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skinnylatte's review
5.0
I typically shy away from writing reviews, not wanting to provide free user-generated content to the behemoth that is Amazon (which owns Goodreads). But for this hefty tome, the first of several, I happily do so.
Shigeru Mizuki is a legend in Japan's manga industry, known primarily for his fascinating work on yōkai. But his other work, these manga about war and history, should be required reading for any student of the Pacific war.
Told primarily from the author's perspective beginning 1926, you learn about the lead up to militarism and fascism, as well as about the economy and the world at large from a regular Japanese perspective (in Sakaiminato, where Mizuki grew up, not Tokyo), and about the events and characters that somehow lead Japan into Manchuria. The theater of war in the Pacific began in 1931, a decade before World War II.
The art varies stylistically: Mizuki uses photo-realistic art in panes that veer historical or environmental; a somewhat simple cartoon-like style in panes that depict his family life, and most enjoyably, Nezumi Otoko (or Rat Man, from his famous Kitaro books) is the omnipresent and reliable narrator that is present in either style, who serves also as a companion or interviewer to Shigeru's character in the book, sometimes to hilarious effect.
If you like history, memoir and manga, this is going to be a treat. Start on this, and quickly read the next three volumes. More than anything, this series provides a view into the war from a Japanese perspective, and is also an important counterpoint to the increasingly revisionist, more recently popular war manga. That it's told from the lens of a person who lived in this era and was personally impacted by it (you'll see how), makes this work of art even more essential.
Shigeru Mizuki is a legend in Japan's manga industry, known primarily for his fascinating work on yōkai. But his other work, these manga about war and history, should be required reading for any student of the Pacific war.
Told primarily from the author's perspective beginning 1926, you learn about the lead up to militarism and fascism, as well as about the economy and the world at large from a regular Japanese perspective (in Sakaiminato, where Mizuki grew up, not Tokyo), and about the events and characters that somehow lead Japan into Manchuria. The theater of war in the Pacific began in 1931, a decade before World War II.
The art varies stylistically: Mizuki uses photo-realistic art in panes that veer historical or environmental; a somewhat simple cartoon-like style in panes that depict his family life, and most enjoyably, Nezumi Otoko (or Rat Man, from his famous Kitaro books) is the omnipresent and reliable narrator that is present in either style, who serves also as a companion or interviewer to Shigeru's character in the book, sometimes to hilarious effect.
If you like history, memoir and manga, this is going to be a treat. Start on this, and quickly read the next three volumes. More than anything, this series provides a view into the war from a Japanese perspective, and is also an important counterpoint to the increasingly revisionist, more recently popular war manga. That it's told from the lens of a person who lived in this era and was personally impacted by it (you'll see how), makes this work of art even more essential.
rotuna's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Rape, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Murder, Mental illness, Trafficking, Excrement, Physical abuse, and War
tittypete's review
4.0
Interesting mix of raw and cutesy for a quick reading history of pre-war japan.
balletbookworm's review
5.0
Beautiful first volume in Mizuki's manga series about the history of Japan during the Showa era (Emperor Hirohito's reign) which overlapped with Mizuki's lifetime. Loved the parallel narratives (his life and Japan's) with respective contrasting art styles, cartoony vs photo-realistic. I learned a lot. Absolutely will get the other three volumes.
tsharris's review
5.0
Incredible, simply incredible. I've already learned to appreciate the graphic novel as an excellent medium for history, but Mizuki's work is superlative. The artwork is stellar (contrast between photorealism for historical panels and simplistic for the personal); his account of Japan's road to war is not rote and actually added to my knowledge; and the bottom line is that the Japan that went to war was a modern society, and therefore there are numerous uncomfortable echoes of the road to war in other, more democratic societies. Societies at war tend to resemble each other more than partisans would like to think.
streberkatze's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
The combination of of global and Japanese history with the author's life story and Japanese folklore worked amazingly well for me. The timeline gets a little confusing sometimes, but the author's use of different drawing styles and a Japanese folk character as a narrator on the page helps the reader navigate these complexities. Highly recommend! (And looking forward to reading the remaining books in the series.)
Content Warnings
Moderate: War
Minor: Violence