Kafka: A Graphic Novel Adaptation

by Nishioka Kyodai, Satoshi Nishioka (Afterword), David Yang (Translator; Afterword)

Two cult-favorite Japanese writers present eerie graphic adaptations of 9 classic Kafka short stories, with hypnotic illustrations that will appeal to fans of Junji Ito

Franz Kafka’s work is given vivid new life in this collection of manga adaptations of 9 of his greatest stories.

With spectacularly detailed, otherworldly illustrations, the brother-and-sister duo known as Nishioka Kyodai create a haunting, claustrophobic visual world for Kafka’s surreal masterpieces.

Features adapted versions of:

The Metamorphosis
A Hunger Artist
In the Penal Colony
A Country Doctor
The Concerns of a Patriarch
The Bucket Rider
Jackals and Arabs
A Fratricide
The Vulture

Genres: Manga, Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Japan, Short Stories, Japanese Literature

176 pages, Paperback

First published April 20, 2010

Reviews

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a Nutshell: If you are a Kafka fan AND you also like darker graphics in the style of Junji Ito, this is for you.

This graphic novel, first published in Japanese in 2010, contains the manga adaptations of nine of Kafka’s stories. The specialty of the original is the macabre graphics by two siblings - brother Satoshi Nishioka and sister Chiaki Nishioka - who go by ‘Nishioka Kyoudai’, ‘kyoudai’ meaning ‘siblings’. This translation by David Yang, due to be published in October 2023, is the first ever translation of a Nishioka Kyoudai work in English.

Take a moment to consider how wild this is! Kafka’s novellas were originally written in German, and translated into English, which were then translated into Japanese manga, which are now translated back to English manga. I don’t envy David Yang his job. He had the tough task of retaining the essence of both the originals, and as far as I can tell, he has done a spectacular job of doing justice to both Kafka and Nishioka Kyoudai.

The Nishioka siblings also handle their charge well. Taking Kafka’s bizarre stories and putting them into graphics isn’t a cakewalk. Their doing so while retaining the essence of the original tales deserves applause. For instance, Kafka was very clear about not indicating what creature the protagonist turns into in ‘The Metamorphosis’; the manga version sticks to his specification. Imagine having a whole graphic novel story where you cannot see the protagonist and can still connect with what’s happening! The art is somewhat geometric throughout the novel, transcending colour and dimension to match the stories’ darker, psychological undertones. (One can’t really expect light and frothy when Kafka is at the helm of the tales.)

Most pages are in typical manga arrangement (right-to-left order) but some panels suddenly change the orientation of the text to landscape. When the whole page is horizontally oriented, it is still fine. But when only a couple of panels on a page change the direction of the text, the reading flow gets affected, especially when you are reading this digitally. This was the only negative of the manga adaptation.

So full marks to the translation and high marks to the manga. It should now be obvious that the cause of my lower rating is the main man, Kafka himself. Let me put it this way: Kafka didn’t fail me; I failed him.

Kafka’s ‘The Metamorphosis’, his only novella that I have read to date, is probably the only surreal story that I have *liked* in my entire life. I had wanted to try some more of his works, so when this manga version came my way, I decided to pick this up as a reading experiment. I should have known better!

I have never been fond of surrealism as a genre, and Kafka went beyond all my expectations to prove that his brain was in a different realm altogether. I tried my best but most of his stories bounced off my brain like a rubber ball. As someone who loves logic and treasures common sense, I was a misfit for his whimsical writing that crosses into not just the bizarre but also the gory. (Thank heavens for the B&W illustrations that reduced the impact of the grislier scenes!)

After the third story, I kept Google open in my browser so that I could read online analyses of the work after reaching my own measly conclusions for each tale. In many cases, my interpretation and the “expert” opinions online were not even close. (Shows you how smart I am at metaphysical deciphering! 😛)

Here’s a brief review of each of the nine stories, offering further proof of the above claim:
1. The Concerns of a Patriarch: Sorry, but I understood exactly 0% of this story. Even Google wasn’t able to help! – No stars.

