Over the last year, The Comics Journal has been translating essays by prolific manga critic Natsume Fusanosuke. The topics have run the gamut from Taiyo Matsumoto’s distinctive visual style to the enduring appeal of Sazae-san and Rumiko Takahashi’s role in bringing romance to shonen manga. The latest installment focuses on Miyaya Kazuhiko, a key figure in the gekiga movement who’s not particularly well known to Western readers. In their helpful introduction, translators John Holt and Teppei Fukuda compare Natsume’s essay to Tatsumi Yoshihiro’s A Drifting Life, arguing that both Yoshihiro and Natsume write their “autobiograph[ies] as a history of gekiga. For Natsume, Miyaya’s gekiga form the pivotal ‘chapters’ in his own life as a ‘manga youth’ (manga seinen), coming of age in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s.” That’s a helpful way of understanding the essay’s mixture of self-reflection and analysis; Natsume uses his personal experiences to show the reader what Miyaya’s work meant to Japanese readers during a period of immense social, cultural, and technological change.
NEWS AND VIEWS
Seven Seas announced that it will be publishing LUPIN III (Lupin the Third): Thick as Thieves – Classic Manga Collection, “a curated collection of some of Monkey Punch’s best stories and chapters of Lupin III from throughout the classic manga’s history.” The book will be available in digital and hardcover editions next summer. [Seven Seas]
If you missed the first issue of Glaeolia, fear not: Glacier Bay Books is currently raising money for a reprint. (N.B. The crowdfundr page is not yet accepting pledges; the site should go live this weekend.) [Glacier Bay Books]
Jocelyne Allen sings the praises of Japanese SF Comics, a collection of sci-fi stories by Keiko Takamiya, Osamu Tezuka, and Junko Sasaki. Someone license this, please! [Brain vs. Book]
Found on Twitter: Kiuchi Niboro’s manga memoir about his time in a Soviet POW camp. It’s a fascinating look at a forgotten chapter of World War II history. [tara_chara]
What does Space Brothers have in common with M*A*S*H? The Mangasplainers are big fans of both, and divide their latest episode between a discussion of Chuya Koyama’s sci-fi drama and a discussion of the beloved seventies sitcom. [Mangasplaining… er, M*A*S*Hsplaining]
Tom and Joe, a.k.a. the Anime Sickos, sit down with one of Twitter’s most popular manga influencers, Minovsky Article. [Anime Sickos]
The Manga Machinations crew dedicate their latest podcast to Franken Fran, Wonderland, and Muhyo & Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation. [Manga Machinations]
Scholar Kathryn Hemmann explores the relationship between dojinshi and Western zine culture, drawing on their own experiences “both as an indie zine maker and as someone who has participated in big anthology fanzines.” [WWAC]
REVIEWS
In keeping with the spirit of Halloween, this week’s featured review analyzes Junji Ito’s Black Paradox, just out from VIZ. Christoper Farris argues that the book isn’t “especially ‘scary’ in a traditional sense, noting that “[t]here aren’t a lot of page-turn jump-scares included, and even the idea of gnawing, anxious dread is tied more to a character’s interior development rather than tangibly imparted to the reader. Black Paradox instead mostly thrives on general conceptual weirdness, letting Ito cut loose with body horror in time with the broadening of the plot.”
Also worth a look is Megan D.’s review of Happiness, a vampire manga by Shuzo Oshimi (Blood on the Tracks, Flowers of Evil). “Happiness is at its best when it tries to visualize the terror and confusion of a vampiric transformation against one’s will,” she observes, “but it’s hard to shake the feeling that from this point onward Oshimi was starting to rely on a story formula that was starting to get a little repetitious and questionable in its gender politics.”
- Beauty and the Feast, Vol. 4 (Krystallina, The OASG)
- CANIS Dear Hatter, Vol. 1 (Sarah, Anime UK News)
- Dai Dark, Vol. 2 (Sara Smith, The Graphic Library)
- Dandadan, Vol. 1 (Caitlin Moore, Anime News Network)
- Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 6 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)
- Hi, I’m a Witch and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion, Vol. 1 (Krystallina, The OASG)
- How Do We Relationship?, Vols. 6-7 (King Baby Duck, Boston Bastard Brigade)
- Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit, Vol. 10 (SKJAM, SKJAM! Reviews)
- Magical Explorer: Reborn as a Side Character in a Fantasy Dating Sim, Vol. 1 (Brett Michael Orr, Honey’s Anime)
- Moriarty the Patriot, Vols. 8-9 (King Baby Duck, Boston Bastard Brigade)
- No Longer Heroine, Vol. 1 (Renee Scott, Good Comics for Kids)
- Parasyte, Vol. 4 (Sara Smith, The Graphic Library)
- A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special, Vol. 1 (Brett Michael Orr, Honey’s Anime)
- Moriarty the Patriot, Vols. 8-9 (King Baby Duck, Boston Bastard Brigade)
- Spy x Family, Vol. 8 (Sara Smith, The Graphic Library)
- Toilet-Bound Hanako, Vol. 6 (Sara Smith, The Graphic Library)
- Undead Unluck, Vols. 8-9 (King Baby Duck, Boston Bastard Brigade)
- Villains Are Destined to Die, Vol. 1 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)