Sunny, Vol. 3

Sunny #3

by Taiyo Matsumoto

What is Sunny? Sunny is a car. Sunny is a car you take on a drive with your mind. It takes you to the place of your dreams.

Sunny is the story of beating the odds, in the ways that count. It's the brand-new masterwork from Eisner Award-winner Taiyo Matsumoto, one of Japan's most innovative and acclaimed manga artists.

Translated by Tekkonkinkreet film director Michael Arias!

Genres: Manga, Comics, Graphic Novels, Japan, Seinen, Graphic Novels Comics, Bande Dessinée

216 pages, Hardcover

First published January 30, 2013

About the author

See also: 松本大洋 and 松本 大洋

Although Taiyo Matsumoto desired a career as a professional soccerplayer at first, he eventually chose an artistic profession. He gained his first success through the Comic Open contest, held by the magazine Comic Morning, which allowed him to make his professional debut. He started out with 'Straight', a comic about basketball players. Sports remain his main influence in his next comic, 'Zéro', a story about a boxer.

In 1993 Matsumoto started the 'Tekkonkinkurito' trilogy in Big Spirits magazine, which was even adapted to a theatre play. He continued his comics exploits with several short stories for the Comic Aré magazine, which are collected in the book 'Nihon no Kyodai'. Again for Big Spirits, Taiyo Matsumoto started the series 'Ping Pong' in 1996. 'Number Five' followed in 2001, published by Shogakukan.

Source: Lambiek website bio .

Reviews

[Inês Sousa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5🌟

[Moira Macfarlane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Erg mooi, hij portretteert ieder kind en zijn/haar worstelingen met zeer veel gevoel en inlevingsvermogen.


Ondertussen ben ik bij het derde deel van een reeks van zes manga's getekend door Taiyo Matsumoto (Tokyo Japan, 1967). Sunny vertelt het verhaal van een groep pleegkinderen en hun verzorgers die wonen in een gezinsvervangend tehuis 'the Star Kids home'. Buiten het huis staat De Sunny, een oude vervallen auto -een Nissan Datsun Sunny 1200- waar de kinderen graag inkruipen om hun dromen te dromen en zo te vluchten voor de rauwe realiteit van hun leven. Het boek vertelt niet alleen het verhaal van deze 'wegwerpkinderen', maar is ook het verhaal van Taiyo Matsumoto zelf, die net als zij opgroeide in een tehuis.

Zijn werk, zwart/wit tekeningen met af en toe een gekleurde prent , is indringend. Hij neemt vaak een bijzonder standpunt in waardoor het iets vervreemdends krijgt. Het geheel heeft een biologerende uitwerking op me en het verhaal blijft me ook na het dichtslaan van het boek bezighouden. Ik krijg een knoop in mijn maag als ik aan hun eenzaamheid denk die voelbaar is tijdens de dagelijkse dingen die ze meemaken in hun leven.

Als ik Sunny moet vangen in één woord dan is dat 'bitterzoet'.

[Farah Shamma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite mangas/graphic novels. First of all, it's beautifully packaged, but more than that, the story itself is so so poignant and heartfelt and funny as we follow the abandoned children of Star home. I would highly recommend this series!

[Damon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something about this (I think it is the Gimme Gimme Octopus) is painfully endearing. The art is fantastic especially compared to every other manga. Also I love that these books are hardcovers.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know if I can continue reading this series.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This seinen manga continues to please me. While each chapter is still a vignette from the "Star Kids Home" the characters are recurring whose character's are building upon their past experiences. Both the children and the adults. While there is no overreaching arc, the individual characters have backgrounds and story lines that are slowly being played out. This a real "slice of life" story of a Japanese home for children whose parents can't look after them for whatever reasons taking place during the 1970s. This volume pays particular attention to the oldest members of the staff, the old original owner, his son the current owner and a college student, a former resident at the home. The second half deals with the children and their loneliness when they allow themselves to think of their parents (mothers mostly). A sensitive story, and a slow one, but the vignettes are a powerful tool not allowing us to dwell on one event for very long. This is also a quality produced tome with hardcovers, nice paper and art done with inks.

