A review by franuary
Henshin by Ken Niimura

4.0

Ken Niimura’s Henshin (Japanese for “transform”) is a grouping of odd little manga stories compiled into one extremely quirky collection. There’s an incredible breadth of topics covered within the volume; storylines include contract killing, pet care, group suicide, immigration, superheroes, and life-long friendship. As the title suggests, most stories involve some element of change, although I have to admit that I wasn’t able to connect the theme to each of the stories in a concrete way. Still, I found Henshin delightfully weird.

My favorite sections of the book were those in which Niimura wrote comics about his day-to-day life. These reminded me of a longer version of the one-page author’s notes often found at the end of a collected volume of manga. Niimura’s sections focused on fairly banal tasks (writing, getting a cat, cooking), but his charming storytelling and self-deprecation made them stand out among the more fantastical elements in the other stories.

I would recommend Henshin for readers into Japanese culture, including manga and anime fans, but also to any readers looking for something truly strange and unconventional.

I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Image Comics and to NetGalley for the advance copy!