Nori

by Rumi Hara

A dulcet debut capturing a touching relationship between the spirited Nori and her grandma

Nori (short for Noriko) is a spirited three-year-old girl who lives with her parents and grandmother in the suburbs of Osaka during the 1980s. While both parents work full-time, her grandmother is Nori’s caregiver and companion—forever following after Nori as the three year old dashes off on fantastical adventures.

One day Nori runs off to be met by an army of bats—the symbol of happiness. Soon after, she is at school chasing a missing rabbit while performing as a moon in the school play, touching on the myth of the Moon Rabbit. A ditch by the side of the road opens a world of kids, crawfish, and beetles, not to mention the golden frog and albino salamander. That night, her grandma takes to the Bon Odori festival to dance with her ancestors. When Nori wins a trip to Hawaii, she finds herself swimming with a sea turtle, though she doesn’t know how to swim.

In mesmerizing short stories of black and white artwork with alternating spot color, Hara draws on East Asian folklore and Japanese culture to create an enchanting milieu that Nori tries to make sense of, wrestling between the reality of what she sees and the legends her grandma shares with her.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Manga, Japan, Slice Of Life, Fiction, Short Stories

228 pages, Paperback

Published May 12, 2020

Reviews

[Alwynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nori is cartoonist and illustrator Rumi Hara’s debut story collection. Now settled in New York, Hara was born and raised in Kyoko, and her work here draws on her childhood experiences. Originally self-published as a series of minicomics, set in the 1980s in Osaka, these are tales of three-year-old Nori and her grandmother Hana. Although these are essentially realist, they’re marked by sudden flights of fantasy, uncanny encounters intended to mimic a child’s boundless imagination, infused with elements stemming from Japanese myth and legend. But despite this, they’re not really pieces aimed at children, Nori’s adventures are interspersed with her grandmother’s ideas and recollections, so an unexpected trip to Hawaii brings up memories of Hana’s wartime experiences, an encounter with bats is a chance for Hana to pass on to Nori the folklore learnt during her own childhood years. It’s an interesting approach to thinking through the pathways that allow cultural knowledge to be transmitted, and sustained from generation to generation. The entries here vary in force, some are a little stretched out and pedestrian, others striking and oddly charming. But Hara’s images are strong throughout, she used ink and brush on handmade paper to create a richer texture, softened black and white lines broken up by spot colour, she’s talked about wanting to convey a sense of the eerie and mysterious, and her atmospheric, vivid, visual style definitely achieves her goal.  

Rating: 3 for the writing/3.5 for the illustrations

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

this nostalgic and tender lil graphic novel was the perfect comfort read for a hellish week. nori, a mischievous four-year-old growing up in 1980s japan, has all sorts of shenanigans. nori also has the unconditional love of her grandmother, whom she exhausts with her antics.

the 1986 setting is nostalgic, and it's an interesting time - postwar prosperity, with grandmother's reminders that they are enormously lucky for what they have.

the art is charming and funny, and the lil kiddo interactions are spot on. the nori in the tropics chapter is a formative journey filled with reverence for the place, gracious hosts, mutual care, new experiences, turtles. there's a deep undercurrent of respect in all of the interactions, which is lovely.

there's a golden frog found in a ditch, an enormous axolotl, neighborhood pups, learning to swim with a great sea turtle, and bats welcomed into the house as bearers of good fortune. there's a touch of surrealism, and it's so sweet and cozy - definitely one to revisit.

[Ty · Rating 3 out of 5]

ohhhh to be a four year old child in suburban 1980s Osaka, welcoming bats into the house, befriending stray dogs and mysterious old women and imaginary penguins, winning all expense paid trips with your grandmother to go meet volcano goddesses and snorkel in the tide pools of Hawaii

[Maia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of short stories about a four year old growing up in a small town in Japan in the early 1980s. Nori's parents work full time so she's raised primarily be her grandmother. She attends pre-school, follows stranger's dogs into parks, finds frogs in the ditch, dances with the bats that come into house. In one chapter Nori and her grandmother fly to Hawaii and stay with a Japanese family bed and breakfast, and Nori makes friends with the daughter of the family and learns to swim. The stories are domestic, sweet, whimsical, drawn in a loose brush pen.

