Manga like Flight

Sekishoku Elegy

Also known as Red Colored Elegy.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Seiichi Hayashi produced Red Colored Elegy between 1970 and 1971, in the aftermath of a politically turbulent and culturally vibrant decade that promised but failed to deliver new possibilities. With a combination of sparse line work and visual codes borrowed from animation and film, the quiet melancholy lives of a young couple struggling to make ends meet are beautifully captured in this poetic masterpiece.

Uninvolved with the political movements of the time, Ichiro and Sachiko hope for something better, but they're no revolutionaries; their spare time is spent drinking, smoking, daydreaming, and sleeping--together and at times with others. While Ichiro attempts to make a living from his comics, Sachiko's parents are eager to arrange a marriage for her, but Ichiro doesn't seem interested. Both in their relationship and at work, Ichiro and Sachiko are unable to say the things they need to say, and like any couple, at times say things to each other that they do not mean, ultimately communicating as much with their body language and what remains unsaid as with words.

Red Colored Elegy is informed as much by underground Japanese comics of the time as it is by the French Nouvelle Vague, and its cultural referents range from James Dean to Ken Takakura. Its influence in Japan was so large that Morio Agata, a prominent Japanese folk musician and singer songwriter, debuted with a love song written and named after it.

"I wanted to live like Sachiko and Ichiro; to have aspirations even while living stoically and humbly." --Morio Agata



Tags: Seinen , Drawing , Work , Suicide , Primarily Adult Cast , Heterosexual , Nudity

Miyoko Asagaya Kibun

Also known as That Miyoko Asagaya Feeling.

Status: Finished
Genres:

Miyoko Asagaya Kibun
Guntou
Burai no Omokage
Asagaya Shinjuu
Pistol
Kawa
Shizuka na Pink
Rakkasan
Renai
Kiss


Tags: Anthology , Autobiographical

Minami-kun no Koibito

Also known as Minami's Lover.

Status: Finished
Genres: Fantasy , Romance

What would you do if your girlfriend shrank overnight reaching the size of a Barbie doll? This is the incredible story of Minami and his girlfriend Chiyomi. After this bad luck, the two teenagers see their lives turned upside down. Minami must now take care of his miniature girlfriend. He made her clothes, he buillts a small house to her size, takes her to the bathroom and cooks her mini-meals but how long this can last? Not easy to Chiyomi become a living toy when she is going through puberty and his hormones titillate her!

Tags: Primarily Teen Cast , Heterosexual , Tragedy , Nudity

Takara no Yome

Status: Finished
Genres: Horror

Ishi no Akago (石の赤子)
Kakureboshi (かくれ星)
Hana-gari (花守り)
Nigai Izumi (苦い泉)
Takara no Yome (宝の嫁)
Kimi yo Shiru ya Minami no Kuni (君よ知るや南の国)
Yume no Soko no Ningyou (夢の底の人形)
Marebito (稀人)

Tags: Josei , Anthology , Historical

Yuugure e

Also known as Offshore Lightning.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Nazuna Saito began making comics late. She was in her forties when she submitted a story to a major Japanese publishing house and won an award for newcomers. She continued to work through the 1990s until she stopped drawing to take care of her ailing parents. In her sixties, she took a job teaching drawing at Kyoto Seika University and became inspired by her talented students. When she returned to teaching, her storytelling interests had shifted. Before suffering a stroke she drew “In Captivity” (2012) and “Solitary Death Building” (2015)—both focused on aging and death. Offshore Lightning collects Saito’s early work as well as these two recent graphic novellas. Stories like “Buy Dog Food and Go Home” and “Offshore Lightning” focus on middle-aged men caught in a cycle of self pity and self reflection. Saito gently pokes fun at their anguish and self-involvement while capturing the pathos of these men as they revisit childhood friendships and lost loves. By contrast, “In Captivity” follows three siblings visiting their ailing mother who is succumbing to dementia and resentful at her loss of agency. The siblings take a drive as they reckon with balancing the painful legacy of her caustic personality with attempting to honor this woman at the end of her life. “Solitary Death Building” documents an eccentric cast of elderly gossips as death descends upon the housing complex where they all live..

