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1 February 2012 2 Comments

Manga Giveaway: Genkaku Picasso Giveaway Winner

And the winner of the Genkaku Picasso Giveaway is…Ikari!

As the winner, Ikari will be receiving a brand new copy of Usamaru Furuya’s Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1. Last week, Experiments in Manga hosted the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast. I decided to coordinate this month’s giveaway with the Feast by selecting one of Furuya’s manga.

For the giveaway, I wanted to learn a little bit about how other people were first introduced to Furuya and his works. Check out the Genkaku Picasso Giveaway comments for some great stories. I was surprised by how many people’s first experience was Short Cuts, although I probably shouldn’t have been. Personally, I didn’t find out about Furuya until Lychee Light Club was licensed. I think I can safely say that I’ve made up for it since then, though.

Usamaru Furuya’s Manga in English
Genkaku Picasso
Lychee Light Club
No Longer Human
Palepoli (excerpted in Japan Edge and Secret Comics Japan) 
Short Cuts

Filed Under: Giveaways, Lists Tagged: , , ,
29 January 2012 2 Comments

Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast: An Epilogue

© Usamaru Furuya

The Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast is drawing to a close. It’s been a great week with some great contributions. Here are the most recent submissions.

At Experiments in Manga, I posted a review of No Longer Human, Volume 1. Furuya’s adaptation of Osamu Dazai’s original novel was one of my most anticipated releases for 2011. I wasn’t disappointed.

Connie of Slightly Biased Manga brings us a license request for Palepoli, which includes great examples from the manga showing off the tremendous range in Furuya’s artwork:

Every single one of his books is interesting to look at. He’s constantly using unusual imagery and a plethora of styles to convey the story visually, and there’s nobody quite like him when it comes to this. It’s fine art in manga form, and I wish like nobody’s business that more of his work would be licensed.

Manga Connection participates in the Manga Moveable Feast for the very first time and uses the opportunity to take a look at Furuya’s No Longer Human, noting how easy it is to dislike Yozo and yet still relate to him:

Yozo is a manipulator and takes advantage, no doubt, but how many of us acknowledge it like he does? Does that make him any better or worse that us — no longer human? These are questions I could mull over a long time.

Terry Hong of BookDragon, a part of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program, only recently discovered the Manga Moveable Feast and joins in for the first time, reviewing the final two books of Genkaku Picasso:

Picasso’s closer friends finally begin to wonder how he knows so much about their lives. Questions, then accusations fly, sending Picasso off on a soul-search of his own … and Chiaki must guide him through one more challenging adventure.

Genkaku Picasso is also the subject of All About Manga‘s Daniella Orihuela-Gruber’s delightful article Usamaru Furuya’s Genkaku Picasso & Why It’s Currently the Only Shounen Manga on My Shelves which looks at the series from the perspective of someone who’s not generally a fan of shōnen manga:

Genkaku Picasso, on the other hand, has enough creativity to attack unconventional issues and goes so far as to mock the generic shounen formula it does take. Not to forget the manga’s shounen roots, the ending will probably make you cry a single, manly tear. I couldn’t think of a better shounen title to read right now.

As always, if I’ve missed something relating to the Feast, please let me know so that I can add it to the archive. While today was the official end of the Feast, I know there are still some contributions out there being written. Maybe you wanted to participate but for one reason or another weren’t able to during the Feast. Don’t let that hold you back! I will be posting one last, final farewell sometime later this week. Please let me know if you plan on submitting something and I’ll be sure that you are included.

I have already mentioned this several times during the Feast, but this was the first time that Experiments in Manga hosted the Manga Moveable Feast. It was a lot of work, but it was a great experience for me. I’m very glad that I volunteered. I sincerely hope that I was able to serve an adequate host. (Actually, I really hope that I was good host, but I’ll settle for adequate.) But, more importantly, I hope that you enjoyed the Feast.

I would like to thank everyone who participated in the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast, especially those who contributed reviews and articles. I would also particularly like to thank everyone who helped spread the word about and link to the Feast; Experiments in Manga is a newer and not particularly well-known manga and Japanese literature blog, so I really appreciated the assistance. Thank you also to everyone who took time to comment on the various posts. And all of you lurkers who wandered around reading but not saying anything? I’d like to thank you, too. The Feast would have been unrewarding if no one showed up to appreciate it. Thank you all for making the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast a success.

