Week 12 | Comedy in Anime

Comedy in Anime

Comedy is probably one of my favorite genres as a whole, not just limited to anime. It's a genre with the sole purpose to make you laugh and have a good time. At least when it's done right. And making a good comedy isn't easy. Jokes can easily fall flat or rely on more unsavory methods to get a reaction. Or sometimes the jokes just feel like something you've already seen before. The playing field is constantly changing, and the need to innovate new ways to get a laugh is often overlooked. Because of this, I feel that the genre is evolving at a rapid pace and comedy anime is definitely included. In fact, I believe that comedy anime is contributing some of the most unique work to the genre by perfecting timing and not being afraid to experiment outside of norms.

Plastic Neesan

Modern comedy anime has gotten frighteningly good at using timing to catch you off guard from an incoming punch line. Quick timing of a character interrupting another or the delay of a reaction until the camera fwips to an extremely exaggerated expression are some of the ways timing is being used to hilarious effects. 

This short clip from Nichijou is a really great example of fun comedic timing and adding absurd qualities. You have the set up, Yukko playing with a Darumaotoshi in class. Inciting moment, she hits a disk and it rebounds off a table. The disk flies, dramatic action lines included, and flies and flies and flies until. BAM. It hits Mio. She grabs it. SMASHES it back in Yukko's face. Yukko's smacked so hard her body leaves her soul behind as she flies out of screen with a long, "Ahhhhhh." The Darumaotoshi, it lands perfectly. 100 points. 

It's only a 25 second clip, but the use of incredible timing make the joke structure really sell. The delay of the disk flying helps sell the suddenness of the the impact and revenge. The drawn out sound of Yukko's, "Ahhhh," matched with her flying out of screen afterwards lets the unexpected twist get absurd. And then it's all wrapped up with a "button" that goes back to the original set up, a girl playing Darumaotoshi. What's also so great about this clip is that it's selling a joke that can only be done in animation with it's incredibly snappy timing and impossible actions.

This sort of extreme short form comedy in anime today can be attributed to the 4-koma style comic unique to manga. The transformation of this into anime is what leads to clips like the Nichijou one, which did start off as a 4-koma manga. Another example of this would be Pop Team Epic, another anime based off a 4-koma series. The four cell gag strip format has been around for a long time, but the quicker pacing of the joke structure is perhaps what makes it funnier for modern audiences. It's the surprise factor that makes you burst out laughing as you barely have time to think anymore of what could possibly happen, and then before you know it you're slapped in the face with something completely unexpected. Anime simply perfects this by setting it in actual running time, so you really don't have time to think before the joke punches.

The combination of great timing and sheer absurdity is what is making comedy in anime so fun. It's unexpected, catches you off guard, and before you know it, you're cry laughing on the couch. It also doesn't concern itself too much with whether you know what's going on. You'll be left going, "What the heck," but I mean, were you not entertained?

Week 11 | Occidentalism in Manga & Anime

Western Culture in Manga & Anime

I think this is a really fascinating topic to talk about, and one that I wouldn't have thought to really explore myself if Mále hadn't brought it up in class.

This was the first time I had heard of the term "Occidentalism," and was pretty interested in how it related to the concept of Orientalism. The two terms imply that the harmful stereotyping of the East and West is a two-way street. While they are posed as terms with equal meaning, I believe there still happens to be a fundamental difference between the two. It's the matter of the power dynamic between the two cultures at play, which in the context of the terminology is the abstract notion of the "East" and "West" described in Western standards. The use of Orientalism in the past has very close ties with appropriation, and the exotification of Eastern culture as a more primitive society. Occidentalism argues the opposite is also true, that the East also views the West with derogatory stereotypes. While I agree that this can certainly be true in some media, the origins of these stereotypes come from very different point of views. Eastern stereotypes of the West often hold some basis in the history of colonialism and are an argument against the harm done to them.

I haven't watched the anime this is from (Guilty Crown), 

but learning that this character's name is Dan Eagleman just now was amazing

Despite this, the importance of the cultural exchange between the East and the West is undeniable, and it's extremely clear in both of their media. Nowadays, manga and anime's influence on Western media is becoming ever more prominent, especially with cartoons often parodying anime and some of the tropes associated with it. Likewise, Western influences on manga and anime can be seen in the settings, the clothing, and sometimes the characters themselves.