2. The Metamorphosis: True to the original in content and spirit. Loved this the best! - 4.5 stars.

3. The Bucket Knight: An interesting tale, weird but still impactful. I understood the metaphor in this story on my own. *patting myself on the back!* - 3.5 stars.

4. Jackals and Arabs: Not at all my kind of story. I think this is quite outdated and stereotypical if seen with modern eyes. But the metaphors are sensible if viewed with Kafkaesque glasses on your nose. - 2 stars.

5. The Fratricide: A brilliant story that let me down by the abrupt ending. I would have loved to have some more explanation. Was gripping otherwise. – 3.5 stars.

6. The Vulture: Yuck! Blood Overflow Alert! - No stars.

7. A Country Doctor: I am so lost, trying to figure out where this began and where it ended and the connection between the two. One of the oddest plot progressions I have ever read! - No stars.

8. A Hunger Artist: I never knew that there were actually performers called ‘hunger artists’. The world is sometimes as bizarre as Kafka’s mind. Has some merits, but again, not my cup of tea. - 2.5 stars.

9. In the penal colony: Yuck, yuck, yuck! Too much gore! - No stars.


I am not going to average out the ratings as I usually do, because
(1) this isn’t a typical anthology;
(2) rating just the stories while ignoring the graphics and the translator’s appreciable efforts won’t be fair; and
(3) those who like surreal or grisly works will surely experience the tales differently than I did.

You might appreciate these stories better if you are a fan of the genre or possibly, if you have enjoyed the original stories and want to experience them through a different format. This book is certainly not for everyone, and in all honesty, it wasn’t for me at all. I leave this with a midway rating, as it is a case of a reader-book mismatch than a shortcoming of the book itself.

But I must add this: I honestly feel that this manga represents Kafka's work in a way that would have made him proud, because it truly makes you delve into the darkest corners of your mind as you attempt to find glimmers of meaning from almost random occurrences.

3 stars.


My thanks to Pushkin Press and Edelweiss+ for the DRC of “Kafka: A Graphic Novel Adaptation”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.




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[Alwynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first ever English-language edition of work from Nishioka Kyodai (Kyoudai), a name adopted by Japanese manga artists and siblings Satoru and Chiaki Nishioka. It’s a mesmerising adaptation of nine stories by Franz Kafka which first appeared in 2010. Known for their strange, often macabre, stories, Nishioka Kyodai have a cult following in Japan. Their slightly surreal style and a preoccupation with uncanny, disturbing material have led to frequent comparisons with writers like Kafka, so it seems fitting they should pair their artwork with selections from his writings. They include among their choices famous pieces like “Metamorphosis”, and “In the Penal Colony”, as well as lesser-known works like “The Bucket Knight” - here infused with a melancholy fairy tale quality. Their black-and-white images are haunting, memorable and distinctive although some have a Gorey-esque flavour, while others display a fascination with more abstract or ornate geometric designs. Absolutely loved this. Translated by David Yang.

Thanks to Edelweiss and publisher Pushkin Press for an ARC

[Pooja Peravali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nine of Franz Kafka’s surreal and unsettling short stories are adapted into manga form, including both well-known works and less prominent ones among the collection.

Like the creators of this book, I didn’t really “get” The Metamorphosis when I first read it. Something about the detail of the killer apple made me snort with laughter – but then my impulse in uneasy situations is generally maniacal giggling so I’m not sure how much that says.

Unlike the creators of this book, I am still not entirely sure I’m sold on Kafka, but I can certainly appreciate the equally surreal and unsettling images that populate this book. By keeping things black and white, the horror and gore somehow makes an even deeper impact.

However, I don’t know how successful Kafka is when translated to visual form overall – I couldn’t always follow what was happening in the stories. And though I understand the difficulty of translating words which have been translated and reinterpreted many times before they became English in my hands, the fact remains that the writing felt oddly flat in many places.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.

[Nathanimal · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was weird reading a book backwards, which I realize is the Japanese way, or, well, you know what I mean. And of course, for those of us who really like Kafka, weird is not bad.

I'm not a big graphic novel person, but the illustrations were wonderful, the mix of 2d ornamental style with more abstract depictions of characters and animals. The book made me appreciate Kafka stories I hadn't given all that much credit to previously and really teased out Kafka's black humor and odd formality.