[Bogi Takács]

Continues to be strong; longer comments once I finish the series (IY"H), but I really liked both the storyline with the mall and the one about the cup. I also appreciate that this series doesn't play good-guys-bad-guys but instead it is more along the lines of "life is complicated".

_____
Source of the book: Lawrence Public Library

[elif sinem · Rating 4 out of 5]

The series reminds me of Maurice Ravel's Bolero piece: it's all the same beats and the same idea, but as the other characters come into view, little by little the piece becomes greater and harder hitting. The piggie one at the end... Makio.... Haruo, always... wah....

[Daniel Andreu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Los hermanos esperando en la azotea del hospital... snif... hasta los niños más insoportables tienen una excusa...

[vera · Rating 4 out of 5]

ay dios que pena no puedo más

[chouineuzzZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

trop bien ce manga les dessins sont trop beaux et l'auteur est trop fort ça me donne envie de pleurer

[Sole · Rating 4 out of 5]

soy una romántica y mis historias favoritas son todas las que buscan un destello de amor y esperanza en medio de la más brutal de las realidades y los gestos más egoístas, sin perder nunca el sentido de la realidad. sunny es todo eso.

[Justin Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the first two volumes of Sunny. A lot. They are wonderful. But I found them so culturally specific, they were a bit alien to me. For all the air Taiyo Matsumoto breathes into each mall scene, for all of the specifics of each character, every scenic detail and all of the very real lives that seemed to be on display, I had to spend more time with them before it all came together for me.

By Volume 3, my heart was finally and fully linked to the people he's created. It rises when they rise, it breaks when theirs break, and it breaks even harder as they rise above their heartbreak. Characters that may have seemed to have one superficial quality at first have become whole, even though they still have so much more growth ahead of them.

The first two volumes are accomplished and lovely. The third is wonderful.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great volume of Sunny! I like that with chapter 13 we get a look at an adult who used to live at the Star Kids Home, it gives the setting a lot more depth to see how much the place (and people) mean to adults instead of the kids running around who might not stop to think about it too much. There's some fantastic artwork here, I think my favourite was chapter 14 with Makio and the mountain. Very detailed at atmospheric. We get a few bits and pieces here with Megumu and I love fleshing out her character independently, instead of purely how she interacts with Kiko or Haruo.

[Tom Fuchs]

There is an incredible cumulative effect these volumes are building.

[Rick Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third volume of Taiyo Matsumoto's Sunny is concerned largely with the juxtaposition of the innocent naiveté of childhood and the grimmer realities of adulthood. But for the kids of the Star Kids home, accepting some of the hopelessness of adulthood is a given. We spend a lot of time here with Makio, the grandson of the housemaster of Star Kids, who is a recent college graduate that lacks purpose in life even though he has a more stable home life compared to his friends. The pressure of achievement weighs heavily on Makio, who finds solace in the company of the orphans of Star Kids. But what really gets me is how the kids here are depicted as being kids nonetheless, even if a lot of their problems seem very adult. Sei and Haruo make up a strong portion of this volume as well, and their discussion on freedom via farmed pigs is a deeply insightful look into the way they view the world.

Sunny is a complex read, particularly since it attempts to balance the slice-of-life with bleak and heavy themes. Matsumoto's messaging is very powerful here, and the subtle character work really demands a thorough and even repeated read. Adding to it all is Matsumoto's frenetic, jittering linework that adds layers of expressionism that is sophisticated, yet further challenging towards the reading experience.

[JaumeMuntane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reseña global a los seis volúmenes

Un grupo de niños, abandonados u obligados por varias circunstancias a estar lejos de sus familias, viven en una casa de acogida.
Mostrando momentos de la vida de estos niños, Matsumoto nos ofrece un retrato emotivo: sus deseos, sus miedos, sus circunstancias que les han marcado....Ternura, inocencia, dureza, melancolía o imaginación plasman cada una de las viñetas, con un halo poético, que hacen un manga único y especial.
Mención especial al gran dibujo y a Sunny, viejo coche que se convierte en un oasis y puerta a la imaginación para huir momentáneamente de la dura realidad.

