Mingo: Italia-jin ga Minna Moteru to Omou na yo

A manga about Italian otaku Mingo who lives in Japan and trys to fight against the stereotype that all Italians are popular playboys.

We’ve discussed this on a recent episode.

When this started I thought it was a pretty interesting manga and unique to have an Italian protagonist. After the series ended I finally realized that the creator Peppe was Italian himself and it was a big deal that he became a serialized manga artist in Japan.

I really liked the start of this story where the titular Mingo just wanted to enjoy his anime and manga but he gets roped into becoming a model just because he’s Italian. There were lots of humorous encounters Mingo had with his fellow Italians and how they played into their own stereotypes for attention. But the ending of the manga was nonsensical and off-putting. Mingo messes up his chances with the girl he likes but for no reason what-so-ever they end up back together. It felt really forced and I suspect the series was cancelled so Peppe just rushed this ending so it could be a happy ending.

Not sure if I would recommend this series but I’m very impressed with Peppe for becoming a serialized manga artist. I hope he continues with a new series otherwise this will seem like it’s been just a publicity stunt.

~dakazu