Toward The Sunset (夕暮れへ)
Offshore Lighting (沖の稲妻)
Parakeet God (インコの神)
Buy Dog Food, Then Go Home (ドッグフードを買ってお家に帰ろう)
Countdown (カウントダウン)
A Mother of Pearl Ship (螺鈿の舟) Gingko (銀杏) Upskirt (スカートの中)
In Captivity (トラワレノヒト)
House of Solitary Death (ぼっち死の館)



Tags: Anthology , Primarily Adult Cast , Elderly Protagonist

ODESSEY: 1966-2005 Okada Fumiko Sakushinshuu

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Psychological

Volume 1:
Glass Dama (ガラス玉)
Sunroom no Hirusagari (サンルームのひるさがり)
Kiiro no Jean Kawabe no Poem (黄色のジャン・川辺のポエム)
Freiheit to Shiroi Hone (フライハイトと白い骨)
L'pauret (ポーヴレト)
Aka to Ao (赤と青)
Tengoku no Hana (天国の花)
Haru no Fushigi (春のふしぎ)
Tokko Samishii Kokoro (トッコ・さみしい心)
10.Orupe to Yuride (オルペとユリデ)
Izumi yo Izumi (いずみよいずみ)
Watashi no Ehon (私の絵本)
Imagination (イマジネイション)
Yume no Naka no Kyuuden (夢の中の宮殿)
Mizuiro no Ningyou (みず色の人形)
Aishishugita Otoko (愛しすぎた男)

Volume 2:
Bochi e Yuku Michi (墓地へゆく道)
Taiyou to Gaikotsu no Youna Shounen (太陽と骸骨のような少年)
Natsu (夏)
Pygmalion (ピグマリオン)
Shinde Shimatta Tekubi: Ashuraou (Zenpen) (死んでしまった手首 ー 阿修羅王(前編))
Shinde Shimatta Tekubi: Ashuraou (Kouen) 死んでしまった手首 ー 阿修羅王(後編)
Miminashi Hohho (耳なしホッホ)
Kaen: Hi ga Moeru (火陥 ー ひがもえる)
Kaen (火焔)
Kaen
Umi no Soko no Nichiyoubi (海の底の日よう日)
Jaaku no Jack (邪悪のジャック)
Mune wo Daki Kubi wo Kashigeru Hermaphroditus (胸をだき 首をかしげるヘルマプロディトス)
Akai Tsurukusa PART 1 (赤い蔓草 PART 1)
Akai Tsurukusa PART 2 (赤い蔓草 PART 2)
Buranko (ブランコ)
Okada Fumiko no Hako (岡田史子の匣)

Tags: Anthology , Seinen

Maboroshi no 10-nen

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

Tags: Seinen , Rural

Mokuzou Mortar no Oukoku: Garo 20-nenshi

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Ecchi , Fantasy , Horror , Psychological , Romance , Supernatural

A massive, 1200 page anthology gathering stories from every Garo author up until 1984.

