Tesoro

by Natsume Ono

A treasure of 14 charming stories about family, friends, couples and unexpected bonds. Written by Natsume Ono over ten years, here is the long-awaited collection of her early work, including numerous illustrations and previously unpublished stories!

Genres: Manga, Graphic Novels, Slice Of Life, Short Stories, Comics, Fiction, Drama

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Natsume Ono (Japanese name: オノ・ナツメ) made her professional debut in 2003 with the webcomic La Quinta Camera. Her subsequent works not simple, Ristorante Paradiso, and Gente (a continuation of Ristorante Paradiso) met with both critical and popular acclaim. In 2009 Ristorante Paradiso was adapted into a TV anime series. Her current series House of Five Leaves (Saraiya Goyou), also adapted into a TV anime series in 2010, is running in IKKI magazine.

(http://www.sigikki.com/creators/natsu...)

She also writes BL under the pen name of basso.

Reviews

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming stories with deceptively simple artwork. Natsume Ono does not have a typical manga style. Her characters tend to be willowy thin with oversized eyes and hands. Their hair is frequently a touch on the shaggy side, and they often wear glasses. And, if they aren't Italian, they're often visiting Italy, or have at least lived there in the past. It's a nice style, more akin to American alternative comics--her work reminds me a bit of Gabrielle Bell, or Seth--than manga, or at least the sort of manga that most English-speaking readers would be familiar with.

The stories in this book revolve around relationships, both familial and romantic. Things go unsaid and points are danced around in a quiet sort of way. Inconsequential conversation mingles with a look here, a shift in body language there, and somehow a story is communicated. It reminds me of Mitsuru Adachi’s work in that respect--the story is conveyed almost telepathically. It's a neat trick, and I’m honestly baffled by how it works, but it works wonderfully well. There's a quiet charm to these stories that makes me want to seek out more of Ono’s work. Highly recommended!

[marcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of Natsume Ono's earliest work. I expected something rough around the edges and was blown away by how fantastic these stories are. They are simple yet effective, revolving around everyday moments that are funny, heartwarming, and poignant. I have trouble picking favorites because all of them are great.

Favorites:
"Moyashi Couple"
"Three Short Stories About Bento"
"Senza Titolo #1"
"Senza Titolo #2"
"Senza Titolo #4"
"Christmas Morning"
"Senza Titolo #6"

[Coke Fernández · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10

[D · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only things I can read nowadays is manga, so I might up my GR challenge to reflect that.

Because lockdown made us all clean up our living spaces I ended up unearthing some old treasures from the piles of books in my room. Tesoro* isn't quite one of them because it's always been sitting on my shelf (I like Ono Natsume too much to lose her books), but it has been a while since I read it and I decided to give it another go before rearranging my shelves.

*Tesoro is treasure in Italian apparently and I wanted to make that comparison but it just isn't working.

It's a collection of short stories and you can see they're pretty old because her art style has changed a lot since then. It's all still sketchy and spare but it looks stronger and more sure in her more recent works.

The story-telling is as good as I remember. The story with the character bento is my fave (not surprisingly), but ngl I cried while reading 'Eva's Memory'. The pacing is just so good.

I'm envious of how well Ono manages to capture human emotions and relationships. I found out about her work because of the Ristorante Paradiso anime and I saw her writing adults there. There's a lot of kid stories in Tesoro and I like how Ono manages to capture child logic.

This is honestly just a charming and warm kind of book and I'm really glad past!me bought it.

[Alex Quinonez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of short stories about a variety of topics. Kinda dragged on towards the end. I really enjoy the authors art style and enjoyed reading some of their work. 4/5 it was a good read.

[whatarementorocksandmountains · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favourite stories:
una giornata fredda
Three Short Stories about Bento 2/3
senza titolo #2
Fratelli di Sandro

I really enjoyed reading this, many of the stories had really sweet twists at the end, especially Three Short Stories about Bento 2/3 and Fratelli di Sandro.
I would definitely be interested in reading more from her.

[Lily Wang · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story about the little boy’s bento box request made me cry. A bunch of these made me tear up. Wonderful drawings and moments. I love lovey love

[Zephorah Dove · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick and interesting read! I really enjoyed the short stories. Reading them on the Viz manga app was a bit weird with how the chapters were set up. I'm assuming it followed the flow from the actual book though. Solid 3.75 for me.

[Spudpuppy]

It's a collection of her earliest work, so nothing here is groundbreaking but I love that she's always been obsessed with old italian dudes lol.

The second bento story was my favorite, that one was so special.

[Gina · Rating 1 out of 5]

The illustrations are meh. The story interests are great observations and insight, but the storytelling could be stronger to drive the point home.

[Claudia]

orsetti di natsume ono con sciarpina e tè : IL mood

[PurplePixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I'm one for short stories with no correlation or long plot. I just genuinely liked going from story to story. It was like people watching.

[ketall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the simple, almost messy art style and the stories, which could sometimes be melancholy and sometimes heartwarming.

[Melissa Nisbet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some made me tear up, some made me laugh, others were mundane. Perfect snapshot of life.

[Dan P · Rating 4 out of 5]

what a charming short story collection!!