But what really clinched it for me in this collection was their bug-less version of The Metamorphosis. Kafka famously told his publisher not to include an image of the bug on the cover of the book, to keep the creature obscure and monstrous. Nishioka Kyodai went the extra mile and excluded the bug from the entire story. By so doing, they've transformed The Metamorphosis (ha!) into a really touching hikikomori tale, a story of someone who has stopped feeling human and wishes to stop being seen by others, to the point of becoming a haunted void their family members must learn to live around. Through erasure Nishioka Kyodai somehow manage to accentuate what is Kafka about the story while also making it particularly Japanese. Amazing!

[giada · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was first drawn to this book by its description and eye-catching cover (whoever says that you can't judge a book by its cover doesn't understand its importance as a marketing tool).

I've read a number of Kafka's short stories many years ago, and the prospect of seeing them given life in a graphic adaptation piqued my interest, especially when Junji Ito, whose adaptations and art style I appreciate, got a personal shout-out. I wouldn't say he's the first illustrator I thought of, reading this book; rather, it has an art style and claustrophobic aesthetic that reminded me of Coraline.

Now, on to the book: I don't think I can say much about the actual stories and the text, since not only it's adapted and abridged from the original German, but it is also translated two times - once from German to Japanese and then from Japanese to English. The translator notes in the afterword that his difficulty was three-fold, because not only he had to work within the abridged material while trying to decide which version of the story he should stay loyal to and which to consider the original version to translate, but he also had to work with the illustration and panels on the pictorial front. I was impressed by David Yang's efforts to mantain a balance between these realities and adapting them to a Western audience.
One thing that I didn't appreciate was how the text frames, built for Japanese text, which sometimes can be written vertically, inhibited Yang's translations so much that he took the stylistic choice of writing "vertically" as well, turning the text 90° - meaning the reader has to turn the book or the device sideways to be able to read. I'm sure I can't fault this only on him, since the book wasn't written for Western consumption as its first goal, but I can't help but compare it to other manga translations where this problem doesn't seem to exist, or is dealt with in different ways.

The short story i was most curious to see adapted was, of course, The Metamorphosis, and I was not disappointed: in accordance to Kafka's wishes, the creature is never shown, thus only "seen" through the eyes of Samsa's family and the lodgers, making his presence (and his existence) known only in relation to the objects he interacts with, like the bed and bedsheet, the picture on the wall, and the food in increasing states of decay.
I really liked Nishioka Satoshi's interpretation of the source material: he sees Kafka's stories as tales about hunger and power, with the obvious A Hunger Artist as a pioneer of this view, but it can be seen as well in The Bucket Rider and The Vulture. In THe Metamonphosis food is without a doubt the way Grete uses to exert power over her brother.

Other short-stories shine for their graphics; the style in the illustration of people remains the same all throughout the collection, but the difference can be seen in the panels for each one, and in their constant change they give further meaning to the original text.
I particularly appreciated the contrast in the sequencing of certain stories: Jackals and Arabs is characterised by sinuous and surreal images, a reminder of the mirages of the desert, where by the end all the jackals seem to morph into one as the lines between each one is blurred; after that we're hit by the cobblestoned panels of a town in A Fraticide, where the pages themselves seem to fill the page in an architectural quality, the horror vacui of full illustrations giving a claustrophobic ambience to a murder scene. The latter is furter contrasted by the empty spaces of The Vulture, featurless except for the three characters, where everything seems suspended in a dream.
Another graphic device I appreciated is the central box used in A Hunger Artist, always framed by the illustration of the outside world as it physically and metaphorically keeps the artist in his cage.

The book is a quick read and packs a powerful punch, I would definitely recommend it to fans of Kafka and of surreal and cosmic horror, it's a 3.5 rating for me!

Access to the ARC acquired thanks to NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Janelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A graphic novel version of some of Kafka’s short stories including ‘The Metamorphosis’, ‘A Country Doctor’, ‘A Hunger Artist’, and ‘In the Penal Colony’. I really liked it. The illustrations added to the weirdness and atmosphere of the stories.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kafka is all about metaphor, symbolism, allusion, fable and allegory, which is annoying enough on its own, but to see it all drawn out makes it seem all the more silly and nonsensical, no matter how creepy and eerie the art.

