I fratelli giapponesi

by Taiyo Matsumoto

Undici racconti sospesi tra sogno e realtà. Undici meditazioni poetiche sulla fragilità dei sentimenti e della condizione umana. Le storie brevi di Matsumoto, già autore di capolavori del manga come Tekkonkinkreet, Sunny e Tokyo Higoro, parlano d’amore, di morte e del tempo che scorre in silenzio. Un ragazzo ossessivamente legato alla sua bicicletta, un feroce duello tra guerrieri in armatura, una sfida motociclistica tra un gorilla e un orso, un sicario della Yakuza che sogna il mare... Con toni delicati, spesso surreali e onirici, Matsumoto crea personaggi che sembrano sempre in cerca di qualcosa che non riescono a nominare: un ricordo lontano, una verità ultima nascosta dietro le apparenze. Leggere l’antologia I fratelli giapponesi è un viaggio straordinario tra atmosfere visionarie, in compagnia di un segno realistico e ricco di dettagli che ricorda tanto la tradizione manga quanto Moebius e il fumetto argentino. Un libro che resta addosso, come certi sogni che non si dimenticano.

Genres: Manga, Short Stories, Comics

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

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

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently, when Matsumoto was drawing Ping Pong, he went to France and met some quirky French comic book artists like Moebius and found inspiration in their works. Though that style imitation was somewhat present in Gogo Monster, it's much more apparent in this collection of short stories, with all the dotted line shading, bizarre landscapes, and existentialist stories. It was fascinating to go back to some of Moebius' works after reading this and seeing how artists of different cultures can use similar techniques and produce completely different results. Matsumoto's style changed many times throughout his career, but every time, he's able to wield them and combine them with his own and create something wonderful.

[RaveAnt]

Not many thoughts for this one shot collection but enjoyed this a bunch!


The first 3 and last 3 were the best stories and I think friends of Japan was my fav of all of them

The first three stories though are neat because they're distinct short character studies of individuals who were minor presences in each others' storylines which is a structure I always enjoy

Idk just cool vibes - even though most of the stories are pretty bleak and empty feeling there's still like a sincerity to all the characters that's appealing -- also just all the art is so insanely good - people make fun of taiyou for ugly characters and drawings but that's not really true at alll

But yeah cool dreamy whimsical but also bleak vibes based short stories 🫡🫡

[Taiyo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

Brothers of Japan by Taiyo Matsumoto is a cute short story collection by my favourite mangaka. With lots of beautiful artwork and engaging short stories this makes for another great manga by Matsumoto.

[edi · Rating 4 out of 5]

really great in my opinion. but i didn't get the last story. ._.

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[Becky]

故事普通，都在看畫（？），冷冷的末日感。

[Jia · Rating 3 out of 5]

現實與幻想邊界模糊了
又像夢又不像夢

[Gat_cl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beaucoup de mal à suivre mais sympa

[Myr A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disturbing, bittersweet and more Matsumotoiesque than ever.

[☆Elena☆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Ghostcat · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my first time reading Matsumoto, and it was as weird and dark as expected. The drawing style is really beautiful though it makes you feel uncomfortable more than once, and the sad but angry tone is quite moving. Not an easy reading, and those short stories don't always make sense, but I look further to read his other works.