The Manga Biography of Kenji Miyazawa

Bit of an obscure one this.

As the title indicates, this is a manga biography of Kenji Miyazawa, famous Japanese author and poet.  It’s not really a book made for entertainment purposes, but more an accessible visual description of the more significant instances of Miyazawa’s life.   In all honesty I don’t feel qualified to talk much about this one as I’ve never read any of the author’s works, but as no one else has really written much about this book either it seems a shame to ignore entirely.

Basically all I’m saying is that this book exists, and that I approve of publishers taking on titles from off the beaten track.  It’s obviously recommended for Miyazawa completists who don’t mind the simple yet charming depictions of early 20^th century life, but even they may balk at the poor artwork reproduction (the only proper black you’ll see here is from the translated dialogue, the rest is a bit murky).

Other than that I’m not sure who else would fancy reading it. (unless they’re foolhardy like me)  So um… yeah.

This book did however inspire a little further research into Miyazawa’s works, and that kind of reaction is no bad thing.  Related things to consider checking out:

Gauche the Cellist – Isao Takahata directed an anime of this before his Ghibli days.

Spring & Chaos – Animated biography of Miyazawa – they’re all cats in it.

Night of the Milky Way Railway – Various adaptations, possibly the most known of which is the anime known as Night on the Galactic Railway, which in turn also inspired a manga that was printed in blue ink!

So I Need to Lose 15 Pounds

Disclaimer: I know that everyone who’s reading this is already a perfectly formed and svelte individual. As such don’t be offended if I recommend this book to you as there’s more to enjoy on top of the weight-loss angle.

This manga almost passed me by completely, and only on one of my aimless journeys of online book browsing did I randomly fall upon it and decided to give it a chance. The title describes the content of the book exactly: ‘So I Need to Lose 15 Pounds’ is a comic-diary where the artist attempts to lose weight over a period of 5 months. From her first encounter with her editor to the final weigh-in, we get to read the artist’s experiences of various techniques. Different diets are applied alongside working out and health plans while suffering both to positive and negative outcomes of each treatment. A pretty rigorous scheme gets out initially reluctant artist through 27 such methods from jogging to hypnosis via way of saunas and colon cleansers. There’s a constant stream of new things to try (with varying results) and we get a monthly update as the mission continues throughout the book.

Those considering this as a fool-proof manga guide for weight loss should be warned that this is predominantly a work of entertainment. There’s very little science involved in any of the techniques - some could even be argued as being detrimental to your health (I’m certainly no expert to judge that however). There are a couple of tables and graphs at the back of the book with starred recommendations for each of the methods which give the impression of a proper health guide, but this book is more about trying to keep up with pensioners while jogging or avoiding the family when they’ve bought home a massive cake. This is one person’s unique experience of losing weight – not a valid health guide in the slightest.

The charming and light-hearted art is drawn in a simple style that reflects our sometimes flaky heroine quite accurately. The everyday sense of fun is really appealing and while I doubt it I’ll be applying any of the book’s contents to myself I’m very glad to have found it.

Monster Men Bureiko Lullaby

Some manga you might want to hide from your parents, but this one you might want to keep safely buried away from everyone you’ve ever met. Quite what kind of possessed creature you’d have to be to produce a manga like this, I have no idea. That it was even considered for translation, let alone actually released over here, is something worthy of my respect. Everyone involved in this book has major cojones, or simply don’t care. And that also applies to anyone who attempts to read this.

Consider this a warning then that this is a pretty obscene and depraved manga. Comparisons to Robert Crumb are absolutely justified…

Containing a series of short stories, the first of which depicts a penis that doesn’t want to be used for rape any more, and so knocks its owner out, flips the main body upside down and takes control as the main head (look at the front cover – he’s walking on his hands, see?). This is just for starters…

Serialized originally in Garo magazine, this is underground manga with humour about as dark as it gets. Sane people will be repulsed as they read a later story about a mutant sperm that becomes sentient from being ejaculated in the middle of a nuclear explosion, and goes on the depict his life as he grows up. It’s probably not wise describe further what else goes on in the book, but needless to say it involves a lot of penises, masturbation, most/all orifices, necrophilia, sex from inside the womb (you read that right), and pretty much any combination of all the above.