Zashiki Warashi (ざしきわらし) [Sanpei Shirato]
Nekonin (ねこ忍) [Shigeru Mizuki]
Unabara no Ken (Musashi no Maki) (海原の剣（武蔵の巻）) [Goseki Kojima]
Kao no Magatta Otoko no Monogatari (顔の曲がった男の物語) [Teppu Hoshikawa]
Mahiru (真昼) [Futoshi Watari]
Ai: Shinshaku Bushido Monogatari (愛─新釈武士道物語─) [Hiroshi Hirata under the name Issei Kaji]
Chiko (チーコ) [Yoshiharu Tsuge]
Wakakusa Manpo (若草漫歩) [Mitsuo Fujisawa]
Uchuu no Dekigoto (宇宙の出来事) [Shintarou Tashiro] Natsu (夏) [Ryouichi Ikegami]
Kakashi ni Kitaeru no Hanashi: Series Kiirooi Namida (かかしにきいたかえるの話─シリーズ 黄色い涙─) [Shinji Nagashima]
Rokunomiya Himeko no Higeki (六の宮姫子の悲劇) [Kuniko Tsurita]
Kyodai na Sakana (巨大な魚) [Seiichi Hayashi]
Doro Ningyou (どろ人形)
[Hino Hideshi]
Umi Hoozuki (海ほおずき) [Keiko Naka]
Hana Arashi no Goro: Terajimachou Kidan (花あらしの頃─寺島町奇譚─) [Yuu Takita]
Nagamochiuta Kou (長持唄考) [Takao Yaguchi]
Uki (2) (雨季(二)) [Tadao Tsuge]
Wakaremichi (わかれみち) [Yoshihiro Tatsumi]
Tako ni Natta Shounen (たこになった少年) [Sanpo Yodogawa]
Kantaro Tsuki (かんたろ月) [Susumu Katsumata]
Urabure Yokaze (うらぶれ夜風) [Yukio Kawasaki]
Ame no Iro (雨の色) [Oji Suzuki]
Matsuko Ojichan no Nageki (マツコおじちゃんの嘆き) [Ryuuzan Aki]
Boku no Debu Inko-chan (ぼくのデブインコちゃん) [Maki Sasaki]
Burai no Omokage (無頼の面影) [Shinichi Abe]
Maboroshi no Shoujo: Wakouji Hakushakutei no Trouble (幻の少女･和小路伯爵邸のトラブル) [Hiroji Tani]
Niku Yashiki (肉屋敷) [Kazuichi Hanawa]
Kita e no Tabibito (北への旅人) [Shouichi Yoshida]
Saisetsu ni Mau… (彩雪に舞う･･････) [Shouhei Kusunoki]
Oza-shiki (おざ式) [Genpei Akasegawa]
Saikai (再会) [Hiroshi Masumura]
Murasaki no Densetsu (Image STATION) (紫の伝説(イメージSTATION)) [Masuzou Furukawa]
Zettai Kyuujitsu (絶対休日) [Shigenobu Akiyama]
Areta Umibe (荒れた海辺) [Anzai Mizumaru]
Kushii-kun no Hatsumei (クシー君の発明) [Yuuji Kamosawa]
Boxer (毆者(ボクサー)) [Mitsuhiko Yoshida]
Nobori Tako (昇り凧)
[Moribi Murano]
Penguin Gohan (ペンギンごはん) [Teruhiko Yumura + Shigesato Itoi]
Ai no Arashi (愛の嵐) [Yoshikazu Ebisu]
Boku no Otouto (ぼくの弟) [Shigesato Itoi]
？ [Shinbou Minami]
Sore kara no Iwamoto Musashi Kaidan (それからの岩本武蔵･怪談) [Kyuusoku Iwamoto]
Harry-shi no Koto (ハリー氏のこと) [Hiroshi Matsuo]
Aitsuma Ki (愛妻記) [Misao Hisauchi]
Gyoza Teishoku no Hiru (ギョーザ定食の昼) [Hiromi Hiraguchi]
Otou-san no Neji (お父さんのネジ) [Kazuhiro Watanabe]
Nagagutsu wo Haita Neko (長靴をはいた猫) [Satoshi Shimizu]
Monologue (ものろおぐ) [Youko Kondou]
Modern Lovers (モダン・ラヴァーズ) [Ira Okudaira]
Shouwaru Neko (性悪猫) [Murasaki Yamada]
Seishun no Ase wa Nigai ze (青春の汗は苦いぜ) [Norikazu Kobayashi]
Yakou (夜行) [Kazuo Takayama]
Puisanmura Housoukyoku (ぷいさん村放送局) [Masako Yakuwa]
Gonin Damashi Doufun Bushido: Gensou no Meiji (五人だまし･道糞武士道─幻想の明治─) [Shintarou Kou]
K [Masaaki Oosawa]
Taikutsu na Hi (怠屈な日) [Masayuki Izumi]
Umi no Ohanashi (海のお話) [Kotarou Momotarou]
Futatsu no Makura (Hatsune) (二つ枕(初音)) [Hinako Sugiura]
PHANTASMAGORIA [Shigeru Tamura]
Nobe wa Naku (野辺は無く) [Otoya Mitsuhashi]
Shounen (少年) [Hiromi Morishita]
Itoguchi (糸口) [Michiyo Matsumoto]
Mama to Yobarete Sankagetsu (ママと呼ばれて三ヶ月) [Takashi Nemoto + Jun Takagi]
Local-sen no Gogo (ローカル線の午後) [Osamu Kanno]
Hoto Hoto Nangi na Papa to Mama (ホトホトなんぎなパパとママ)
Hentousen no Natsu (扁桃腺の夏) [Tooru Minegishi]
Modotte Kita Hi (戻ってきた日) [Tomiko Higo]
Srap Skip (スラップスキップ) [Hisaichi Ishii]
Happy Birthday (はぴー・ばーす・でい) [Yuka Haga]
Dou Natten no: Aesop-shiki Manga Kouza (どうなってんの─イソップ式漫画講座─) [Shigeru Mizuki]


Tags: Anthology , Seinen

Sakigake!! Cromartie Koukou

Also known as Cromartie High School.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy

Welcome to Cromartie High—a melting pot of underachievers and overzealous bullies, where the fist rules and the student body has the combined I.Q. of a rusty nail. After a whole lot of bad judgment and a little bad luck, Takashi Kamiyama is now attending this academy of dunces. Here, his only homework will be defending himself against the foul-mouthed robots, semi-intelligent apes and masked villains that roam the halls of Cromartie High School!



Tags: Delinquents , Surreal Comedy , Parody , Primarily Male Cast , Ensemble Cast , School , Shounen , Robots , Male Protagonist