Not Simple (stylized in all lowercase) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Natsume Ono, presenting a nonlinear narrative of a young man's fractured family history and the search for his missing sister.

However, Irene's stepdad (who is stated to be jealous and obsessive in controlling his daughter) mistakes Ian for her boyfriend and orders him to be killed.

Kylie arrives and sends Ian back to his father in Melbourne, promising to meet him again when he achieves his goal of beating fictional runner Robert Johnston's 1000 meter record.

Ian shows up at Jim's apartment one day wearing a three-piece suit that Irene's mother bought him, ostensibly after traveling all the way to the west coast.

He confides in Jim that his sister was dead by the time he got to London: she caught a cold in prison which turned into a fatal case of pneumonia.

A final page shows a scruffy-looking Jim standing on the side of a road, suggesting that he is now traveling much like Ian did before his death.

It was serialized in Penguin Shobo's free web manga magazine Comic Seed!, beginning in the September 2004 issue, released on August 20, 2004.

[7] Later that year, the company declared bankruptcy,[8] and Ono considered self-publishing a second volume with the series' remaining chapters.

[9] Instead, Shogakukan issued a new edition of Not Simple under the Ikki Comix imprint on October 30, 2006, collecting all 14 chapters, including the prologue and epilogue.

[3][11] They initially uploaded a preview of Not Simple on their SigIkki website,[2] and later published the complete volume under the Viz Signature imprint on January 19, 2010.

[2][12] The American Library Association's YALSA division included Not Simple on its list of Great Graphic Novels for Teens in 2011.