her mother had remarried and she ended becoming sisters with Koharu. Though her surname changed from Yamakawa to Minagi, her friend Koi still calls her Yamahi which is a portmanteau of her previous surname and her forename. She had also developed a distaste for bugs since all she was capable of was fly fishing which does not involve live bait.

Koharu Minagi (海凪 小春, Minagi Koharu) Being in the same grade as Hiyori but not class, she serves as the story's second heroine who lost her little brother and mother in a traffic accident at a young age. As a result, her father had remarried and she ended up moving to Hiyori's place and becoming her older sister. Fascinated by the unusual sea due to coming from a landlocked prefecture, she attempted to dive into it but was stopped and scolded by Hiyori for attempting to pull such a dangerous stunt so close to the winter season. Unfamiliar with fly fishing, her meeting with Hiyori became her first taste with it. Being interested and somewhat competent in cooking, she occasionally prepares the fish that Hiyori catches. She also has a tendency to be confused by terminology involving katakana, Hiyori has taken to calling it a "Katakana Allergy".

Koi Yoshinagi (吉凪 恋, Yoshinagi Koi) Being in same the grade as Hiyori, she serves as the story's third heroine who was Hiyori's was her friend since kindergarten. Due to her often being reluctantly left in charge of her father's fly fishing speciality shop due to his fishing escapades, she likens to calling him more of a "fishing addict" rather than a fisherman. Regarding the origin of her name, when her father had received the news of her immediate birth, unaffected, he continued to fish for the sake of catching a large koi carp. Consequently, he ended being 5 hours late to her birth and suggested that they should name their daughter after the kanji for a koi carp(鯉) in celebration of his big catch. In the end, after the tireless refutations from her mother, they settled with calling her Koi(恋), the kanji for love(which had the same pronunciation as the one for the fish). Due to her mother often being on overseas business trips and her father often occupied with fishing, ultimately she had to undertake the majority of the housework in the Yoshinagi household. Though she does not fish, at times when she decides to go as her father's escort, she dons a pair of sunglasses with a parasol to protect her skin from the sun. On boating trips, she is often made to be the rower of the two so she has gotten quite skilled at it.

Hiyori/Koharus's Family

Hinata Minagi/Yamakawa(Former surname) (海凪 ひなた/旧姓 山川, Minagi Hinata/Kyousei Yamakawa)

Hiyori's mother and Koharu's mother-in-law who remarried to Issei.

Shinya Yamagawa (山川 信也, Yamagawa Shin)

Hiyori's original father who died from cancer when she was young.

Issei Minagi (海凪 一誠, Minagi Issei)

Koharu's father and Hiyori's father-in-law who remarried to Hinata Minagi.

Natsuki Minagi (海凪 夏樹, Minagi Natsuki)

Koharu's younger brother who died from a traffic accident with his mother.

Koharu's mother (小春のはは, Koharu no Haha)

Koharu's original mother who died from a traffic accident with her son.

Koi's Family

Koi's Father (恋の父, Koi no Chichi)

Though he is the manager of a fly fishing speciality shop, he often goes out on fishing trips leaving his daughter to manage the store and majority of the housework. Due to him appearing to prioritize fishing over his own family, Koi calls him a "fishing addict"—a title he takes pride in having. In contrast to that, when he brought back maguro tuna from Okinawa and assembled the neighbours to celebrate Koi's birthday, was one of the few times he acted like fatherl.

Koi's Mother (恋の母, Koi no Haha)

Building her career in a conglomerate business.

Hayato Yoshinagi (吉凪 隼人, Yoshinagi Hayato)

Koi's third brother who had a brief appearance in chapter 5 and briefly introduced in the extras located on the front and back cover of the 1st volume.

Niji Yoshinagi (吉凪 虹, Yoshinagi Niji)

One of Koi's twin brothers.

Tora Yoshinagi (吉凪 虎, Yoshinagi Tora)

Another one of Koi's twin brothers.

Other Characters

Ichika Fukumoto (福元 一花, Fukumoto Ichika)

One of the people in the neighbourhood who attended Koi's birthday party and was later found to be working for a fishing boat company. With her help, the protagonists become able to embark on fishing trips into the ocean while she tags along.

Futuba Fukumoto (福元 二葉, Fukumoto Futaba)

Ichika's younger sister in grade 5 class 2 who tagged along with the protagonists on their first boating trip into the ocean. She likes to engage in activities often considered boyish, but due to the fear of thinking people will think she's weird for being different she stops after a while.

Aiko (藍子, Aiko)

Ichika's classmate who went with her on a trip to the aquarium and a fishing trip with her classmates.

Media

Manga

Volume list

Slow Loop
Genre	Slice of life
Manga
Written by	Uchino Maiko
Published by	Houbunsha
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Manga Time Kirara Forward
Original run	June 2018 – present
Volumes	2

No.	Release date	ISBN
1	March 12, 2019	ISBN = 978-4-8322-7076-3
2	October 11, 2019	ISBN = 978-4-8322-7095-4

References

This article "Slow Loop" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles taken from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be accessed on Wikipedia's Draft Namespace.