For me, the most interesting aspect of this work is brought up in the translator's afterword. Here are short stories originally written in German by Franz Kafka that were translated into Japanese text by Osamu Ikeuchi, then adapted into graphic novel format by Nishioka Kyodai -- the pen name of a brother and sister creative team: writing lead Satoshi Nishioka and illustrating lead Chiaki Nishioka -- and now are being translated again into English by David Yang. The ultimate game of Telephone! Yang translates both German and Japanese, so he worked to come up with a melding of Kafka's original text and the sentiments expressed by the Nishioka duo. If I didn't care so little about the stories, I'd be inclined to dig into a comparison of another English translation of the works (alas, my college German was never that good and largely forgotten now) and what ends up on the page here.


FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: The Concerns of a Patriarch [a/k/a The Cares of a Family Man] -- The Metamorphosis -- The Bucket Knight [a/k/a The Coal-Scuttle Rider] -- Jackals and Arabs -- A Fratricide -- The Vulture -- A Country Doctor -- A Hunger Artist -- In the Penal Colony -- Afterword / Nishioka Satoshi -- Afterword / David Yang


(Best of 2023 Project: I'm reading all the graphic novels that made it onto one or more of these lists:
• Washington Post 10 Best Graphic Novels of 2023
• Publishers Weekly 2023 Graphic Novel Critics Poll
• NPR's Books We Love 2023: Favorite Comics and Graphic Novels

This book made the NPR list.)

[alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like Kafka or have a literary appreciation for experimental comics, you’ll probably find this compelling. It definitely reads like a translation of a translation, though, and it’s hard to say how “enjoyable” it really is. There are still moments of unsettling brilliance throughout - I loved the composition of the two horses looking through the window in A Country Doctor, and the slow inching spread of blood as the officer is killed by the machine In The Penal Colony. I think The Vulture is a perfect adaptation that uses negative space really beautifully.

Anyone name-pulling Junji Ito as a point of reference probably means well, but I think closer visual touchstones would be 90’s children’s book artists like Jon Scieszka’s (“The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!” and “The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales”), Dave McKean’s spot illustrations in Coraline, or a reeeeally stripped down Edward Gorey. If you can remember a picture book that scared you as a kid, that’s how this feels. The brother/sister art team Nishioka Kyodai have a very flat, deconstructed graphic style that is unsettling in its sparseness, and they use ink and cross-hatching in a really interesting way, especially in the age of digital screentones.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

[farahxreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am no art person so I have no idea how to exactly describe the art style of the sibling duo, Nishioka Kyoudai, in their graphic adaptation of Kafka. However, I do know that it perfectly captures the Kafkaesque vibe and gives me the same bleak, eerie and strange feelings as Franz Kafka’s original stories.

I enjoyed all nine stories in this collection but if I have to choose my favourites, they would be:

1. A Hunger Artist (bro…)
2. In the Penal Colony (BRO…)
3. The Metamorphosis (duh, of course)
4. The Concerns of a Patriarch (this genuinely creeps me out)
5. A Country Doctor (very confused at first but after reading the discussion and interpretation of the story…crying, shaking and throwing up)

I appreciate how this collection stays true to the original storyline, complementing it by bringing just the right amount of new dimensions without overshadowing the original work. This collection also introduces me to his lesser-known works such as A Fratricide, Jackals and Arabs, The Vulture and The Bucket Knight, which I immensely enjoyed. As this was my first official foray into Franz Kafka's work, I decided to read the original work alongside the graphic adaptation, and this approach significantly enhanced my enjoyment and understanding of these stories.

Thank you Pansing Distribution for the gifted copy. I appreciate it.

[Nikos Dunno · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could easily consume Kafka in any format, but this is indeed very impressive. Chiaki's drawings are made for Kafka's themes of solitude, hunger, and darkness. if only they'd turn his novels into condensed manga too. I'm definitely craving more!

