Underground

by Suehiro Maruo

Miguel e Sachiko sono due diciannovenni nati e cresciuti nella periferia di Tokyo. Trascorrono le loro giornate vagando per le strade della grande metropoli, incapaci di credere in qualcosa e di essere amati da qualcuno. La Tokyo degli anni Sessanta era una città caotica, rumorosa e sporca, ma nonostante tutto era anche un luogo di innovazione e caos in cui poter far crescere i propri sogni. Miguel vuole diventare un fumettista e farà di tutto per riuscirci. Amore, speranza, peccato e disperazione: questo e molto altro in questo strepitoso, e a tratti quasi bestiale, percorso underground.

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2021

About the author

Suehiro Maruo ( 丸尾 末広) is a Japanese manga author and illustrator.
Maruo graduated from junior high school in March 1972 but dropped out of senior high school. At the age of 15 he moved to Tokyo and began working for a bookbinder. At 17, he made his first manga submission to Weekly Shōnen Jump, but it was considered by the editors to be too graphic for the magazine's format and was subsequently rejected. Maruo temporarily removed himself from manga until November 1980 when he made his official debut as a manga artist in Ribon no Kishi (リボンの騎士) at the age of 24. It was at this stage that the young artist was finally able to pursue his artistic vision without such stringent restrictions over the visual content of his work. Two years later, his first stand-alone anthology, Barairo no Kaibutsu (薔薇色の怪物; Rose Colored Monster) was published.

Maruo was a frequent contributor to the legendary underground manga magazine Garo (ガロ).

Like many manga artists, Maruo sometimes makes cameo appearances in his own stories. When photographed, he seldom appears without his trademark sunglasses.
Though most prominently known for his work as a manga artist, Maruo has also produced illustrations for concert posters, CD Jackets, magazines, novels, and various other media. Some of his characters have been made into figures as well.

Though relatively few of Maruo's manga have been published outside of Japan, his work enjoys a cult following abroad.
His book Shōjo Tsubaki (aka Mr. Arashi's Amazing Freak Show) has been adapted into an animated film (Midori) by Hiroshi Harada with a soundtrack by J.A. Seazer, but it has received very little release.

Reviews

[Dani Pardiñas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this randomly at a "fiumetti" store in Lecce, I was originally looking for W.I.T.C.H. comics but they only had manga by a different author?? Which is funny because I was literally in Italy? But anyway I picked this instead and this author is definitely worth keeping in your scope. His style is surely influenced by Junji Ito and in this volume he tells a surreal love-story set in the very real Japan of the 60s. Super interesting! (I also must point out that I read this in Italian so I'm sure some things escaped me).

[Shiritaku · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wieder einmal ein sehr grotesker und bizarrer Titel von Suehiro Maruo. Tatsächlich hatte ich bei dem Werk auch mehr Schwierigkeiten, dem Plot zu folgen, denn es war teilweise doch recht wirr und sprunghaft. An sich ist es eine fortlaufende Geschichte, dennoch gibt's manchmal ein paar zeitliche Sprünge, die man nicht gleich so einordnen kann. Die Charaktere selbst sind auch recht bizarr, schon allein ihr Aussehen ist etwas gewöhnungsbedürftig. Sachiko z.B schielt, was die Zeichnungen noch skurriler wirken lassen, als ohnehin schon. Denn den muss man wirklich mögen, da er doch sehr markant und anders ist. Aber auch dieses Kantige hat etwas an sich, das mich immer wieder gefangen nimmt. Migeru wirkt im Vergleich zu Sachiko nicht ganz so bodenständig (nennen wir es mal so). Er will unbedingt Mangaka werden und verliert einen Job nach dem anderen, während er versucht, sich über Wasser zu halten. Sachiko wechselt die Jobs allerdings auch recht häufig, bei ihr kommt da aber auch etwas anderes mit dazu - sie sieht an sich sehr hübsch aus, ist aber etwas weniger intelligent als der Durchschnitt (was sie selbst aber auch so wiedergibt). Worum’s eigentlich geht? Ich würde sagen ein wenig über Selbstfindung, aber so ganz wurde ich auch nicht schlau aus dem Plot 😬 mehr stand das erotisch-groteske im Vordergrund - mit verstörend und surealer Atmosphäre & einigen Tabuthemen. Das Werk lässt sich sehr schwierig beschreiben, man muss es eigentlich selbst erleben, um sich ein richtiges Bild davon machen zu können.
Wer allerdings absolut nichts mit solchen Dingen anfangen kann, der sollte dann vielleicht doch lieber die Finger davon lassen..👀