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A review by __kuriichan_
父の暦 by Jirō Taniguchi, Jirō Taniguchi, 谷口 ジロー
3.0
Actual rating 2.8⭐
Chichi no koyomi (My Father's Diary) is a story that Jirō Taniguchi was inspired to write based on his hometown of Tottori Prefecture and the Great fire that took place in 1952. However, let's not mistake it for an autobiography as the story is purely fictional with some authentic elements.
The story follows Yōichi, a young man who returns to Tottori for his father's funeral. It makes you wonder from the start though, why he is trying to avoid or delay his return to his hometown. We find out soon that it's because Yōichi, since he was little, has been emotionally distant from his father.
Now, I won't get into much detail about the story but there are some things that bothered me with it (which do contain spoilers).
First of all, any book that makes me cry - not once, but twice- over a dog's death, is automatically added to my black list. End of story.
Second, I simply cannot understand the emotional turmoil Yōichi went through because of his family's disapproval over his years long neglect towards his father, as well as wanting to get as far away from Tottori as possible. Nobody ever, not even his own father, bothered to explain to Yōichi why exactly his mother left, why his parents divorced and why everything happened. Not even his own sister for that matter. They expected him to just magically understand what kind of person his father was and all the events that ensued before and after his parents' divorce.
Third, I cannot understand the entitlement Haruko (Yōichi's sister, and Daisuke (Yōichi's uncle) think they had over Yōichi's decisions. There has been multiple attempted manipulation from both towards Yōichi.
Furthermore, Kiyoko's (Yōichi's mother) minimal appearance in the manga made me feel like the author wanted to make her look like the bad guy, not necessarily on purpose, but still.
Finally, I want to say that I understand it's a story set in Shōwa period Japan (Post WWII) and the mindset, even if not as changed from the current one, was a lot more different then. Still, I believe this story could have been better, and not as unnecessarily dramatic over Yōichi's father. Someone cut Yōichi some slack for the love of god.
I really liked the artwork and the settings, as well as the original dialect (in Japanese). The story was okay.
It really wasn't for me, and, not gonna lie, I hate the fact that I will have to write an essay about it soon.
*Read as a part of a uni course. Read in both Japanese and English.
Chichi no koyomi (My Father's Diary) is a story that Jirō Taniguchi was inspired to write based on his hometown of Tottori Prefecture and the Great fire that took place in 1952. However, let's not mistake it for an autobiography as the story is purely fictional with some authentic elements.
The story follows Yōichi, a young man who returns to Tottori for his father's funeral. It makes you wonder from the start though, why he is trying to avoid or delay his return to his hometown. We find out soon that it's because Yōichi, since he was little, has been emotionally distant from his father.
Now, I won't get into much detail about the story but there are some things that bothered me with it (which do contain spoilers).
First of all, any book that makes me cry - not once, but twice- over a dog's death, is automatically added to my black list. End of story.
Second, I simply cannot understand the emotional turmoil Yōichi went through because of his family's disapproval over his years long neglect towards his father, as well as wanting to get as far away from Tottori as possible. Nobody ever, not even his own father, bothered to explain to Yōichi why exactly his mother left, why his parents divorced and why everything happened. Not even his own sister for that matter. They expected him to just magically understand what kind of person his father was and all the events that ensued before and after his parents' divorce.
Third, I cannot understand the entitlement Haruko (Yōichi's sister, and Daisuke (Yōichi's uncle) think they had over Yōichi's decisions. There has been multiple attempted manipulation from both towards Yōichi.
Furthermore, Kiyoko's (Yōichi's mother) minimal appearance in the manga made me feel like the author wanted to make her look like the bad guy, not necessarily on purpose, but still.
Finally, I want to say that I understand it's a story set in Shōwa period Japan (Post WWII) and the mindset, even if not as changed from the current one, was a lot more different then. Still, I believe this story could have been better, and not as unnecessarily dramatic over Yōichi's father. Someone cut Yōichi some slack for the love of god.
I really liked the artwork and the settings, as well as the original dialect (in Japanese). The story was okay.
It really wasn't for me, and, not gonna lie, I hate the fact that I will have to write an essay about it soon.
*Read as a part of a uni course. Read in both Japanese and English.