Town of Blytonbury in Little Witch Academia

The inclusion of Western culture within manga and anime has led to some really amazing creations, and allow different looks to be explored by artists. On the other hand, use of a vague knowledge of what can be considered "Western" can lead to some hilarious results. Let's take Soul Eater for example. What if I told you that it's set in the US. In Nevada. In a city called Death Vegas. Aside from the vast desert nothing surrounding it, that most certainly doesn't look like Las Vegas to me.

What happens in Death Vegas, stays in Death Vegas

Once you kind of think about it, it's true that a lot of manga and anime adopt Western-style settings and imagery, much more than you would initially think. I'm interested in seeing how this will continue in the future.

Week 10 | Pretty Cure

Pretty Cure

Pretty Cure is one of those franchises that's so vast and huge that I'm intimidated to even try to put my toes in the water. With so many series made during Pretty Cure's 15 year history, it's hard to gauge where to start, so it was really nice to be introduced to what the series is as a whole and how it breaks down by Kelli.

There's just so many of them...

The franchise can be described as a very textbook depiction of magical girls: flashy transformations, color coded outfits, magical items, special attacks, monster of the day format, a big fight of good against evil, it's got it all. Because of this, I feel that many people unfamiliar with the shows are quick to write it off as a silly children's show with little merit. However, I believe the fact that the series has stayed so true to the principles actually sets it apart from other magical girl media coming out today. 

Over the recent years, the magical girl genre has experienced a trend towards darker, more adult storylines. The most notable example of this is Madoka Magica, which can be noted as the predecessor to the many other dark magical girl series that were soon to follow afterwards such as Magical Girl Raising Project and Yuki Yuna is a Hero. The result of shows such as these was a radical shift in demographics. The magical girl genre is meant to appeal to young girls, and so perhaps it would only make sense that the deconstruction of the genre would appeal to adult men. What these dark shows have in common is that their narratives are deeply unsettling and seem to focus on the despair of the girls whether this be through emotional trauma, physical harm or even death. Frankly, I find this to be a very troubling trend now that men are engaged in watching what can essentially be called "misery porn" of women and that more and more series are being created to cater to that.

The unwavering message of each Pretty Cure series offers a deep contrast to the dark magical girl subgenre and it's continued success showcases the strength of what the genre is meant to represent. Pretty Cure has never lost sight of it's target demographic and their goal to empower young girls. The show never sexualizes the main characters and focuses on friendship over romantic relationships. Dynamic fight scenes animated by some of the greats also show that being a magical girl doesn't have to mean being polite and pretty all the time, but that they can be strong. The increasing range in characters who get to be magical, girl or boy, offers greater diversity in who viewers can relate to as well.

Overall, Pretty Cure and it's almost blinding optimism offers one of the best examples of the traditional magical girl genre and especially how it can evolve in modern day. It's no wonder it has managed to stay as one of Toei's biggest IPs and it doesn't seem like it is going to stop any time soon.

(Side Note: From a CG animator's perspective, the 3D animation in the series is actually really quite good, at least from what I've seen. When Kelli first mentioned that the newer series were being produced in CG, I was a bit skeptical at first given Japan's past track record with CGI. When she showed the clips in class though, I was impressed with how the character models and animation were stylized to match the franchise look. I think this evolution of full CG productions in anime is definitely something else to watch for in the future.)

Week 9 | Ran and the Gray World

Ran and the Gray World

Ran and the Gray World by Aki Irie is a coming of age story of a young sorceress, Ran, who is a bit too eager to grow up. Using the powers of enchanted sneakers, Ran is able to transform herself into an adult and run off into the world head first, leading her to meet some interesting characters and plenty of trouble.

There's a lot to love in this manga, and at the same time a lot that I detest. Which is truly a shame because this manga could've truly flourished without some aspects severely holding it back.

The thing that first drew my attention towards this manga was the stunningly detailed art. What I love so much about it is that Irie's art style has a fluid naturalness to it that perfectly matches the sense of wonder a world overflowing with magic should invoke. The fast pacing of her panel flow complements this as well and maintains the illusion of continuous movement. There's never a dull moment when looking through the pages, even when they could be depicting slice of life moments around town.