[Swati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illustrator and cartoonist Rumi Hara’s ‘Nori’ is a short and sweet debut collection of stories based on her childhood experiences in Japan. Three-year-old Nori is looked after by her grandmother and the book narrates a series of slice-of-life stories full of whimsy and humour.

Her grandmother sometimes has a tough time managing a rambunctious and curious toddler like Nori who has a fertile imagination. In one, for example, she imagines a giant white rabbit who lives on the moon and makes mochi.

There’s also plenty of nostalgia. Nori’s childhood summers are filled with running around with her friends, getting into small scrapes, and playing made-up games. Hara deftly interweaves Japanese folklore and cultural references with magical realism to bring alive what seems like a joyful, memorable childhood.

This is a great contrast with her grandmother’s childhood in the 1940s when, as a schoolgirl during the war, she had to work in a factory and was constantly exposed to bombs. I thought this was brought out subtly and simply through illustrations and was a great device to convey so much more about Japan.

The illustrations are mostly black and white, which sometimes added to the charm but at times left me wanting. The book is also set in 1980s suburban Japan which offered many opportunities for a child like Nori to wander off on her own down wooded paths or leafy lanes bordered by rivers. Reminded me of some of the Ghibli movies a lot!

A heartwarming book and a quick read.

[Claudia ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nori is a sweet story about the child Noriko and the grandma that cares for her everyday while her parents work. It's the 1980's in Japan, and while Nori runs around on adventures, her grandma shares glimpses from her life living as a girl during WWII.

Not only does this graphic novel read as a love letter to grandmothers all over the world, but Rumi Hara also obviously loves her country, its tales and ways, and it comes across beautifully in Nori as we get to learn about the japanese culture together with Nori. As someone who has been to Japan and who has been in love with the country since a young age, I really enjoyed getting to learn more about the folklore and daily life of the Japanese.

The heart of the story, however, is its touching and nostalgic atmosphere. It brought back my own memories of growing up together with my grandmas - something that made me have to fight back tears as I haven't been able to see them for almost a year due to the pandemic. With beautiful pictures and vivid colours, Rumi Hara brings back those soft, mundane memories of my abuelita making me my favorite cheese empanadas, hiding some away for me so my father and brothers wouldn't eat them all up. Or my other grandma taking me to the library and letting me spend hours in there, reading Astrid Lindgren and eating candy in the shelves. These are memories I will always cherish, and I truly thank Nori for reminding me of them.

[aqilahreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

a debut graphic novel filled with short stories, capturing a touching relationship between the spirited nori and her grandma. nori is a spirited 3yo girl who lives with her parents & grandmother in the suburbs of osaka during the 1980s. while both parents work full time, her grandmother takes care of her - forever being her companion and following after nori as she dashes off on fantastical adventures. 🌞⁣
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⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. love how this gives out a nostalgic feel and ITS SO ADORBZ!! 🥺 the last comic made me giggle and literally brings a huge smile on my face omgggg :') the only problem is that they are too short and some endings were too abrupt which made me go ehhhhh???? hahah anyways, i enjoyed the oddness and whimsical parts, reminds me of my playful childhood too 🤪⁣
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AND THE ILLUSTRATIONS 💯 rumi hara draws in such a way where she captures on east asian folklore and japanese culture very well and how they are executed to wrestle between the reality of what nori sees and the legends her grandma shares with her, is absolutely so so stunning. 😍 the colour tones used are so warm & calming as well ✨⁣
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ugh cant believe how underrated this is, do check it out if you love to look at some amazing art & also looking for a short, refreshing & heartwarming read too ☺️⁣
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[Dubzor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alternate title: "Having Children is a Nightmare."

[cait loughran · Rating 5 out of 5]

precious 🥹🥹🥹

[Juli Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a surprising delight! This felt to me like the a Japanese graphic novel answer to Heidi, with an indomitable and and adorable little protagonist, and a heart-warming intergenerational relationship. Little Noriko is such a little bundle of wonder, and her sweetness and impishness fight a steadfast battle in her throughout these stories. I loved how quiet and mundane these stories are, infused with the magic of everyday discoveries. In addition, Hara's illustrations are soft and just a touch surreal. This is a truly memorable graphic novel.

[Kaitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whimsical, gorgeously illustrated tales of four-year-old Nori and her grandmother living in Osaka in the 1980s. Hara's drawings are wonderfully expressive, and she utilizes the comic form to its fullest, denoting big hugs, animal sounds, and onomatopoeia with bold hand-lettering. Nori's life is a curious blend of dailiness and mythology, as animals embody harbingers of good fortune and other transitions find their way to her. There's a magic to this book, in that rather than viewing a four-year-old's wonder at the world, you feel ensconced right in that big, unknowable world with her, seeing everything such as fish underwater and tropical canopies of trees, for the first time.

[jude · Rating 4 out of 5]

sweet, heartwarming stories about grandmotherly love and childhood wonder. made me want to go for a walk and explore the world around me.

[Axoucoeur · Rating 4 out of 5]

envie d'adopter Nori

[slewan · Rating 3 out of 5]

gullig liten bok (:

[Eli Poteet · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow, i didnt expect so much joy from this lil collection of stories showcasing a 3 year old Nori who growls, grumbles, wanders off, gets dirty, falls down and gets back up again.i am so touched bt what feels like incredibly intimiate shares of cultural importance. i am enchanted by this authors capture of her 80s childhoos environment. i feel extremely touched to have brought this story home. the lil one has angry eyebrows and disobeys but is the cutest little adventuring spirit ever. i loved it. it felt like a hug to embrace every cultures unique qualities.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rumi Hara's monochromatic illustrations tell episodes of about 20-40 pages in a longer story-arc about a 4-year-old and her grandmother-caretaker in suburban Osaka, Japan in 1986. This is parallel to Rumi Hara's own life, where the parents are there, but busy with work...although it seems Hara has left out the sibling that was in her life to tell a more focused story.

The intergenerational roles are realistic, with a touch of grandma just-about-to-lose-it because Nori doesn't slow down or sit still or listen to boundaries. However, she is a curious & courageous child who makes friends everywhere she goes, and her grandmother respects her & guides her in a wholesome & nurturing way.

It is so sweet overall that many people might not think it's very interesting...but I bet they will be captivated to just observe a fully functional nurturing grandparent - which you never get to read about since most of the action in stories happens in totally dysfunctional families!

The illustrations are expressive, with dynamic black lines on white paper, with a second color for shading & emphasis that changes with each "chapter".

This is a very nice slice-of-life for showing a specific time & place.

If you liked My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder, Kampung Boy, or the DVD My Neighbors the Yamadas, I think you will like this, too.

[Stephanie Tournas · Rating 3 out of 5]

irst published as a series of minicomics, this book features short vignettes of life with Nori, a precocious and inquisitive three-year old. Nori is mainly tended by her grandma, and the youngster and the grandmother have all sorts of slice-of-life adventures at preschool, at home, in the village, in nature and on a big trip to Hawaii together. I really liked the relationship between the two - the author gives the grandmother more personality than we often see in grandparent characters who mind the kids in western lit. Nineteen nineties Japan is depicted with affection and with occasional flights of fancy as Nori's big imagination is given graphic reign. For example, Nori imagines she goes with the white bunny who pounds mochi on the moon, from a Japanese folktale. Besides Nori and her grandma, her friend Taichi, an equally rambunctious toddler, and her parents, there is a recurring character that fascinated me: a mysterious man in a full length robe who parades through the streets with a traditional rhythm instrument, a taiko. It turns out that he is a neighborhood homeless person wearing a blanket. Nori often takes to following him, becoming lost and causing all sorts of worry at home. He lends a mystical air to the story, as the reader wonders when he will surface again. The episodic chapters each have a different second color with the black and white art, and this lends the book an almost retro flair.

[Josephine Sorrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a sweet story about the relationship between a child and her grandmother.

Here we visit the magical world of Nori (short for Noriko), a spirited three-year-old girl who lives with her parents and grandmother in the suburbs of Osaka during the 1980s. Both of Nori's parents work full-time, leaving her grandmother as Nori’s caregiver and companion. Here the adventure begins.

