A review by riotsquirrrl
Just So Happens by Fumio Obata

5.0

As someone whose father recently died, this book really resonated with me. The story feels a bit choppy but honestly that's the way it happens: bits of concrete memories interlaced with subtle feelings difficult to convey to other people, interspersed with ritual that gives form to the terrible. I do like the conceit of the Noh actor as a metaphorical stand-in for Yumiko's identity. The death of a parent changes people even though it doesn't feel like it should change them so much. The artwork is made up of beautiful and evocative watercolors and the analog medium really grounds the work in a way that wouldn't be possible with digital art.