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davechua's review
3.0
Some good vignettes particularly the title story but did not grab me like Goodbye and the Hiroshima story in the other anthology.
bantwalkers's review
4.0
Yoshihiro Tatsumi is a little known artist in the states. Well, he may be better known since this came out 4 years ago. But his slice-of-life stories are sad glimpses into the darker territories of life (these are set in late 60's Japan, but still hold up today.)
Most of these short stories are 8 pages long, due to constraints put out by the magazines publishing them. But they convey a lot in those pages. True, some feel rushed or incomplete, but more surprising is most don’t.
Instead, they feel like whole novels, given to us quickly. Few are hopefully, but sometimes, life isn’t. And the one story that can be seen as hopeful is one of the books best. “Make-Up” is about a man who wants to live as a woman, and finds some peace in that. There are other great stories, but I don’t have the book in front of me for the titles. One about a medical student donating his sperm shows the kind of sadness and lostness that most of these stories delve into.
Mostly, these stories were intoxicating. I started reading to pass a few minutes, before I knew it I was on page 100, and even if the stories do get a little repetitive, I couldn’t stop thinking about them. I had to put the book down for a few hours to decorate for the holidays, but I kept wanting to go back. And I was rewarded when I did, by a great artist, but an even better writer.
Most of these short stories are 8 pages long, due to constraints put out by the magazines publishing them. But they convey a lot in those pages. True, some feel rushed or incomplete, but more surprising is most don’t.
Instead, they feel like whole novels, given to us quickly. Few are hopefully, but sometimes, life isn’t. And the one story that can be seen as hopeful is one of the books best. “Make-Up” is about a man who wants to live as a woman, and finds some peace in that. There are other great stories, but I don’t have the book in front of me for the titles. One about a medical student donating his sperm shows the kind of sadness and lostness that most of these stories delve into.
Mostly, these stories were intoxicating. I started reading to pass a few minutes, before I knew it I was on page 100, and even if the stories do get a little repetitive, I couldn’t stop thinking about them. I had to put the book down for a few hours to decorate for the holidays, but I kept wanting to go back. And I was rewarded when I did, by a great artist, but an even better writer.
beccacondon's review
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Grief
larkstar's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
balletbookworm's review
4.0
I like the style, very graphic and visual with less dialogue than I was expecting. The themes are also not what I expected. Even though the characters are working class there's a constant idea that women are just valuable only as sex objects with little agency of their own (and in several stories obsession with a specific woman drives the man to do terrible things). Now, what I know about Japanese culture and manga can fit in a teacup (no pun intended) so I'm probably missing a much larger picture of 1960s Japan. (And the author, in an interview at the end of the book, mentions that the themes here are not representative of his personality - I recently read Yasunari Kanabata's Thousand Cranes and it also had a similar preoccupation about women and sex although in a slightly more educated set of characters). But a very striking book.
Note: first manga I've ever read (thanks Jake). I suppose I'll try a few more since this one didn't kill me.
Note: first manga I've ever read (thanks Jake). I suppose I'll try a few more since this one didn't kill me.
raiuga's review
5.0
An outcast in 1969 Japan pouring all of his feelings, and those of the working class around him, into a compendium of stories that deal with serious issues such as abortion, adultery, disability and sexuality. The sombre tone interwoven throughout all of the stories connects them thematically.
Some of the stories, at times, feel like they make little sense. If you read 'A Drifting Life' - the autobiographical manga about Tatsumi - you will understand the 'gekiga' style and therefore appreciate these 8-page stories a lot more.
Some of the standouts are the horrific 'Bedridden' that deals with the sex slave trade, 'My Hitler' a politically charged story (longest one in the manga) that deals with the fear of bringing a child into the world due to what it may become. 'Piranha,' the opening story, sets the tone for the entire manga. It is wildly dark, fuelled with revenge and deceit... much like the entirety of the manga.
Tatsumi has gone on record to say that not all of the stories are things he entirely agrees or believes in, but rather an honest representation of the working class Japanese man post WWII and also during the 60's. The dark side that we are rarely ever exposed to in Western culture.
Some of the stories, at times, feel like they make little sense. If you read 'A Drifting Life' - the autobiographical manga about Tatsumi - you will understand the 'gekiga' style and therefore appreciate these 8-page stories a lot more.
Some of the standouts are the horrific 'Bedridden' that deals with the sex slave trade, 'My Hitler' a politically charged story (longest one in the manga) that deals with the fear of bringing a child into the world due to what it may become. 'Piranha,' the opening story, sets the tone for the entire manga. It is wildly dark, fuelled with revenge and deceit... much like the entirety of the manga.
Tatsumi has gone on record to say that not all of the stories are things he entirely agrees or believes in, but rather an honest representation of the working class Japanese man post WWII and also during the 60's. The dark side that we are rarely ever exposed to in Western culture.