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tasharobinson 's review for:
Pistouvi
by Merwan
What a strange, dreamy experience. Pistouvi is a little anthropomorphic fox who lives in a treehouse with a young girl named Jeanne. He's obsessed with finding and eating new bugs and creatures — even though he talks and wears clothes, he's very much an animal, given to intense enthusiasms but more than a little bloodthirsty on the hunt. There's a mother figure in this world, Wind, who appears to actually be the wind — she's lightly drawn and fluid compared to everything else in this world, and she's warm and nurturing and helpful. The father figure is Tractor, a giant who's seemingly one with the giant tractor that's constantly plowing up the land and planting fences. He's threatening and alien where Wind is loving. All of this reminded me a fair bit of Cory Doctorow's weird novel Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town, where the main character's mother is a washing machine and his father is a mountain — broad symbols of cleaning and remote towering remove, respectively.
That kind of dream-logic stretches throughout the graphic novel, which consists of a series of vignettes that generally don't resolve, and questions that generally aren't answered. There are giant birds in this world, and their speech is threatening to Pistouvi, though Jeanne is apparently immune because she's a girl. She has an ocarina with magical powers; Wind has seeds with mysterious effects. At times, the way these things interact with the world, and the preponderance of strange little wide-eyed black spirits and vast, slow intelligences make Pistouvi feel like a Studio Ghibli story.
But it's ultimately more like a dream. (This even though there are multiple actual dreams within the narrative, and they're even more surreal — metaphor stacked on metaphor.) I see where people here are complaining that the story is too opaque because there are never clear explanations for most of its mysteries. But I found it all pretty haunting. The art is lovely, alternately highly detailed and immersive, and impressionistic and dynamic. The facial expressions and body language are very clear and evocative. The emotions are intense and real. This may not be a story for people who demand clear linear narrative, but it's certainly immersive for anyone who loves world-building and unpredictable storytelling, or just wild and creative visual design.
That kind of dream-logic stretches throughout the graphic novel, which consists of a series of vignettes that generally don't resolve, and questions that generally aren't answered. There are giant birds in this world, and their speech is threatening to Pistouvi, though Jeanne is apparently immune because she's a girl. She has an ocarina with magical powers; Wind has seeds with mysterious effects. At times, the way these things interact with the world, and the preponderance of strange little wide-eyed black spirits and vast, slow intelligences make Pistouvi feel like a Studio Ghibli story.
But it's ultimately more like a dream. (This even though there are multiple actual dreams within the narrative, and they're even more surreal — metaphor stacked on metaphor.) I see where people here are complaining that the story is too opaque because there are never clear explanations for most of its mysteries. But I found it all pretty haunting. The art is lovely, alternately highly detailed and immersive, and impressionistic and dynamic. The facial expressions and body language are very clear and evocative. The emotions are intense and real. This may not be a story for people who demand clear linear narrative, but it's certainly immersive for anyone who loves world-building and unpredictable storytelling, or just wild and creative visual design.