Tokio día a día núm. 02

東京ヒゴロ [Tokyo Higoro] #2

by Taiyo Matsumoto

The winner of multiple Eisner Awards, author Taiyo Matsumoto explores the relationships between a manga editor, manga creators, art, and the rhythm of life these days.

After 30 years as a manga editor, Kazuo Shiozawa suddenly quits. Although he feels early retirement is the only way to atone for his failures as an editor, the manga world isn’t done with him.

Shiozawa forges ahead with an independently published manga project. But the manga creators around him are crumbling into chaos—Chosaku drinks himself into ever less productivity over worries about his career and family, a longtime creator can’t discern the difference between fiction and fantasy, and Aoki disappears rather than face the deadlines for his new hit series. Sometimes, the simple pleasure of an apple is worth more than all the fame and toil of making manga.

Genres: Manga, Japan, Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2022

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

[Maia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shiozawa continues to attempt to build a collection of artists for a new manga magazine. He visits old friends, writers whose talent he's loved for years. Some of them have retired from the business. Some are busier than ever. Some love the direction their work has gone since Shiozawa last saw them; others believe their work has become soulless and commercial. I love how the authors are portrayed as unique, flawed humans with human histories. They have families, disabilities, insecurities, dreams. We meet Chosaku's ex-wife and daughter on a weekend visit. Hayashi continues to struggle with her main artist, Aoki, who struggles with insomnia and flees back to his hometown. Creating manga is depicted as half a calling, half an affliction.

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, contemplative, excellent art. Not for everyone.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oof! So melancholy!

Another study of comic book creators that proves that quote attributed to Jack Kirby: "Kid . . . Comics will break your heart." (See also: The Winter of the Cartoonist by Paco Roca)

Former editor Kazuo Shiozawa continues his quest to publish an independent collection of manga short stories, making the rounds of people who have already committed and artists he'd like to recruit. Everyone's life is for crap, but in compelling and heartbreaking ways.


FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: Chapter 9. A late-night visit from Chosaku -- Chapter 10. Request work from Makoto Nishioka Sensei -- Chapter 11. Wednesday, 3 p.m.: Go to Editorial -- Chapter 12. August: Kusakari picks up apples -- Chapter 13. Pay a visit to Machiko Iidabashi Sensei -- Chapter 14. Today: Visit 30 bookstores -- Chapter 15. Aoki struggles with insomnia -- Chapter 16. Aoki returns to his hometown

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok...this was...a disappointment to me. In comparison to the first volume, this didn't have the same feel to it. It felt more depressing, less hopeful than the first one did. When I finished reading the first volume, I felt uplifted. At the end of this one, I felt depleted and confused. Hoping the next volume would be going in a positive direction, but fearful it would keep going in a downward direction.

Don't get me wrong, I want to read the next one to find out in which direction it goes, but if it continues to spiral, I will stop there I think.

The characters all feel real, so I want them to do well and succeed. Seeing them hurt and struggling hurt me. So I guess you could say this is very well written, but it leaves the reader anxious. This reader at least.

3, I am cautiously optimistic about the next volume, stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and VIZ Media LLC for an eARC of this book to read and review.

[Cristina Di Matteo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una lettera d'amore (e disincanto) al mondo del manga

Il secondo volume di Tokio Higoro continua a scavare con delicatezza e malinconia nella vita post-editoria di Okutsu, ex editor di manga ormai ritiratosi a vita solitaria. Matsumoto ci regala ancora una volta pagine poetiche, sospese tra la memoria e il rimpianto, in cui ogni silenzio pesa quanto le parole.

Con il suo tratto inconfondibile e spigoloso, Matsumoto non racconta solo la storia di un uomo, ma un’intera generazione fatta di sogni, compromessi e dignità silenziosa. Un manga che parla agli addetti ai lavori ma colpisce al cuore chiunque abbia amato almeno una storia.

Intimo, struggente, profondamente umano.

[The Poor Person's Book Reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can’t get over just how much depression can be displayed in such simple art.

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The manga is coming together under Shiozawa, he’s wrangling together the most artistically and personally motivated writers he knows. They all seem to like the idea but they’re all full of self doubt.

On the other hand, the most popular and acclaimed manga by Aoki is destroying his own mental health. He is clearly an amazing writer but he also very clearly has severe depression and anxiety- his beard and hair grow;unkempt. He goes back to his small town, leaving Tokyo, to collect his thoughts.

I have a hope that both creators make something they’re proud of and end happy and artistically fulfilled.

[marcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vol. 1 ★★★☆☆

After struggling with Vol. 1, I finally understand what Taiyo Matsumoto is going for with this series: it's a critique of the manga industry. Ultimately, creative freedom is incompatible with profit. Young mangakas get chewed up, become broken and delusional, and are quickly replaced by the next hot thing. As much as I agree with him, I still have trouble connecting with the story and its characters. I like thinking about its themes far more than actually reading it.

[Frédéric · Rating 5 out of 5]

A moving immersion into the world of mangakas, where creating rhymes with suffering, where the vicissitudes of life - and of publishing - lead to many renunciations... and yet... as dark as it may seem, it is a poignant declaration of love...

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loving this. Feels like Matsumoto's own Megalopolis, reflecting on his legacy in the manga industry and its unsustainable future.

[Soteralzobooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.9

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second volume of Taiyo Matsumoto's Tokyo These Days delves deeper into the complications of creative endeavor within a commercial framework. This particular set of characters are mangaka, but their struggles will be familiar to any reader who has tried to make a living from artistic pursuits.

As always, Matsumoto is a brilliant visual stylist who moves his narrative along at an unhurried pace, with plenty of space for observations of the small details of daily living, a practice which allows his work to breathe and achieve an authenticity that few other graphic artists manage.

[Adam M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read anything that reminds me of this series. The story involves a fair number of people now, but it feels incredibly small. There are so many personal battles being waged and a lot of introspection happening. There are plenty of characters asking huge questions about who they really are and what their art is worth to the world, let alone to themselves. It is a "grown up" book in the sense that the more life experience you have the more these themes and characters will resonate with you. Overall I'm very impressed, but don't love the art. That's the only thing holding me back from loving this more, for all its complexity and self reflection.

[Vincent GAILLARD · Rating 5 out of 5]

IDem tome 1

[Jonas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only not giving this five stars because I gave the first one "only" four for some reason and I like them both about equally.

[Cail Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a peaceful and meditative book. When my brain feels busy, I pick this up and it calms me. I find all the characters quietly interesting. I highly recommend this exploration of creativity for hire, the story really flows and continues from book one.

[Heather D-G · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author digs more deeply into the different characters in this volume. A very quiet, somewhat melancholy tale that really has some substance. Recommended for folks who enjoy stories about the act of creating stories.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fantastic second volume. I think that I liked this one better than the first. We got to see more of each character and it seems like they are all growing and changing. I can't wait to see where the rest of this series goes!

[Natasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I am done with this series. It's trying too hard to be deep, but to me, I just find it boring. The art is really pretty, but not as unique as it thinks it is.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for the review.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Drawing style isn’t my thing - too rough and ugly. The story meanders on, covering mundane lives of various manga artist, and their angsty artistic woes. It’s a bit depressing inna way, like all the hope and creativity was sucked out of them. It’s hard to see a point.

[Irene ➰ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Dan P · Rating 5 out of 5]

The are single pages of this story that have more emotional depth than entire 12-volume series I've read. Commercial art is a beast

[Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can you be a background character in your own life?

…Maybe, or a particular emotional scene involving a background character in this volume wouldn’t have hit so damn hard. There’s this manga assistant named Kusakari, and he just quietly and dutifully supports everyone around him, especially his boss, at the cost of neglecting his own needs and artistic pursuits. On the surface he seems dependable and steady, offering help and encouraging remarks at every moment where someone is needed to step up, but there’s a lifelessness beneath his actions. He feels so detached from life and we get the sense it’s because of his inability to put himself first. We see it in his expressions when the people around him half-heartedly ask him how his own artistic project is coming along, (as he finishes up a 4th sleepless night of helping them meet their publishing deadline.) We finally witness the dam break in a nighttime scene where he’s carrying recently purchased apples, (again, to care for his sick boss who refuses to take care of his own health), in the rain and he’s hit by a car accident as his apples scatter to the floor, and finally the emotions inside are just too great to hold back and sadness gushes forth like the rain pouring down from the sky, in a cinematic, gut-wrenching shot that I will probably think about for a long, long time.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loving this story by the late fifties mangaka Taiyo Matsumoto about a newly retyired manga editor, fed up with the work, burned out, who takes a deep breath and decides to turn back to the basis for his original passion in the work: Making manga. So he asks a rag-tag bunch of old friends and ne-er-do-wells, some of whom are out of the game, too, or failing at the game, to see if they can do it one more time for the love of it. And he keeps in touch with the firm he left, where the struggles continue. He's still working as a mentor/editor, in other words, with a heavy drinking rebel, Aoko, and the rebel's straight-laced editor there.

Of course it doesn't exactly work as planned, quite yet. Shiozawa is turned down by some old fogies. He is now independent, so bookstories and printers aren't keen to work with him forges ahead with an independently published manga project. Chosaku, newly divorced, may be drinking himself out of usefulness. One old retired guy makes a great short story, but can he keep up the pace?