The fact that the setting is modern Japan is an intriguing point in itself because rather than create an entirely new fantasy world, Irie shows how magic could work even within the realms of reality. Perhaps this is why the magic feels so spectacular. It takes a world people can easily recognize and relate to as their own, and then turns it on its head by making it something completely new and different.

While the setting and world building really flourishes, the character writing falls a bit more flat due to a good deal of it just feeling creepy and sinister. Don't get me wrong, most of the characters are charming and have a lot of heart, it's one of the things I really enjoy about this manga, but it all feels overshadowed by the relationship between Ran and Otaro, a rich playboy much older than her.

IT'S NOT ALRIGHT.

When the two first meet, Otaro is quickly enamored with the beauty of Ran's adult version and tries to prey on her naivety. The naivety of Ran is a big issue from the get go and paired with the over sexualization of her adult form, it doesn't get any better. Rather than try to tackle this as commentary on the early sexualization of young girls though, Irie simply feeds into the problems even more by never quite punishing the many men preying on adult Ran. Instead, other characters criticize Ran for not being more aware of herself and her surroundings. It's extremely seedy and it only gets worse later on in the series when Ran and Otaro's relationship continues to develop further even when he realizes her true age.

HEY AKI IRIE, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.

This manga is really a mixed bag, and it's hard to make sense of how I feel about it. There's so much in it that I love and in many ways it's very unique from other works I've read. It has a lot of heart and wonder that leaves you charmed with each drawing. Let's just... remove Otaro and put him in the trash where he belongs...

I rate Ran and the Gray World with many long minutes of confused screaming.

In Class Reading | Silver Spoon

Silver Spoon

1. What is your reaction to the text you just read?

Hiromu Arakawa really loves dairy farming. And Silver Spoon is definitely dedicated to that love exclusively. It reads as Arakawa's ode to her days growing up as a dairy farmer on her family's farm, and you can feel the love she has for those times. Having read Fullmetal Alchemist, this manga is a far change of pace from the action, fantasy story of Ed and Alphonse. And probably because of that, I'm reading with the anticipation that something is going to happen. There's gotta be some twist in here. But nope. It really is just farming. And honestly, that's kind of refreshing in it's own right.

2. What connections did you make with the story? Discuss the elements of the work with which you were able to connect

Getting yourself into a foreign situation and being the only one not able to understand what's going on, most of us have been there. The main character, Yuugo Hachiken, gets himself sucked into the wild world of farming with not one lick of prior knowledge. And he's going to have to work hard, really damn hard, if he's going to claim the number one spot like he says he will. That's what's pretty interesting about his character, even if he doesn't know what he's doing, he wants to be the best at it. Now that's the kind of stupid, yet admirable, quality I love. I'm not the type of person to half-ass things, if I'm going to do it, I'm going to full-ass it. And nine times out of ten, I fall on my ass afterwards since I don't know a darn thing I'm doing. But heck, making the best out of it is about all you can do.

3. What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you use? What changes would you make?

I would actually be pretty interested in seeing how this could be translated into live-action. Live-action adaptations of manga and anime usually have a... weird track record, but I think there could be something interesting with Silver Spoon. It's a very slice of life story set in the real world, and I think there could be some appeal in seeing real animals. Since farming's on the decline, it would be an interesting glimpse at the efforts farmers make to put food on our table. Am I lame for trying to make it more educational? What am I becoming...

Week 13 | Presentation | Golden Kamuy & Ainu Representation

[Link to read Golden Kamuy]

Week 8 | Gender & Sexuality

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness

Kabi Nagata's deeply personal autobiographical work explores her harsh struggles with mental health, social connections, sexuality, and perhaps most importantly, acceptance. This is not my first time reading this work, in fact I remember waiting for chapter translations to come out as it first cropped up on scanlation sites in 2016. No matter how many times I read it, Nagata's frankness and ability to lay everything bare continues to draw me in.

