Act-Age First Impressions

I didn’t initially expect much when going into Act-Age, especially with its first couple of chapters not doing much noteworthy besides laying down the foundation for its plot. However, as I kept reading I grew to really enjoy the manga for the way it handles its premise and characters. Written by Tatsuya Matsuki and illustrated by Shiro Usazaki, Act-Age follows Kei Yonagi, an aspiring actress who lives to support her two younger siblings after their mother passes away. Yonagi has an incredible talent for method-acting, a style that brings out believable emotional reactions by the actor placing themselves in the given scene. However, she takes this to an extreme level to the point where it seems like she can’t distinguish between the fantasy of a scene and reality. She initially fails to find gigs due to this potentially self-destructive behavior however a highly acclaimed director, Sumiji Kuroyama, recognizes her potential talent and takes her under his wing to cultivate her skills while giving her a chance to support her family financially.

Act-Age reminds me a lot of series like Shokugeki no Soma in that it takes a field and dramatizes it for a manga series while also giving insight into how the field works in real life. It doesn’t go as in-depth as Shokugeki’s culinary knowledge but it still highlights different aspects about the acting field such as the thought process behind different styles of acting interacting with each other during a scene and what clientele look for in an audition.

Initially, the pacing of the manga made Act-Age a bit of a chore to read. While the art style and character design was appealing, it often felt as if there was a lot of empty space with the page layouts. Not a lot of the panels really stood out with most of them being closeups of characters during dialogue which made each page feel similar when reading. This does however become resolved quickly as when acting scenes become more frequent, the pages become much more dynamic and expressive.

Act-Age’s biggest highlight for me has to be Yonagi’s characterization and how she interacts with others. Yonagi is a strange and awkward girl who genuinely cares about her younger brother and sister. Given how she’s the sole provider for herself and her two younger siblings, she’s in no position to conceivably work towards her dreams of becoming an actress. Despite this, she still attempts to not only because that’s what she aspires towards but also to help support her family which is admirable. Her acting talent is extraordinary but I also like how Act-Age doesn’t try to sugarcoat the psychological dangers behind it. For Yonagi, acting is directly putting herself into the given scene at hand and behaving as if she were actually there. This often causes her to forget about reality such as in Chapter 3 when she interjects in a scene where she as cast as an extra but interjects into the scene to save a girl in peril because she truly can’t live with herself if she had done nothing. This is where her mentor, Kuroyama comes in as he wishes to perfect Yonagi’s talent in order to use her for a dream film that he is currently developing.

Kuroyama creates an intriguing dynamic in Act-Age’s plot. He genuinely cares about Yonagi’s progress in her acting ability with him purposely booking gigs that will help teach her lessons and make her a better performer. However, it’s up in the air as to whether or not he cares about Yonagi as a person by encouraging her acting style which could potentially harm her mental stability. This dynamic between these two characters could potentially lead to some intriguing developments and scenarios in the future.

Act-Age also begins to shine when it pits Yonagi in situations where she has to act alongside other people. Because of her acting style is so unique and her behavior is peculiar, seeing how she interacts with other actors during auditions and filming provides some genuinely engaging scenarios such as her performance as an extra in Chapters 3 and 4. Yonagi’s method acting causes her to struggle in situations that she has never been placed in which makes later scenes such as her audition as part of a death game film even more engaging as she completely derails the flow of the other actors while still adding to the believability and theme of the scene. Characters generally bounce off of each other really well throughout the manga but it’s never more apparent than it is in these acting scenes.

While it took a little bit of time to hook with me, Act-Age is a unique read that I’m much looking forward to reading more of. It’s refreshing to fit a series that isn’t a high-intensity battle manga into my reading list and hopefully, I’ll continue to have more positive things to say about it in the future. I recommend giving it a shot if any of what I’ve said about it interests you. While a large chunk of chapters is currently unavailable on the platform, the VIZ app does feature upcoming chapters from the series.