Carole and Tuesday Manga Volume 1 Review

-Written by: Krystal

The saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover” is one that I typically try to live by when it comes to meeting new people, but when it comes to actual books I normally choose based on the cover art. This book was no different. Before I read the plot summary of the book, I was instantly drawn in by the deep orange cover that featured the two female protagonists and bright white font signifying the title of the book. As someone who is always looking for a good female led story, I thought this one looked perfect.

Carole and Tuesday follows two young aspiring musicians living on Mars who come from very different backgrounds, but are perfectly in tune to each other’s musical abilities. Carole grew up in foster homes where she learned that the only person she can truly rely on was herself and everyone else was her competition. She lived by the belief that she needed to constantly keep moving or the world would pass over her, especially while living in Alba City. Her one solace in life was learning how to play the piano and using her music as a way to keep her moral in high spirits. Tuesday was born into a wealthy family in a small town. Growing up in wealth meant that Tuesday was without nothing except the ability to seek out adventure. She decides that the only way she is going to be able to become an accomplished musician is if she leaves her family's home with nothing but a few belongings and her guitar and moves to Alba City. Her upbringing, however, failed to equip her for living on her own. The women meet by chance and Carole takes Tuesday in when she has nowhere else to go. The two women soon bond over their mutual wish to play music for a living and realize that they each can provide what the other is missing. They decide to form a two woman band and the rest of the manga follows the beginning of their journey to becoming successful musicians.

For the most part I really enjoyed this book. It did feel like more of a prologue to a more exciting story, but a lot of first volumes tend to be more of an introduction into the overall story than anything else. Carole and Tuesday’s instant connection is evident from the moment they meet. While the women are completely different in upbringing and in temperament, they do have a love of music that connects them and drives their friendship. I did wonder how Tuesday’s previous plush lifestyle would interact with Carole’s do-it-yourself motto.

In a lot of ways I pictured London and Maddie’s relationship on the classic Disney Channel show The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Luckly, Tuesday wasn’t as daft as London and is willing to learn how to do things for herself. There were still some comical scenes when Carole had to walk though how to do certain things (for example, the simple art of cleaning) that drew a laugh from this reader.

I was a big fan of the side characters as well as Carole and Tuesday. Gus Goldman was one of my favorites. Gus is an out-of-date, one might say failed, artist manager. He has a large personality that demands attention. He is constantly yelling, no matter his mood, and his confidence in the women is exactly what they need to make it big. Every scene Gus occupied was entertaining and were probably some of the funniest scenes.

The one thing I’m always left disappointed with when reading anything that has a story line surrounded around music, is the inability to know what they are performing. Everytime I would get to a part where Carole and Tuesday were performing, I wished I could hear the passion infused with their tunes instead of just imagining it by looking at their facial expressions on the page.

While this can’t exactly be fixed, I did recently discover that there is an anime on Netflix that the manga is based on that I might check out and use the music on the show as a reference to the story.

While there were a lot of things that I liked in this book, the aspect I loved was the overall plot. What makes Carole and Tuesday’s story the most interesting was that the women aren’t exactly good musicians. While it is very evident that they have talent and a deep love of music, there are a lot of things they can work on. I think anyone who has a passion can relate to this story. For most people, when they discover something they feel passionate about, they may not be gifted with immediate success. There is a lot of work that goes into becoming great at something, and Carole and Tuesday illustrates the struggles and failures, as well as the personal successes, working toward a passion can provide. I highly suggest anyone who needs to be reminded that perfection does not come naturally should add this to their reading list.