I hope you’ll all join us again for February’s Feast, hosted by the magnificent Kate Dacey of The Manga Critic. Scheduled for February 19-February 25, we’ll be celebrating Osamu Tezuka and exploring his works together. Bring a friend!

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28 January 2012 2 Comments

No Longer Human, Volume 1

Creator: Usamaru Furuya
Original story: Osamu Dazai
U.S. publisher: Vertical
ISBN: 9781935654193
Released: October 2011
Original release: 2009

Usamaru Furuya’s No Longer Human, a manga adaptation of Osamu Dazai’s novel of the same name, was one of my most anticipated releases for 2011. The original novel was published in 1948 while the first volume of Furuya’s interpretation was released in Japan in 2009. Vertical began bringing the series to English-reading audiences in 2011. (I was hoping that the third and final volume of Furuya’s No Longer Human would be published in time for the Usamaru Furuya Manga Movable Feast, but alas, the release date was moved back.) Dazai’s novel is a tremendous work and Furuya is a tremendous artist, so I was eagerly awaiting the opportunity to read his version of the story. It’s not a strictly literal adaptation—Furuya has moved the story to modern day Japan and has even inserted himself into it.

While searching for inspiration for his next series, manga artist and author Usamaru Furuya stumbles across the online diary of a young man named Yozo Oba. Yozo is the youngest son of a wealthy family. While attending a private high school in Tokyo, he was known as the class clown. Extremely charismatic, he was well liked by his classmates and teachers. What they didn’t know was that it was all an act. Yozo views his life as a performance, his actions are deliberate and calculated. The intense and constant effort Yozo puts into convincing others to like and accept him leaves him miserable and unhappy. He has a difficult time connecting with and understanding other people and is afraid that someone will notice his inauthenticity. For now, Yozo just tries to act the part that is expected of him.

Furuya easily slips between and melds two different art style in No Longer Human. One is fairly clean and straightforward, primarily used for dealing with Yozo’s interactions with other people. The other style is darker, murkier, and slightly more abstract, reflecting more closely Yozo’s inner state of mind and emphasising his sense of separation and detachment. The contrast between the two can be rather disconcerting. Furuya’s artwork is extremely effective and he creates some phenomenally chilling moments. The changes that Furuya has made to No Longer Human, which are actually relatively few, also work quite well. Each chapter closes with a direct quote from the novel and important lines—such as the one from the beginning of Yozo’s diary, “I’ve lived a life full of shame.”—are incorporated into the manga in very powerful ways.

It is not necessary to have read Dazai’s original novel in order to appreciate Furuya’s No Longer Human. (Although, if you haven’t read the novel before, I do recommend the book.) Furuya’s vision is compelling, although I didn’t find Yozo to be as sympathetic in the manga. In the novel, Dazai is able to be much more explicit about Yozo’s internal conflicts while Furuya relies on his art to express the same things, in some ways leaving more room for readers’ individual interpretations. The artwork allows readers to catch glimpses of how Yozo sees things, often without accompanying explanation. The first volume of Furuya’s No Longer Human is rather short, but if you rush through it, it is easy to miss some of the subtle cues in the art that add a tremendous amount of depth to both Yozo and to the story. If you can, take time to linger in the darkness.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged: , , , , ,
28 January 2012 Leave a Comment

Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast: Roundup Three

© Usamaru Furuya

We’re nearing the end of the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast, so here’s the third roundup to help you catch up with what’s been going on these last couple of day!

I posted two reviews here at Experiments in Manga. One for the first volume of Short Cuts, which I thought was hilarious, and one for the first volume of Genkaku Picasso. Personally, I find Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1 to be one of Furuya’s weaker manga, but it’s still intriguing and the next two volumes in the series do improve.

At A Case Suitable for Treatment (now a part of the Manga Bookshelf network), Sean Gaffney reviews both volumes of Short Cuts, his first exposure to Usamaru Furuya’s work:

It takes on a lot of funny subjects, especially the kogal movement in Japan, but it’s never mean about them. You get the feeling that Furuya likes these girls, and is rooting for them. And we do as well.

Lori Henderson of Manga Xanadu returns to the Feast, this time with a review of Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1, having first read a preview in Shonen Jump, but only now reading the entire volume:

What makes Genkaku Picasso work so well are its characters. Furuya has created a quirky lead with a cast of characters to match. Hikari Hamura, aka Picasso, so named for a spelling error and his love of drawing, is a fun yet endearing lead.

