When Life gives you lemons, seize them without hesitation and take his lunch money for good measure. Such is the outlook of one exceptional man named Nakamaru Takehiko. Living as a NEET with his grandpa and sister in the countryside, he spends his days tilting at windmills to protect the happiness of his sister, the only thing that matters in his nihilist worldview. Believing he had slain the monster known as Life, one day he suddenly discovers his eccentricity is the very thing holding his sister back from a life of her own. Shocked, he flees home, to find and prove his independence so hissister can become happy...

"Saltiness" is a wonderful comedy that explores the meaning to living life through wacky, noncomformist characters. Despite its mere 44 chapters, it manages to deliver character growth in spades, with hilarious dialogue that will leave you in stitches. Also included are serendipitous adventures, tragedy, and heavier topics like mental illness, suicide and isolation.

From a deathmetal sushi chef who defecates on a car, to an aspiring hypnotist-become-cheesemaker, to a man who only responds with gibberish, the story is driven by Takehiko's encounters with equally absurd characters. Yet despite the abnormalities of these kooky characters, the manga humanizes them and reveals they are good people deep down, struggling with ordinary human desires.

The pacing and paneling are first class. Minoru Furuya is an expert at visual comedy and his deliberateness is palpable. With abundant textless spreads and multiple parallel subplots, Saltiness is a master class in storytelling. It's a story I anticipate coming back to for both its technical brilliance and humanist themes. Hats off to the author, you couldn't ask for more from a manga.