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for my arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a manga adaptation of 9 Kafka short stories. I am not really a Kafka fan having only read "The Metamorphosis" like once in my undergrad and this didn't really change that. I struggled a lot with the styles used in this adaptation and that made it difficult for me to really enjoy reading this. I also already don't like Kafka so this definitely was not for me.

If you like Kafka, I would definitely recommend this as the art styles ARE interesting, they just weren't my cup of tea.

[Radwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the comparison to Junji Ito is a bit misleading, as this isn't as gory or detailed or demented as most of Ito's works, but it capture some of the nonsensical feeling of Kafka's works.

I have only read the Metamorpheses before and didn't complete The Trial, so almost all of the stories here (9 stories) were new to me. The black-and-white eerie and minimalist at times style of drawing serves it well. I think if you like Kafka, manga, and art, you will apperciate this fresh look at some of Kafka's works.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rozbudziło to mój apetyt, żeby sięgnąć znowu po Kafkę, ale ciężko mi było wgryźć się w ten styl mangi m. Doceniam bardzo, bo jest charakterystyczny, trochę dziwny, ale dziwny as in niektóre ilustracje dziecięcych książek i to nie była moja filiżanka herbaty

[Ed Erwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always enjoyed Kafka's novels over his short stories, which affects my rating. With that said, these are nice adaptations. The art is very different from anything I've ever seen in Japanese comics before. Much more abstract and occasionally "surreal".

[Emily Zimmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

the translation definitely didn't hit right, but overall the illustrations were really interesting. the afterword was also thoughtful

[Jason Furman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kafka lends himself to graphic representation. This is the third one I've read (after Kafka and Kafkaesque: Fourteen Stories) and is the best of the three. It has The Metamorphosis, The Hunger Artist, In the Penal Colony, and six other stories--some published during Kafka's lifetime and some unpublished. All are done in black-and-white with lots of artistry on each page and a well chosen (very small subset) of Kafka's language. Not the insect himself is not depicted in The Metamorphosis, he's just a lump under the covers etc. Some of the more obscure stories were also weird to the point of one wasn't entirely sure why one was reading them, but these two were enjoyable nonetheless. And it added a lot to the more familiar stories.

[brightredglow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed how the stories by Franz Kafka was enhanced by the simple artwork by Nishioka Kyodai in "Kafka."

The manga presentation takes a collection of Franz Kafka stories and adds imagery that is stark and complementary to the text. It does include some of Kafka's more well known stories. I like that the imagery doesn't try to take over the story. Instead, the story informs the artwork and helps bring out more meaning for the reader. I've read "The Metamorphosis" so many times over the years and the presentation in this book brought out points in the story that I had missed so I appreciated the story anew.

It did get repetitive if I tried to read too many stories in one sitting. I found reading a story or two and then giving time to let it sit before going back to read more was best. That way, the stories and artwork didn't run together. Otherwise, I quite enjoyed this collection a lot.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for making this digital copy available to read in exchange for an honest opinion and I look forward to possibly purchasing a hard copy in the future for my home library.

[yunuen · Rating 3 out of 5]

a bunch of kafka stories - This take is as fresh as a rare steak still bleeding - Grete sucking the life out of Gregor instead of boringly lingering on urban solitude?? Sickly genius, definitely could not eat a meal after reading this one. Also comparing it to Junji Ito, I feel like people want to connect everything creepy and japanese to Ito and perhaps thats not the take

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might be my favorite manga I’ve read all year. The art is truly exceptional. Abstract and creepy in a way that reminds me of Soviet era animations. I could not recommend this enough.

[Bella Azam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, brilliant adaptation of Kafka Masterpieces. Nishioka Kyoudai (as i known is the combination pen name of a sibling duo) presented an absolute grotesquely enchanting drawing of Kafka's bizarre, gorefest world in this collection of macabres. With usage of the deep shade of black ink splattered on white backgrounds created ominous flavor with each stories, captured you in their dizzying spells. As unique and outstanding of Kafkakesque world, the artist depicted his stories to almost perfection with the alluring details. There was horrific sense of dread reading this collection partly because the drawing seems to be alive in their menace and absolute great story telling.