Kristin Bomba, writing for Comic Attack, takes a look at Furuya’s No Longer Human, Volume 2:

Furuya has a wonderful ability to illustrate the human condition, in particular the darker parts of it, making No Longer Human an excellent read.  I can’t say it’s for everyone […] but if you want a good story that is so fantastical it feels absolutely real, a story of one person’s struggle to do more than exist, then be sure to check this series out.

Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith also discuss No Longer Human as part of a regular feature at Manga Bookshelf, “Off the Shelf”. They have a marvelous conversation addressing Furuya’s artistry and the women in Yozo’s life among other topics:

Disaster is clearly just around the corner, in the same sure way as you’d expect in, say, a Dickens novel. Yoshino is doomed just as it seems Oba is truly doomed, and nobody’s even trying to hide it. Furuya makes the most of this, too.

And there we have it…for now! Tomorrow is the final day of the Feast and there will be one last wrap up post before it’s done. Please let me know of any Feast content that I might have missed so that I can include it in the archive. Please enjoy the rest of the Feast!

Filed Under: Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast Tagged: ,
27 January 2012 2 Comments

Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1

Creator: Usamaru Furuya
U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781421536750
Released: November 2010
Original release: 2009

After a seven year drought, Genkaku Picasso became the first in a (very small) flood of new titles by Usamaru Furuya to be translated into English. The first volume of Genkaku Picasso was released in Japan in 2009; the entire series was originally serialized in the manga magazine Jump SQ between 2008 and 2010. The English edition of Genkaku Picasso started publication in 2010. Once again, it was Viz Media that brought Furuya’s work to English-reading audiences, having previously published Short Cuts and excerpts from his debut manga, Palepoli. I’ve had Genkaku Picasso sitting on my shelf for quite some time, but it’s only now for the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast that I’ve finally gotten around to reading it. Furuya is well known for his work in underground and alternative manga, but Genkaku Picasso is one of his more mainstream series.

Hikari Hamura, nicknamed Picasso by his classmates (much to his frustration), would much prefer that everyone would just leave him alone to his drawing. However, after a strange accident leaves him with the even stranger ability to visualize the contents of another person’s heart, Picasso must learn to use his artistic talents to help others or else he’ll rot away. Drawing what he sees, he can dive into the artwork and their subconscious. The problem is that the visions aren’t particularly straightforward. That and Picasso doesn’t really feel like reaching out to others and is much more comfortable keeping to himself. It’s not easy, and there tends to be quite a few misunderstandings, but Picasso doesn’t seem to have much of a choice. He might not want to, but he has to get to know his classmates better even if he does find them and the prospect terribly annoying.

One of the things that impresses me the most about Furuya’s work as whole is that he deliberately creates a particular aesthetic to fit an individual manga and story. In the case of Genkaku Picasso, Furuya primarily uses two different art styles. The first, representing reality, is a more mainstream, slightly stylized manga style which utilizes screentone and such. The other is based on the approach of pencil sketches and includes hand shading techniques and crosshatching. Used for Picasso’s artwork and the characters’ subconsciouses, it is also a reflection of Furuya’s own fine arts background. I find it interesting that the more realistic style is used to capture the unreal in Genkaku Picasso while the comic style is used to show the ordinary. Granted, even Picasso’s “ordinary” is slightly off-balance and surreal, which the artwork helps to show.

I wouldn’t exactly say that I was disappointed with the first volume of Genkaku Picasso, but I didn’t find it nearly as captivating or compelling as the other works of his that I have read. I really like the premise of the series, but after one volume I haven’t been convinced by the manga itself, yet. I feel like it wants to be deep and profound, but the first volume somehow comes across as superficial, even when Picasso is delving into the supposed darkness of other people’s hearts. The problems are resolved too quickly and easily. Still, there are plenty of elements in Genkaku Picasso that I enjoy. Although there hasn’t been much real development yet, I do like the characters. Picasso and his classmates Sugiura and Akane make an amusing trio (quartet if you count Chiaki). Genkaku Picasso also has a quirky sense of humor that shows up frequently. Picasso’s social awkwardness (mostly self-imposed) and bluntness is delightfully endearing. So while I may not have been overwhelmed by the first volume of Genkaku Picasso, it does intrigue me and I do want to continue on with the series.

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