The art is terrific, the tone is sweet and a bit melancholy, as we pull for all of them to succeed. I really love it, but consider the source--older writer/teacher, wondering himself how much he has left in the tank. Come on, let's go! Manga-making classic.

[Tim Rooney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the full review on urbaneturtle.com

The life of an artist is a lonely one. To make a work of art requires hours of solitude, a commitment of countless days and hours in pursuit of growth and the ineffable perfection. The life of a comic book artist is all of that with none of the potential for riches or recognition or notoriety. It is a pursuit of a passion, an interior desire to put your imagination onto the page. It is an act of vulnerability with little chance of reward. In the US, comic creators, even the most influential, are more often than not denied rights to many of their creations, resigned to a life without retirement or financial security. Most live freelance gig to freelance gig. Creating comics is a pursuit of passion, not economic security.

The life of a mangaka (the Japanese term for a creator of manga, usually written/drawn by a single creative with a few often uncredited assistants) has its own hardships, many that would be familiar to American creators. Those hardships are compounded by grueling deadlines and workloads.

[Tomás Barrera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un metamanga, de los muchos que hablan sobre el proceso creativo, económico y social que significa ser creador.
El giro de tuerca de esta obra consiste en que el punto de vista no nace desde los mangakas, sino de los editores, de la empresa y el negocio que supone (en su gran mayoría), ser un autor de este mundo.

En este tomo se desprende la magnificencia de Matsumoto; la incertidumbre y el desconcierto, el sentirse en un mundo en el que no encajamos, el avanzar laboralmente pero a veces quedarnos atrás en nuestras relaciones sociales, o más importante aún, dejarnos de lado a nosotros mismos.

Hace tiempo un manga no me daba tanto que reflexionar, y es curioso como uno que justamente crítica a la industria logró sacarme de ese bloqueo. Me imagino que, como en todas las obras de Matsumoto, queda en claro que los polos no existen, y que nada puede ser blanco o negro en totalidad: amo y odio este medio artístico.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a manga reader of some years, I continue to enjoy and relate to Tokyo These Days. I love the eccentric artists waffling back and forth between the realities of marketability and the desire to create their vision. I love the portrayal of older artists who have made necessary compromises, struggling to find their voices again for a passion project. I love the parallel storylines as we follow a relatively new talent repped by a new editor struggling to deal with the burden of success.

Perhaps most of all I love Matsumoto's art. It has a shoegaze quality of a reality not quite in focus. The different techniques used to render different characters say something about the way those characters emotionally interact with the world. Characters who are still struggling to see clearly through the lens of bitterness and confusion are rendered with shaky lines and too much ink. Characters who are figuring things out are drawn in a much sharper focus.

I've seen at least one review that accuses this manga of trying to be too deep, and I would like to address that criticism. It absolutely is trying to be too deep. And that is the point. There is one scene in the manga where an editor berates an artist for doing high-concept, "masturbatory" nonsense that fails to appeal to the mass market. Tokyo These Days is a manga about artists who want to be deep but worry that years of making art as a product has robbed them of anything to say. They fear that they may not have had anything to say in the first place. Ironically, perhaps, I find some depth of emotion in expressing that.

[The Book Dragon · Rating 2 out of 5]

So it's been 10 months since I read the last volume... so I've almost completely forgotten what's going on... so bear with me.

Shiozawa is trying to make a manga that is outside of the standard publishing rat-race and he's got a few takers... and a few leavers. Meanwhile we also see a couple of artists who are suffering because of how difficult it is to make manga. The editor's always on your back, change this / change that, not being able to take time off if you're sick, the pressure to keep pace with weekly submission, the mental breakdowns, etc.

So I'm still not sure if I like this series, but that might be how I've been forced to read it. Also, the art isn't really one I prefer and I had difficulty figuring out which characters were which, so my opinion is biased.

This series has 3 volumes.

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Storyline started to lose me a bit in this second volume as it moves away from the editor and features quite a few of the manga artists and their struggles with meeting deadlines and the pressures of the industry. This series is pretty meta: manga about making manga. Still quite enjoying the art. I'll likely read the third volume since I already have it checked out of the library.
(This volume is also translated by Michael Arias.)

[NILLY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another amazing volume of Tokyo These Days. Shiozawa's plans to make his manga are in full effect. I love following the different manga creators and the staff for the publishing company throughout the volume. The art continues to be gorgeous and rich with flair. On certain pages with minimal to no words, it shines so well. Something about the world of Tokyo These Days makes me want to return for more. Want to return for these characters and their struggles of being human. Return for the art that sells it all. Return for the investment of watching them grow.