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A review by kazuya
童夢 [Dōmu] by Katsuhiro Otomo
5.0
Met this masterpiece again at a local library's used book sale. How come I was able to find this rather obscure manga in suburban Seattle? And it's the original Japanese version! I literally grabbed it upon the sight and rushed to the cashier, and was surprised again that it was priced only 50 cents. Anyway that's how I got this book in my hands again after more than 30 years.
You could say the backbone story isn't that compelling. But it's more about... I don't know. It just feels stupid to try to describe a good manga in my inept words. It's too real and too unreal at the same time. This work wouldn't exist if it weren't for Otomo's detailed depiction of the typical Japanese life style then (I think it's '70 or '80) as well as his hyperrealistic presentation of the exertion of power.
Okay, enough of banal praise. What actually I like about his works is the scarcity (or lack) of symbolic expressions particular to manga (so-called manpu 漫符). I don't really like use of them, for one they are often used as shortcuts to save the authors from constructing subtle contexts to show non verbal expressions. Imagine if your favorite literary work is sprinkled with facial emojis. Otomo takes all the effort to avoid these and that's why I love his works.
You could say the backbone story isn't that compelling. But it's more about... I don't know. It just feels stupid to try to describe a good manga in my inept words. It's too real and too unreal at the same time. This work wouldn't exist if it weren't for Otomo's detailed depiction of the typical Japanese life style then (I think it's '70 or '80) as well as his hyperrealistic presentation of the exertion of power.
Okay, enough of banal praise. What actually I like about his works is the scarcity (or lack) of symbolic expressions particular to manga (so-called manpu 漫符). I don't really like use of them, for one they are often used as shortcuts to save the authors from constructing subtle contexts to show non verbal expressions. Imagine if your favorite literary work is sprinkled with facial emojis. Otomo takes all the effort to avoid these and that's why I love his works.