Manifest: I’m going to be at Manifest from 23rd-25th September!
Secret Comics Japan
Thanks to Komala The One Who Knows All Things, I have borrowed off her some fantastic “offbeat” manga. First up is “Secret Comics Japan” (editted by Chikao Shiratori), which is an anthology collection of underground comics from Japan. Those tired of seeing mainstream stuff should snap this up – it show cases the truly weird, innovative and bizarre. To showcase who’s in it, I will mention my favourites: Junko Mizuno, Kiriko Nananan, Shintaro Kago, and Usamaru Furuya.
Junko Mizuno most should already know – famous for her cute, pop-art drawings and grotesque, fractured fairytales. This artist has got to be unique because her work is so ker-azy (and scary), though nowhere near as crazy as that of some other artists in this volume. Kiriko Nananan and Shintaro Kago are new to me, but I liked both their stories “Heartless Bitch” and “Punctures” respectively, though they are VERY different. “Heartless Bitch” is a realistically-written piece, concentrating on a conversation between two girls on their one-night stands; whereas “Punctures” is an effective horror story with some disturbing art. But ofcourse, I adore Usamaru Furuya – ever since I read his “Short Cuts” (v1 and 2) I’ve loved his surreal sense of humour and short, satirical strips. He reminds me of a crazed Japanese version of Gary Larson’s “The Far Side”.
Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga
Other recommendations would be Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga, by the venerable Koji Aihara and Kentaro Kakekuma. This is a hilarious and often biting treatise on the state of popular manga, and the authors lampoon every type of manga out there is out there – from shoujo manga to mahjong manga. The translation of this work is especially great – it must have been incredibly difficult because the humour in the book can be rather out there, but the translation keeps it intact. There is never an awkward sentence in this book, despite the amount of text. Either way, hilarious and brilliant.
“MANGA”
Komala’s also dropped me her huge “MANGA” encyclopaedia-like volume, compiled by Ed Julius Wiedemann and Masanao Amano (Also a DVD attached!!). It’s a collection showcasing prominent Japanese manga artists, both past and present, with 135 of them in total. I’m pleased to report that I recognised up to 70% of the names in here, and while I think some of the artists chosen were not really in the same league as the “must haves”, there’s no mistaking that they DID make an impact in the manga industry. As to what criteria the artists were chosen on – I believe it’s a combination of sales, technique, innovation and amount of influence they had in general society. Definately the “sales” part is important – otherwise, how the heck did Ken Akamatsu (Love Hina) and Minekura Kazuya (Saiyuki) make it in this book?! Some questionable choices, indeed…
NB. This book has a number of misprints – pages attributed to their creators which actually aren’t their’s. I thought it was only MY book, but it turns that it wasn’t.
Creators in this book I think should be better known outside Japan:
Aoyama Gosho: Creator of “Meitantei Conan”, which I think is okay, but what I want to point out is his unique art style (his work is squarely shounen). If you’ve ever seen Conan’s art then you know what I mean – it just looks like no on else’s. And besides, his first work “Yaiba” is an old favourite of mine.
Umezu Kazuo: I recommended “Drifting Classroom”, not only because it’s creepy, but because he had such an incredible influence on the evolution of horror manga. His “horror art style” can be seen in Hino Horror to Junji Ito’s work too – that black and white cross-hatching style and those unforgettable “horrified” facial expressions. That’s why I do my horror manga in grey-shading – to distance myself away from his b&w art style, which has become so pervasive in modern horror manga it’s almost a standard.
Egawa Tatsura: You’ll probably never see his work in English – his work can be kinda “out there”. I remember him mostly for his “Magical Taruruto-kun” manga, which was hilarious, and also showcased his unique and somewhat scratchy art style. He’s a difficult guy to place, to be honest…
Saimon Fumi: Best young adult drama writer EVER. Her art is not at all flashy, so you’ll NEVER see it in English. Darn it – it’s so great that it’s just sad. At least the Chinese publishing houses recognises how great her work is. I’ve read “Tokyo Love Stories” and “Asunaro Hakusho”, and quite frankly, no other young adult drama manga comes CLOSE in my mind.
Natsuki Sumeragi: She does alot of Chinese-influenced art, and I must say that her b&w linework is SOOO beautiful that I am FLOORED. She is one of the most fantastic illustrators around. *worships* She uses barely any tone too – you can sit around admiring her artwork all day.
Yuzo Takada: Oh my, how can we forget “3×3 Eyes”? I own the whole set, though by vol 32 I was praying for it to end. That’s nothing on his skills though – he is a master at depicting the bizarre and grotesque. Very unique sense of design and highly recognisable art style. He also did the hilarious “All-Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku”, and “Blue Seed”, which I only own two volumes of (Darn).
Tajima Shou-u: He did MPD Psycho – for the serial killer in us all. Enough said.
Hagiware Kazushi: The author who brought about Otaku-dom (the book said), with his SOLE published long-form work “Bastard!”. I have read “Bastard!”, and I must say that the art is utterly amazing (not to mention downright gory and grotesque at times). His art is NOT unique though – it has a rather 80s anime-esque look, and alot of complex linework and toning just THIS side of being incomprehensible… but he still manages to make it work. The story… eh, I keep missing what it’s about – namely an ex-darklord called Dark Schneider, and a priestess called Youko. And… yeah. I forget the story, but I remember the art.
Fujita Kazuhiro: Oh my… I own almost the entire set of “Ushio and Tora” (story: a boy, his monster and his magic spear), and it’s the ONLY manga in existence that I’ll say is worth reading through for the ENDING. He’s primarily a horror artist, and his artwork is downright messy, ill-proportioned and even UGLY, but… okay, it’s unique. As for why the “Ushio and Tora” ending is so great, it’s because EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER that has EVER appeared in the series shows up to lend a hand in fighting the final boss. This is a series of short stories, so after 31 volumes there’s an incredible backlog of characters (over 100?) who need to make an appearance. And EVERY ONE of them appears in some way (even the dead ones), and they ALL serve a purpose, rather than just making the stock appearance. It’s a kind of grandiosity and scale on the manga page I doubt I’ll ever see anything quite like again.
Furuya Usamaru: Mentioned him in “Secret Comics Japan” already, but go out and buy “Short Cuts” if you haven’t already.
Yuuki Masami: Kidou Keisatsu PATLABOR!!!!!! The art is boring-ass (too anime-ish) in my opinion, but Patlabor is probably the best “mecha” manga I’ve ever read. Even better than the Evangelion manga (which I think paled in comparison to the anime anyway). But then Patlabor is probably even better in anime form, so who am I kidding?