As I mentioned, acceptance is one of the big themes, if not the biggest, of My Lesbian Experience. The book at face value seems to sell itself as a tale focusing on sex and the sex industry; it's kind of hard not to think that when looking at the cover. However, the incident with Nagata and the sex worker instead feels like the spark to her introspection that leads her to unpack everything that brought her to this situation. Looking back on her life experiences, she realizes she was mainly driven by the desire to be accepted by her parents, her peers, and ultimately society as a whole. The constant pressure to present a false version of herself to others while neglecting her own needs caused her to eventually realize that there was a form of acceptance she forgot about: self-acceptance. By allowing herself the liberty to explore her sexuality, she is able to pivot her thoughts from, "What can I do to please others" to "What can I do to please myself."

While I have read My Lesbian Experience a couple times now, I was unaware that Nagata's sequel work, My Solo Exchange Diary, had already been translated online, so I was eager to take the chance to follow up on how she has been. It continues directly after the events of My Lesbian Experience and discusses how publishing her work has impacted her everyday life. She tackles it in a different way this time though. Instead of writing about her life in a memoir-like fashion, she handles it like a diary entry addressed to herself, hence the name solo exchange diary. Because of this, the sequel feels even more personal than before. It is much less about Nagata sharing her story with the world and more a way for her to cope with her ongoing situation by making her thoughts tangible. The personal time she takes to create this manga allows her to better understand the parts of her she had repressed all these years. I truly wish Nagata all the best in the future.

My Brother's Husband

My Brother's Husband by Gengoroh Tagame is a slice-of-life manga following an independent father, Yaichi, and his daughter, Kana, who are one day visited by Yaichi's deceased twin brother's husband, Mike (I'm sorry that was such a mouthful). Unlike My Lesbian Experience, this work's main focus is to bring to light LGBT issues within Japanese society.

That still counts as foreign, Mike

Tagame brings to light the nature of homophobia in Japan and how it isn't as outright as we may see in the West. During the first few chapters, Yaichi tackles his internalized homophobia as he tries to figure out how he should act around Mike, a gay man. His thoughts of how he wants to act in situations are quickly overwritten though by his immediate reaction to be polite. Eventually, Yaichi recounts the moment his brother came out to him as a gay man and his reaction was simply, "Huh...That so..." It goes to the idea that while people in Japan may not treat queer people with outright malice, they tend to ignore their identity and opt for the "if we don't talk about it, it doesn't exist" route.

While this sort of ignore method seems more forgiving at first, it continues to reinforce the alienation of the LGBT community. It's not something only limited to Japan, but definitely an issue that's spread across Asian countries with the hide your "shame" mentality. This issue is tackled during an episode of a queer conversations podcast I listen to, Nancy. The co-host, Kathy Tu, comes out to her very Chinese mother. For the third time. This time, recorded. Dismayed at how her previous two attempts had been shut down and never talked about again, Kathy hopes to understand why her mother refuses to at least acknowledge her identity. Give it a listen or check out the transcript [Here].

Although My Brother's Husband touches on homophobia, it crafts together a positive story of understanding and over coming prejudices. The most pivotal character to Yaichi's character development is Kana. She quickly warms up to Mike with no prior social prejudices to influence her judgment of him. Her innocent confusion over why people believe Mike is a bad influence teaches Yaichi that there truly is no reason to treat Mike differently. Later on after Yaichi's ex-wife is introduced, Tagame continues to reinforce the idea that a family can come in any shape or size.

I rate this manga with 17 detailed muscles and a box of mac and cheese.

Week 7 | Miyazaki & Studio Ghibli

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

It was really fun getting the chance to take a look at the original manga version of Nausicaa having already seen the movie adaptation. The movie does a great job of staying faithful to the manga (at least from what I can tell after reading volume one), so the part that was most interesting to me while reading was the art.

As a departure from Miyazaki's usual animation work, the art of the manga gives a unique glimpse at his penmanship. While the films he directs are largely attributed to him, they are still the work of a studio and their voices get added to the overall flair of the film. The Nausicaa manga is instead purely Miyazaki's work, allowing his artistry to run free.

