Reviews

Abandon the Old in Tokyo by Adrian Tomine, Kōji Suzuki, Yoshihiro Tatsumi, Yuji Oniki

pilarsangga's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

char_co's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

bluenicorn's review against another edition

4.0

So, no one really gets a good ending in this collection of short graphic stories, but they're really well-written. A couple of them were just really poignant and striking- I recommend it for the amount of time it takes to read. Beware: there is a sex scene with a dog (yeah, I didn't expect that, either).

ainiali's review against another edition

3.0

It's a collection of short stories and the main theme in this one is challenging morality and not stuff for children. Its tone was a bit depressing and it's like the author took readers to see human failures in life.

This is out of my reading preference. Wayyyyyy out, to be honest. Upon finishing his autobiography last month, I thought I should give his works a try. Abandon the Old in Tokyo particularly have my interest because it was mentioned in [b: The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, Volume 1|89646|The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, Volume 1|Eiji Otsuka|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403204213l/89646._SX50_.jpg|86521] which I read a couple of years ago. Back then, I was clueless about what the reference was.

brogan7's review against another edition

"The grandfather of Japanese alternative comics"...

The trouble with much of what I'm reading these days (always?) is that it says the world is a terribly brutal place, particularly for women, I don't see much hope here.

izrdn's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

4.0

zorpblorp's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.25

dereksilva's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

Great collection of stories. I enjoyed it more than Good-Bye.

kdraw333's review against another edition

3.0

I knew nothing about this comic book artist before I borrowed this book from the library, a collection of eight stories from 1970 recently re-published in a beautiful volume by Drawn and Quarterly. Tatsumi calls this work "gekiga" (dramatic pictures), a darker and more realistic form of Japanese manga.

The stories are gritty with wonderfully absurd urban scenarios and some lovely inky-black night scenes. I like the style of drawing, which doesn't have the standardized and sickening cuteness that is such a turn-off from Japanese manga in general. I can't say it's changed my life, but it's definitely made me appreciate his talent for capturing subtleties with minimal ink lines.

linguistic_goblin's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-paced

1.0

I feel like this was written by an alien who doesn't actually understand humans and whose only point of reference was reading other shitty misery porn short story collections that it ended up trying to copy without ever fully comprehending them.