[An · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art style and the Kafkaesque aesthetic match quite well for most of the short stories. However, the first one was very hard to grasp in an e-copy since the alignment was wonky. Also, the short stories I have previously read in the original form seemed to be more enjoyable than the ones I read for the first time, which seems to be a 'me' problem. The 9 shorts consisted of Kafka's most popular novel and some of the more obscure ones.
Overall it was decent. You can check it out if you like Kafka's aesthetic along with equally depressing art form 3.5/5
Thanks to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the ARC.

[Audrey Approved · Rating 2 out of 5]

For some reason Kafka's The Metamorphosis was assigned reading for English class in freshman, junior AND senior years of high school - I couldn't believe how many times we had to read it! I don't think I've read any Kafka since then, so I was hoping this graphic adaptation would be a novel way of looking at a slightly familiar story.

In some ways, this is true. Kyodai's images are definitely odd and bizarre in a very Kafka-esque manner. I actually think the black and white (something I normally strongly dislike in graphic novels) feels appropriate for the morality and bleakness explored within the content. I guess I'm just a little disappointed that there wasn't a stronger adaptation/interpretation aspect. There's sooo much text on some of the panels (I'm pretty sure quoted directly from Kafka) that this felt almost like a prose book with illustrations, rather than a graphic novel adaptation and retelling (which is what I expected/wanted).

Kafka's stories are... weird... so there were quite a few stories in here where I definitely missed the point. I'm pretty sure this is likely due to the actual source content, and not the visuals from Kyoudai. My favorite story (by far) was the The Bucket Rider.

Overall this was an easy read, but I don't necessarily think this is the best place to start if you aren't already familiar (and also a fan) of Kafka.

2.5/5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Pushkin press for the free eARC!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is, perhaps, best to be already a fan of Franz Kafka when picking this up. Faithfully adapting several of his short works - at least, faithful in the textual sense - the book offers an interpretation of Kafka's works that he himself might have shied away from given his resistance to the idea of showing the main character in "The Metamorphosis." The artists stick with that, making sure never to show us Gregor's physical form, and indeed keeping all of the characters visually indistinct from each other with stylized art and fidelity to various analyses of the pieces. This is most interesting in "The Concerns of the Patriarch," where the visual choices distinctly favor religious readings of the text, while "The Bucket Knight" hews close to the literal words rather than any more concrete interpretation. It's an odd book, but a fascinating one, and I could see it being used in an academic setting to good effect.

[Ije the Devourer of Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

This graphic novel is an excellent depiction of a number of Kafka’s stories:

The Metamorphosis
A Hunger Artist
In the Penal Colony
A Country Doctor
The Concerns of a Patriarch
The Bucket Rider
Jackals and Arabs
A Fratricide
The Vulture

I have a number of Kafka’s stories waiting for me in my to read pile and this book provides a glimpse into what lies ahead. In this book stories of fantasy, magic realism and puzzles, are brought to life in a visual way that creates a hunger to read the full stories for myself.

I love Junji Ito and this book has echoes of that dark style of depicting horror and unease. This is an excellent book in the way that it tells the stories in very clear and effective artwork, which packs a punch.

Thoroughly dark, thoroughly gripping and thoroughly Kafka!

Copy provided via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

a spare and puzzling work that, I think, doesn't quite overcome the game of translation telephone to which translator David Yang points. that said, the NK art is so haunting, so affecting - it's essentially about a hunger or lack born of powerlessness of some vague sort - that a few of the stories (especially "the hunger artist," "the bucket knight," and the beautifully hard-to-follow and evocative "in the penal colony"version seen here) actually outshine the originals. i'm not about to recommend it to all comers, but if you're a fan of artsy-fartsy manga and you want something with a couple crapper john-length tales, this could be your jam.

[Toni · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Lily Savannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous! Was a great introduction to Kafka. Would pick it back up and read again

[Lawrence Bricher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the animation, I want to frame various pages and put it on my wall

[Sylva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jiří Trnka by zaplesal.

[aya · Rating 4 out of 5]

lowkey my introduction to kafka which was very very fun and now im more excited to dive in to more kafka ☝️