Blog post written by Emily Kang, Illustration '25, Library Research Consultant


Hello again, everyone! It's about that time where the school year is starting to buckle down almost to an uncomfortable degree. You'll have to stay up longer working on those assignments, and the people around you are gripping their tablet pens harder in a rush to get things done. When it comes down to that, remember take the time to curl up with a fictional story with art that flies off the pages and a message that contemplates the fleetingness of human life…

Today we're going to be discussing my favorite visual medium of all time, the thing that rocketed me into my art career and filled my childhood with wonder: manga. In fact, it was the local library near my house that started me on my hunt for these elusive comics. 

If you've ever been a fan of a show that broadcasted outside of your country, and could never get any merchandise or support for, you were probably aware of one thing: this media was not made for you in mind. It's been a furious battle to want to support your favorite comics and stories while not being able to read them in their original language. Fortunately, localization for our favorite Japanese manga has become commonplace: and we have the privilege of being able to read them at our local Goldstein library.

I'll make this list in the most appealing way I know how. Art students love visuals. So do I. So I'll talk about some of the most stylistic manga we've got on the shelves.


Land of the Lustrous

 

Land of the Lustrous is hypnotically beautiful. It's a love letter to line, shape and rhythm wrapped up in Buddhist iconography. The open landscapes seem endless, and the buildings host large arcs that open up to the sky with some of the thinnest lines I've seen used in manga.  Author Haruko Ichikawa is a master at capturing the intricate, wiry forms of The Lustrous as they travel through the golden wheat lands and along the crust of the shimmering seas. Enter main character Phos, who is the weakest among their kind and prone to shattering into pieces; they wish to find their own purpose as their companions battle the Lunarians. This manga is an experience, hands-down. It's also an open question to humanity from something that is not quite human: what is one supposed to do without a purpose in life? And how can you find one if you don't have any skills?

 

Tekkon Kinkreet

 

Matsumoto, Taiyo Matsumoto, TaiyoTaiyō Matsumoto's chaotic style is irresistibly appealing and instantly recognizable in motif: just look for the roughed-up boy in goggles sitting on the edge of a broken city. Tekkon Kinkreet (or Black and White) tells the story of two orphans known as stray cats who terrorize the gangs and citizens of Treasure Town. These yin-yang brothers hop along the fences of stylistically leaned buildings and leap through the sky littered with Tibetan style clouds. The style is downright crude, to put it kindly, and leans towards the styles of an independent Western comic rather than a Japanese one. It's a fascinating, beautiful read. Among Matsumoto's works also is multiple volumes of the series Sunny.

 

Witch Hat Atelier

 

The gorgeous delicacy of Kamome Shirahama's Witch Hat Atelier has given it a lot of attention on social media, with an animated series being set to release sometime in 2015. The author not only puts bucketloads of details into the clothes and hair of the characters, she also makes a point to focus on the landscapes. The characters travel through old, traditional towns carefully lined buildings and stretches of mountain ranges all littered patiently placed dots and hatchmark rendering. Reading it gives me the same sort of wistfulness and comfort as I would opening a European fairy tale book with gold leaf engraved on the sides. It's a beautiful story about the potential of magic and kindness and growing up, set through the eyes of 10 year old Coco, who is taken on as an apprentice of the mysterious witch Qifrey.

 

Double

 

I will proudly admit to being the one who requested Double by Ayako Noda for our library. This is a niche pick but has quickly grown to become one of my favorites series. It's a work about the curious relationship between two actors and their love for the stage. The transition of theater onto comic pages is something that works beautifully with the author's style –  the facial expressions are bold and endlessly dramatic, even bordering on eerie; the characters' movements are always animated and bright. The wispy lines and usage of dramatic blacks suggest an off-ness to the work that is present in the heavily codependent relationship of the main characters. Follow Takara Takarada (yes, that's his real name), who struggles even to read, dress and feed himself without his friend's help but is a secret genius under the lights of the stage.

There are so many more of my favorites, some of which have yet to be added in the collection. This world is huge, and manga is just a small piece of the larger industry of art and comics in the world. But it touches the hearts of many. (As always, if you have a recommendation for the library, submit a request so that you and your friends can enjoy it!)