Certainly not for prudes or the judgemental. This is truly dangerous waters and if you’ve read it don’t be offended if I then have nothing to do with you.

Tokyo Zombie

We’re told never to judge a book by its cover, but it’s probably fair to say if you don’t like the artwork on show here there’s little reason to dig deeper. Promoting a style described as ‘Heta Uma’ (bad, but good), Tokyo Zombie’s artwork is deliberately simplistic and causes much turning up of noses of readers browsing the manga aisles. Diversity in your manga reading is one thing, but for many this is a step too far.

Originally serialized in the underground AX magazine, Tokyo Zombie is about two amateur wrestling fans who find themselves in the middle of a zombie outbreak. The plot ambles on in its own peculiar way as our heroes munch their snacks while driving through crowds of zombies. Some stuff happens in between including zombie blowjobs and pig surfing, and culminates in a human/zombie showdown at an underground fighting arena amidst a social revolution. It’s as bizarre as it is stupid, and will have more people wondering what the point is rather than accumulating fans.

The manga was popular (or should that be ‘obscure’?) enough to warrant the making of a live-action film which came out on DVD in English a couple of years ago. To be honest I found its understated humour to be a little on the dull side, and it works a lot better in comic form. It’s undeniably stupid, and yes the artwork is quite, quite bad, but then who said that zombies were neat and tidy? As a final note the main character has an afro - some things I just can’t say no to…

The Walking Man

Fanfare / Pontent Mon is a collaborative publisher that publishes manga in several languages. Avoiding more brash titles, their output of comics has a more thoughtful approach. You won’t exactly be finding ninjas firing energy beams at each other in their back catalogue!

Relating directly to its title, The Walking Man is about a somewhat eccentric man who enjoys walking about his home town. He has no real direction as we accompany his quiet exploration with rarely with any particular incident. Sometimes he’ll walk the dog or happen upon a friendly stranger, but more frequently he’s happy enough to wander about town on his own to discover untouched locations and witness small inconsequential events. The backgrounds are gently detailed, giving a real sense of the place and pages often fly by without a word being spoken. It’s all completely relaxed and ambient.

The Walking Man is currently out of print, but it’s definitely one of those books to keep an eye out for on the off chance you spot it a neglected comic shop or charity shop. Taniguchi’s work stands out for his ultra-detailed backgrounds and older protagonists who offer a more thoughtful perspective than many other manga. Several of his other titles are also available and are well worth checking out (I particularly recommend A Distant Neighbourhood). I’ll have to try and talk about more of his stuff as time goes on…

The Journey of Shuna / シュナの旅

How can you write about a book you can’t read? It seems like a fool’s errand, but I’m going to try anyway!

The Journey of Shuna is one of the few manga written by Ghibli film director Hayao Miyazaki. His works are in high demand, but for some reason Journey of Shuna has never been published in English, and frankly I’ve no idea why. Maybe the story’s rubbish or something, but it’s not really something I can comment on.

What I can talk about however is how beautiful this thing is. It’s around 150 pages and small in size (think Lone Wolf and Cub small) with all the hand drawn and watercoloured artwork being printed in full colour. Yes: Colour! This isn’t your average black and white manga, but more an illustrated novel with few speech bubbles with a narration running over the artwork. There’s a low panel count per page count, mostly 2 or 3 if not a full spread, so you really get to see Mayazaki in his element. Story be damned - this is top notch stuff!

Originally published in 1983, this is pre-Ghibli Miyazaki. A time when the Nausicaa manga had only been partly serialized in Animage and the movie was still in the works. The style echoes not only Nausicaa, but the later Princess Mononoke making it especially interesting to see how his recurring elements interchange between works. Everyone knows what happened once the Nausicaa movie came out and then Ghibli subsequently starting up, but much of what Miyazaki and his associates were making before then isn’t really talked about, at least not in English speaking territories. But it should be.

If you see this writing as just an elaborate way to say ‘this book has pretty pictures’… then you’d be right. Over 25 years on and the book’s still in print in Japan. It isn’t bank-breakingly expensive and is easier to find online that you’d expect. Miyazaki and Ghibli completists need this, as for anyone who appreciates a bit of honest old-school illustration.