To me, the art shines the most in the environment drawings of the Sea of Corruption because it let's Miyazaki flex artistic muscles we don't usually see. He has a very distinct style and rendering when it comes to characters. Distinct to the point where it makes watching the Castle of Calgiostro kind of funny when Lupin, in normal Lupin form, interacts with a very Ghibli-esque girl. So it's really refreshing seeing a whole different side to his work. The line work is really a treat for the eyes since it's not something that Miyazki can express in animation that mainly shows object dimension through value shading. Wrapping around forms, the etch lines really add a whole new depth to his art that I can't get enough of.

(Also, I really understand the Miyazaki-Moebius relationship now and why they love each other so much)

Week 6 | Curated Recommended Reading

Works That Are Golden Kamuy Adjacent

1. Delicious in Dungeon

[Link]

Summary: After wiping out to a dragon, a party of adventurers goes back through a dungeon to revive their lost party member and are forced to cook the monsters they encounter for food.

Adjacent-ness: Cooking, detailed world building, and storytelling that isn't afraid to be comedic while taking on serious topics, Delicious in Dungeon is definitely the manga to check out if you like Golden Kamuy. Even the facial expressions are just as good.

2. Katanagatari

[Link]

Summary: Yasuri Shichika, a swordsman whose sword is his body (it sounds weird, but let's just ignore that for now), lives quietly in exile until strategist, Togame, requests that he help her collect the 12 Deviant Blades for the shogunate.

Adjacent-ness: The base of the relationship between Shichika and Togame is quite similar to the relationship of Sugimoto and Asirpa, a girl enlists the help of an "immortal weapon" to collect a treasure. While playing into many Shounen tropes, Katanagatari takes an experimental look at the genre and features some great fight animation.

3. Otoyomegatari (Bride's Story)

[Link]

Summary: Set in 19th century Central Asia, Bride's Story follows the stories of several relationships and their daily lives of marriage, family and growth.

Adjacent-ness: Boasting an incredibly well-researched insight on the cultures and customs of Central Asia and richly detailed art, Bride's Story is another great read when looking to learn more about another culture.

4. Fullmetal Alchemist

[Link]

Summary: Two alchemist brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, search for a philosopher's stone to restore their bodies after a failed attempt to bring their late mother back to life. 

Adjacent-ness: Perhaps considered one of the quintessential manga/anime, Fullmetal Alchemist explores a deep war story interwoven with a fantastic cast of characters and comedic breaks to create a really compelling experience.

5. Princess Mononoke

[Link]

Summary: After suffering an infection from a demon boar, Ashitaka searches for a cure and gets himself involved in a conflict between nature gods and humans.

Adjacent-ness: Golden Kamuy heavily explores the Ainu culture's world view on respecting nature and animals, which are referred to as gods, or kamuy in Ainu. Princess Mononoke expresses a world where the animals of the forest are literally all-mighty gods, and continues to explore the relationship between human and nature.

Week 5 | Romance Manga

Nodame Cantabile

I was pretty surprised when reading this manga for romance week because to me, it didn't really feel like a romance manga (for good reasons, but I'll get to that). Taking on a slice of life tone, Nodame Cantabile by Tomoko Ninimiya follows the journey of Megumi Noda, or Nodame as she calls herself, and Chiaki Shunichi. While the two are both enrolled in the same music college studying piano, Nodame messily wanders through life without a care in the world while Chiaki aims to be a world renowned conductor with talent and money already in his pocket. Worlds apart, the two surprisingly discover they live right next door to each other and thus begins the strange daily adventures of Nodame and Chiaki.

When I said that this manga didn't feel like a romance manga, it doesn't mean that the two main characters don't have any chemistry, it's that the romance plays a secondary role to the overall story in my opinion. I believe that the main story of the manga is watching the growth and maturity of the titular character, Nodame. In the beginning, she starts as a carefree student only playing silly songs like the "Clean-up Song" and "MojaMoja Suite" she wrote herself. However, underneath her strange (and I mean really, really strange) characteristics lies an incredible talent for piano playing. It's not until she meets Chiaki does she begin to express her own drive to become a great piano player so that one day she may be able to perform a piano concerto with him as the conductor. However, Chiaki simply acts as the catalyst for her goal while her efforts are always portrayed as hers and hers alone, driven mad by her own passion and perseverance. It's these kinds of stories that I'm always happy to read, two people mutually lifting each other up to reach their best potential. So while I was glad when I reached the point in the story when the two become an official couple, I was much more interested in seeing the growth in both of their characters, especially in Nodame who grew to be a very independent individual striving to better herself.