One evening Nori meets an army of bats which is a symbol of happiness so the bats are nit feared and are invited into the house. Another day, she chases a missing rabbit through the schoolyard while performing as a moon in the class play. This is the myth of the Moon Rabbit. Then a ditch by the side of the road opens to a world of kids, crawfish, beetles, a golden frog and an albino salamander. That same night, her grandma takes Nori to the Bon Odori festival to dance with her ancestors. Then Nori wins a trip to Hawaii, and finds herself swimming with a sea turtle. Strange, because Nori has never learned how to swim.

This is a slow, meandering odd story that didn’t quite capture me. The art is created is black-and-white with spots of color reminiscent of East Asian folklore and Japanese culture. The effect is warm and calming.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four-year old Noriko, dubbed Nori for short, is a lively girl full of spirit. She likes to run free, much to the dismay of her grandmother, who is unable to keep up with Nori. The illustrations in this graphic novel are not always my favorite, but my opinion should not take away from the merit this book deserves. Set in the 1980s, the outskirts of Osaka are romantic and reminiscent of an older Japan. Broken up into mini comics, each story gives a sense of adventure, depicted through Nori's wild imagination and hunger for trouble. Great for when you are in the mood for a lighthearted read.

[Joel Cuthbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here's a rather beautiful little collection of child-like imaginings. The artwork is really stunning and rather enjoyed its blending of languages and traditions. It is rooted in the comings and goings of a childhood afloat and captures the rich wandering nature of that perspective. In the end, it doesn't quite coalesce into a full narrative, which is perhaps more what I was hopeful for. I understand that this was originally a series of miniatures and it somewhat shows in the brevity and vignette-like structure. Still a beautiful book nonetheless.

[Amanda Dine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable tales of Nori, a mischievous 4-year old Japanese girl, and her Grandmother, Hana-san. Each story is a little slice of life recounting their daily activities and the hijinx that little Nori gets into. The drawing style is organic and reliant on free flowing line work with just enough detail when needed. A great anthology of stories that emphasizes the bond between generations and the wonder and curiosity of being a child.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an odd but sweet book, an episodic series of stories about a little girl growing up in Japan and her grandmother. I'm not entirely sure what the audience is - certainly adults would have a better understanding of some of the events and conversations in the story, but younger children might enjoy it too. Quiet and quirky and sweet.

[Olivia Simpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a pleasure!! Noriko is a fantastic character, the perfect mixture of mischief and sweetness. Nori’s relationship with her grandmother is integral to every story and I love how she can be both infuriated by and endlessly gracious and adoring to her granddaughters antics. And the ART! This book is magic.

[fridge_brilliance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very, very sweet - especially for those with a soft spot for grandmothers, which I am. Lovely art, full or playful strokes and thoughtful details, whimsical and heartfelt storylines, full of a sense of adventure. Loved it! My favourite story was the one about their trip abroad. Oh, how emotional that one made me.

[Popzara Press · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A charming and heartwarming comic from Rumi Hara about the special bond between grandparents and grandchildren."

Full review at Popzara.com

[Dolores · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four-year-old Nori lives with her parents and grandmother. But, because her parents work so much, she is mostly in the care of her grandmother. I had a hard time turning off my inner parent, but this one is perfect for fans of the wonderful Yotsuba&!. Very sweet.

[Leilani Mroczkowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely collection of short stories that tell of the adventures that a young girl, Nori, and her grandmother experience. I appreciated the illustrations… particularly in the story set in Hawaii. Very nice to have stories of childhood memories set in Japan.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic slice of life of living in Japan in the mid 1980’s. Lovely relationship of a caring grandmother for a rambunctious three/four year old. A charming delight with Japanese culture and history. Also the art is great.

[Sky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aaa this was great, like Yotsuba&! but if it was the 80's and there was a grandma! I think my favorite chapter was the creatures in the ditch, but I really really liked the Hawaii chapter as well. Just a really lovely read all around!

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

a great comic about a girl's relationship with her grandma. I felt the love between them through all their stories which were heart warming and a delight to read. I love the fantastical nature of the story and the art style!