Gli strani casi del professor Munakata, Vol. 2

宗像教授伝奇考 [Munakata Kyōju Denkikō] #2

by Yukinobu Hoshino

Proseguono le indagini del professor Munakata, nei suoi viaggi tra le zone rurali del Giappone sulle tracce di leggende e misteri perduti nel tempo. Sconosciute razze di ragni, popolazioni che venerano i cani e con loro hanno strani legami, topi che infestano un'isola, ma anche giganteschi soldati di ferro... Per Munakata perfino una favola come quella di Biancaneve e i sette nani può nascondere legami incredibili tra antichità e presente, tra Oriente e Occidente, in un continuo scambio tra popolazioni estinte, racconti del folklore e un presente del quale solo pochi studiosi conoscono le radici. Nato dalla penna del maestro Yukinobu Hoshino, "Gli strani casi del professor Munakata" è un manga ricco di storia, mito e avventura.

Genres: Manga

248 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1996

About the author

Yukinobu Hoshino (in Japanese, 星野之宣) is a Japanese manga artist. In 1975, after dropping out of Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music, he debuted with Kotetsu no Queen (鋼鉄のクイーン). In the same year, he won the Tezuka prize for an outstanding manga with Harukanaru Asa (はるかなる朝).

He is known for using the gekiga style to create detailed and serious science fiction stories based on American and European SF novels but creating a completely different storyline. He had also drawn various works based on ancient and pre-historic histories. Amongst other things, he is known for his graphic novel series, 2001 Nights (2001夜物語).

His work is acknowledged by the British Museum and was on display during 5 November 2009 to 3 January 2010.

Reviews

[Nicolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Researching these folk tales gave the professor an image as a folklore detective and his musings on the stories served as the climax for each chapter. The professor has this Sherlockian quality and both being idiosyncratic characters sell the vibe.

The professor’s pet research theme was iron and the human migration that resulted from groups of people chasing iron deposits. This was established early in the first chapter of the first volume and formed the motivations of the character.