The art is simple, but it never really feels like it is lacking. It's a charming match to the daily life events and light hearted attitude. Ninomiya does a great job of conveying the mood and movement of the music in a visual medium, making me itch to check out the anime version and hear the actual songs themselves.

While I have positive things to say about the manga, that doesn't mean it's free of any downfalls. One of the prominent characters plays into the "old pervert" trope. Which. Is. Never. Necessary. The continued use of the character's sexual harassment of women as a joke leaves an awfully sour taste and the fact that the author is a woman makes it even more baffling as to why she would choose to write this character trait in. Ninomiya also frequently feeds into the negatives of body image and fat-shaming. On multiple occasions, the female characters relate their beauty solely on their body size and idealize weight loss even if its caused by illness or starvation. Fat characters are rarely referred to by their proper names, instead they are derided with insulting nicknames. First serialized in 2001, Nodame Cantabile is definitely dated, especially when characters take out their Nokia phones and fax letters to each other. It's just a shame when I'm happily reading and have to see these things happen all too frequently in the story.

My face when Ninomiya is back on her bullshit again

I rate Nodame Cantabile with a piano duet played in mongoose costumes.

Week 4 | Documentary Manga

I Saw It

Raw and unidealized, I Saw It is an autobiographical account of manga artist, Keiji Nakazawa, as he recounts his experience surviving the Hiroshima bombing as a child. Having already read this manga during the Literature of Comics class, it's interesting to revisit this piece with first impressions already out of the way and see that it still is as powerful as the first read. The haunting images of zombie-like people dragging their own skin behind them continues to be one of the most powerful realities that one could not fathom to be possible. While the manga is dedicated to Nakazawa's experience with the after effects of the bombing, the manga is perhaps even more a dedication to his mother who continued to support his dreams of being a manga artist despite their family's hardships. While the manga ends on a more positive note with him fully involved in his manga career, I Saw It remains as a reminder that the effects of the bombing last much longer than just the first flash.

Nakazawa's work serves a great educational purpose by telling the tale of the bombing from a victim's perspective. In the American education system, the Hiroshima bombing is simply taught as an act that was "necessary" to end the war quickly to save American lives, as if it was an act of heroism. The bombing lasts one line in a textbook and immediately after, the American victory is given a full paragraph. The western world continues to turn its eyes away from the calamity of the bombing while it continues to boast its victories, and it makes me think it's no wonder we are in such a nuclear predicament nowadays. It's hard for people to grasp the true gravity of a nuclear bombing when we only hear about it in news headlines. Written in an easy to understand comic format, I Saw It is an incredibly important piece that conveys the true horrors of nuclear bombing that is rarely ever spoken of.

Disaster Drawn

Hillary Chute's analysis of Nakazawa's work in her book, Disaster Drawn, offers a deep look at the formation of the documentary genre within manga and comics. I was really interested by her comparison of I Saw It to Art Spiegleman's Maus, another piece I had previously read in the Literature of Comics class. While the former is a direct account illustrated by Nakazawa himself, Maus tells the tale of Spiegleman's father and his experiences during the Holocaust. I'm curious how this sort of second-hand storytelling affects the portrayal of the events in the book, especially since his father reveals himself to not be the most reliable storyteller as he chooses to omit parts of his life.

Week 3 | Gekiga

Cigarette Girl

Cigarette Girl is a collection of various self-contained (minus Happy-chan) short stories by gekiga artist, Masahiko Matsumoto. The stories take place in Japan during the early 1970s and tell the tales of people living their everyday urban life in a time when Japanese people felt increasingly insecure about their financial outlook due to a lull in the economy, rising urban housing costs and lower standards of living. Nothing quite gets resolved with the characters, but just like life, sometimes things don't get the pleasant closure like they do in books and movies. Rather than thinking of these stories as depressing (though that doesn't mean I'm going to call them happy), they are simply quiet stories of life being life. It's kind of like the feeling of sitting outside alone on a mild day and letting the wind blow your way while listening to the leaves rustle. 