[Vittorio Rainone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haruo torna con un racconto a lui dedicato, ed è probabilmente il ragazzino del gruppo che ha più minutaggio finora, un quasi protagonista di questa splendida storia corale.
Ma in questo numero c’è spazio anche per una sorprendente Megumu, per Junsuke e i suoi quadrifogli e per Sei e il suo amico maiale.
Sono tutte storie delicatissime, in equilibrio fra la dolcezza di un gruppo di bambini che imparano la vita e la precarietà con cui la vita stessa si presenta a loro.
I disegni continuano ad essere ispiratissimi e Sunny si conferma un capolavoro.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third volume of the collected Sunny provides considerably more depth on some of the central characters and their individual experiences of parental neglect. Matsumoto seems to be developing common threads among both his adult and his youthful protagonists, primarily through their shared experiences of dislocation and yearning after things that they can't quite envision or articulate. The real beauty of this series thus far is its lack of a clear plot line, and its solid focus on characterization.

[Pietro Bellini]

Livello che si mantiene molto gradevole; in questo terzo volume trova conferma un elemento di riflessione già accennato nel secondo: il modo degli adulti e la loro preponderante anaffettività rende l'orfanotrofio – luogo per sua natura teoricamente molto triste – il sereno rifugio dove ritrovare l'affetto e la complicità degli amici.

[Zaza dans le métro · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alors que j’avais adoré cette série il y a une dizaine d’années, j’ai décidé de tout relire afin de découvrir le dernier tome. Alors oui ce manga très réaliste est bourré de qualités surtout au niveau graphique mais suivre la vie quotidienne de ces pauvres enfants placés me met très mal à l’aise et je n’y trouve que peu d’intérêt. J’arrête là, tant pis pour le tome 6 🥹

[Litos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Después de un segundo volumen más oscuro y triste, la tercera entrega de Sunny es más juguetona, sin perder la fuerza de los personajes y el fiel reflejo de la infancia. Me sigue pareciendo una serie de referencia.

[Ariadna Sanz · Rating 5 out of 5]

El trabajo de Taiyo Matsumoto en esta serie de 6 volúmenes es de una calidad excepcional. Su trazo difuso, tan poco frecuente en el manga, permite dar emoción y proximidad a las escenas cotidianas de este grupo de niñas y niños internados en un centro de acojida.
El drama íntimo de cada personaje, las circunstancias de su pasado, los rencores y sueños que los mueven se van desvelando de a poco, generalmente en escenas corales que Matsumoto domina a la perfección. Me es muy fácil oir los gritos de los niños jugando mientras leo sus historias.
El único "pero" (que no hace bajar la nota) es para los dibujos a color, que escasean!

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really do think Taiyo Matsumoto may be the best manga artist working today. This series is consistently and quietly excellent. The art is wonderful and the plot lacks melodrama in favor of something much more subtle. Simultaneously heartwarming and acutely sad.

[Mikey The Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some strong stories in this volume. I love how this author always manages to create such human experiences and then give you that dose of good heartedness among the darkness. The art is 10/10 and is still one of the most unique styles out there.

[Mario Pimental · Rating 5 out of 5]

❤️

[marcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vol. 1 and 2 are good but Vol. 3 is great. It has the emotional resonance that the first two are just shy of. The story about Junsuke and his brother Shosuke at the shopping mall is my favorite.

[Brett]

Written with a real sense of empathy for those on the fringes of society without any melodrama.

[Muhammad Rajab Al-mukarrom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story of careless children and a sick mom never failed! NEVER!

(TT__TT)

[Karo · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best volumes of this series. I just love how full of life these stories are, and just how different the character perspectives are.