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

2-2.5 stars. Not my cup of tea, but does have some cute illustrations.

[channel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such lovely moments in this manga, feels nostalgic and warm <3

[Sharon · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is billed as a collection of short stories in manga form but I'd have to say they are more vignettes than stories. Very small, everyday sketches of life are presented here. Unfortunately, for the most part these did not work for me. In some cases, I feel like the cultural gap is simply too wide for me to grasp what the author is trying to convey. In others, the depictions are just not strong enough. The artwork is a little too terse for my taste, particularly since it is difficult to distinguish characters from one another.

[Estara · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are short stories from the time when Natsume Ono was perfecting her craft, and they show the time she spent in Italy very clearly. I can already see her way of highlighting people's interactions. There is no outward action in these stories (apart from people walking or sitting on the bus or driving) - they literally are a slice of the life of the people.

Even at this point in her career you feel with her protagonists no matter how short the story (the two Froom Family stories are the most heartbreaking to me). Most of the stories have a sort of happy end though and I would love to hear more about almost all the people introduced - especially Sandro & Co. and the beansprout couple ^^.

Readers who like The House of Five Leaves may have problems with the art and the quiet pace and Italy focus - but if you've liked not simple and Ristorante/Gente, too, you should get yourself this beautifully produced volume.

[Miss Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of slice-of-life style short stories by Natsume Ono. I can understand why this was arranged in reverse chronological order. You want people to read something good at the beginning, otherwise why would they buy it? It does, however, result in the unfortunate sensation of the volume getting less and less quality the more you read of it. I do find it interesting to see the similar themes and the less polished art style of Ono's early work but on pure enjoyment I definitely preferred the first half of the volume to the second. The art is much more professional and 'Inside Out' and 'Moyashi Couple' in particular just made me want to smile. I'm impressed by how much emotion she manages to convey with such sparse line art. If I was only rating say 'Inside Out', 'Moyashi Couple', 'Eva's Memory, and 'Senza titolo #2' I'd probably give this 4 stars but overall I'm going to say it averages out to 3.

[Hafiz Azam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not really a fan of Natsume Ono's works,especially Ristorante Paradiso. But for this anthology,it is an exception. I've always been a fan of anthologies,as it gives you short and compact stories to be told in limited pages. It really challenges the author to maximize the limited spaces. & you get more stories in one whole book,which is neat.

From the looks of it,it is clearly not Ono's best book visually,but the stories that come with it is phenomenal. It is heartwarming,relaxing,and full of values. Ono uses a lot of family values and it is so addictive, at least for me. I picked up the books after reading into a succession of heavy mangas,so the shifts in setting really does works wonder. I immediately fell in love with it.

Eventhugh the drawing is not as extravagant as her other works,the simple almost sketchy strokes really work well in this context. Sometimes easy to the eye,sometimes jarring. These little imperfections is so amateurish,that I love it.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tesoro is a Viz Signature book. It's printed on ivory paper with brown ink, and there are a handful of color pages at the beginning. I was very impressed with the quality of the book itself. Content was largely hit or miss. Shorts una giornata fredda, Moyashi Couple, Three Short Stories About Bento #2, and Eva's Memory were best of the lot and the latter two struck deep emotional chords. The remaining shorts and line drawings were difficult to lose myself in and detracted from my feelings about the shorts I did enjoy.

Tesoro is probably best left to the die-hard fans, and even then I'm not sure I could recommend it.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A variety of quirky stories, many about internal family relationships, by Ono, with Ono's charmingly loose, emotionally subtle illustrations. Lots taking place in Italy, naturally, and not a few about food! Fun to see how Ono portrays people from the US. And oh, yes, there are bears too.

Highly recommended for Ono's fans, and recommended for those who like quirky, nontraditional graphic-novel anthologies (and won't be thrown off by reading right to left).

[hans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh how I love short stories, in graphic I mean. A great book - simple, cute and lovely. My favorite from the bento series about Dad and Kenji - seriously, the ending I almost cried ;") If you want a simple and easy reading with pictures, this is recommended.

[MAILA · Rating 3 out of 5]

deep

kesukaan:

kamu gak kesepian aku tinggal sendiri?
nggak lah, lagian kamu kan cuma ke Sendai, beberapa menit saja dari sini.
benar?
benar.
baiklah aku pergi.
*hening
*hening
*hening
*hening
*screaming internal


HADEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

bagus. baguuuus!

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite story was the one about the "bean couple"
it was charming :')

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great, enjoyable slice of life vignettes. It's impressive how Natsume Ono can say so much in such short vignettes with minimal dialog (although her art style isn't my favorite).

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Touching and lovely stories, as well as some pretty whimsical artwork to go along with those stories. Loved it!

[Babs]

FALSE

[James G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was at once underwhelmed and carried away. These evocative, vignettes speak to the power of short narratives to convey whole societies, if deep characterizations; at the same time they felt like screenwriting doodles. I was also rudderless, approaching the book with an assumption that it would be Japanese stories, but they are all Italian--all the more, I was confounded then wrapped up in the Wonder of global existence. The book is either a morsel or a gem, but will remain with me.