Matsumoto does a pretty good job with conveying that while things might not happen how you want or expect them to, life simply goes on, we move on. A lot of the stories end with the main character simply walking the streets alone as the sounds of the city surround them, but it doesn't feel particularly sad, it simply feels like the character's story will continue even after the last panel. Perhaps it's a bit uplifting to see these characters do their best in an unforgiving environment, but nonetheless the things that happen to them still suck.

The simplistic art style of the manga plays a big contrast to the topics, making the weight of the unfortunate events seem more subdued then they would actually appear when presented in real life. It helps sell the overall tone Matsumoto hoped to achieve, but it still feels pretty jarring and makes it hard to really step into the shoes of these characters. 

So while Cigarette Girl was not a page-turning thriller like Ayako, it has its value for exploring a more hushed, adult subject matter, especially as a contrast to the more "cute" style stories Tezuka was producing at the time (I don't really know if can say anything anymore though after reading Ayako).

I rate Cigarette Girl with 16 guys whose lips are popping right out of their heads.

Week 2 | Osamu Tezuka

Presentation Project Proposal

For my presentation, I would like to showcase the manga, Golden Kamuy, a historical-fiction taking place mainly in Hokkaido after the Russo-Japanese War of 1904. As a contemporary Shonen manga, it stands out amongst the crowd as not only as a historical fiction, but also as a very well researched insight on Hokkaido's indigenous people, the Ainu. Since the manga's publication in 2014, Golden Kamuy has been able to garner more public interest towards the declining Ainu culture and population.

This topic is suited for either the Shonen/Seinen or Contemporary Week.

Ayako

Well... Ayako... was something alright. Where do I begin. Let's start with the art.

A series of pages I really enjoyed in its use of the same panel format to highlight the confined space, realistic time lapse, and the desperation in Genta's plea

The art is absolutely lovely to look at. Tezuka's paneling sensibilities shine throughout the manga, making use of panel size, orientation and repetition to convey the mood and time in a very elegant manner. To me, I felt his use of panels and the space within them bore a strong resemblance to western comics. His environment drawings were absolutely beautiful and showcase a completely different inking skill set than his thick lined characters. The art of Ayako truly surprised me since I only knew Tezuka for AstroBoy, so it was very nice being able to see a width breath of his artistic abilities.

Okay, let's just jump into the meat of things when it comes to the story. It's a series of unfortunate events that starts bad and just keeps getting worse and worse and worse with each page for these characters. I know character writing involves letting your characters suffer but Tezuka really took the hammer to his characters this time and just went a-smashing. And then brought out the gunshow. And the industrial steam roller. And just kept going until he mashed them into the ground. Literally.

Ayako is an extremely tragic tale for the Tenge family and only Ayako comes out alive in the end (minus the mother who kind of minds her own business), but not in a state anyone would be optimistic about. In fact, I didn't even think that was the ending until I hit next page and the scanlation site I was reading this on gave me a pearly white page of "That's all folks!" For me, this manga is a tale of everyone has their vices and guilt, a story of personal evil spiraling out of control. But turned up to 11.

The sheer amount of despair and absurdity that happened to these characters almost made the events comical. When reading the last couple of chapters, I began to recount a summary of events to a friend sitting next to me at the time. While explaining, I began to realize just how bizarre the events were and how convoluted the relationships between the characters were. When you begin to paraphrase things without the drama, it becomes a great comedy. Here's an example:

Jiro: [Explains his sap story for why he killed Eno]

Naoko: ...

[Naoko stabs Jiro in the neck]

Jiro: ?!?! I just told you my sad story and you stab me?!

Naoko: I said I was gonna have my revenge, did I stutter?

Naoko: ....

Naoko: Hey, you're kind of like... really bleeding huh...

Naoko: Are you like... okay my dude....

Naoko: I-I'm just uh gonna g-go run and find a doctor you stay there

So perhaps it's strange of me to say that while the end is supposed to be the saddest, most tragic part of the story, it became the most comedic part to me after I started reading things like this. Anyways, Ayako, while being really, really weird, was a page turner for the sole reason of me wanting to see just how much more Tezuka could make these character's lives a living hell.

I rate Ayako with 25 Tezukas running around with hammers.

Week 1 | 4-koma