蟲與歌：市川春子作品集

市川春子作品集 #1

by Haruko Ichikawa, 市川春子, 謝仲庭 (Translator)

「能有此生真是太好了。」

第十四屆手塚治虫文化賞新生賞獲獎作
《寶石之國》系列原著作者──市川春子　生涯創作原點
收錄處女作〈蟲與歌〉、出道作〈星之戀人〉等四篇作品＋一部極短篇

翻弄真實與虛構之間的曖昧，極具哲思、浪漫與奇想，
市川春子獨具一格的世界由此展開……

本部作品集是《寶石之國》作者市川春子的創作原點，收錄她曾發表過的珍貴早期作品，包括處女作〈蟲與歌〉、出道作〈星之戀人〉等四篇中、短篇作品及一部極短篇，結合奇幻、科幻、哲學及寫實元素，從中可窺見市川春子早期即具有的豐沛創作能量及奇想。

不論你是對《寶石之國》的世界深深著迷的讀者，或者尚未接觸過她的作品，這部作品集都將是一個絕佳的入口，帶領你更完整深入認識這位近年以獨特風格及敘事吸引了大批死忠書迷的創作者。

【各篇劇情簡介】

｜星之戀人｜
少年皋月久違拜訪了植物研究者的舅舅家，卻發現舅舅有一位從未見過的女兒。沒想到，這個妹妹竟然是從自己小時候的斷指培育出來的，三人之間的關係也從此走向意外的發展……

｜紫外線｜
在雷擊空難中奇蹟生還的高中生大輪未來與天野菫，試圖從山上找到回家的路。但在路途上，大輪未來發現天野菫原來根本不是他的同學，而是……

｜日下兄妹｜
日下雪輝是名年輕有為的青年投手，卻在肩膀受傷後決定退出棒球社，回到販賣古董傢俱的老家，逃避眾人的期待。回到家中的雪輝，在櫃子上意外轉下了一個小螺絲釘，發現它彷彿有生命似的，逐漸成長為一個人形……

｜蟲與歌｜
在一個夜晚，一隻人形昆蟲闖進了晃、歌、花三兄妹的家──牠竟然是大哥晃的「失敗作」。決定負起照顧之責的三兄妹，慢慢教導牠人類的行為、語言與文化，但與此同時，歌也開始察覺到自己身體的異狀……

Genres: Manga, Japanese Literature, Seinen, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Comics

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Haruko Ichikawa (市川春子 in Japanese), born in 1980, is the author and artist of Land of the Lustrous (宝石の国, lit. "Country of Jewels"). She started her career in 2006 with the one-shot Mushi to Uta (虫と歌, lit. Insects and Songs). Between 2007 and 2011, she published seven one-shots in the manga magazine Afternoon, which were later compiled into two individual books named Ichikawa Haruko Sakuhinshuu (市川春子作品集, lit. Haruko Ichikawa Works Collection). She started writing Land of the Lustrous on October 25th, 2012, which currently has 10 volumes.

In 2010 she won the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize for works on Mushi to Uta. She has also contributed characters designs to the games Pokemon Sun & Moon and Pokemon Sword & Shield.

Reviews

[Eressea · Rating 4 out of 5]

原來是科幻
而且是十分有機的科幻
一般科幻給人的感覺都是冰冷無機的
這本卻是充滿生氣的有機科幻

好我掰不下去了
總之初出道作品感覺境界就很高了
獵奇中帶有詩意
可以看到很多日後在寶石之國裡出現的意象
而且因為有看沒懂
就感覺不到短篇展開不足的缺點XD

[Alyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mushi To Uta is a collection of one-shots by famous author Haruko Ichikawa, or better known as the author of Houseki no Kuni. For this collection of works, I found all of them extremely strange and didn't understand most of them. I read them multiple times and for some of them, I wonder, "what is the point?" However, even though I am ignorant of the meaning of these works, I will try to gather a consensus on what I thought of them.

{This book has inc*st and p*dophilia so do not read this book if that triggers you}



The first work is Star Lover. This is the one that intrigued me the most. Out of the ones in the collection, this is the most intense. There is incest and pedophilia so if you hate those things you might not like this. I thought the author handled these themes well. There is a tumblr post you can find that tells you all the references of the work making this work beautiful. No one is written out as a hero or protagonist in this short story. The line that resonated with me the most is when the boy said - "Pedophile." And the father called the boy "A narcissist." The boy will continue to love himself and the man will continue to love the girl, although the end leaves you with a hope that they will revert and treat the plant-like girl in the way that she should be, as a daughter. However, as she grows will it be the same conversations again?

The second work is Violight. I didn't enjoy this one and not because it was tragic. The story follows two boys, Mirai and Sumire. However, one boy is not a boy at all, but the lightning that caused Mirai's plane to fall. Mirai is still lost by the end and Sumire fades back into the sky, to cause another tragedy, but revives again as a girl who still wants to see Mirai again. I wasn't sold on the relationship or bond at all. If the story was longer I might have enjoyed it. I appreciate what it's trying to tell me but as I mentioned - "what was the point?" - because it really wasn't said besides the fact that Sumire might have loved him... that line alone might have changed everything for me.

The third work is The Kusaka Siblings. I guess it was cute but suffered the same issue as the second story. If it was longer and actually complex it would have resonated with me. The message is so simple that it just irritates me. It is literally "follow your dreams and say what you want." Yes, because many other works don't already tell me that. I just liked the art of Hina fixing his arm.

The last work was Insects and Songs. I didn't like this one at all. It was the longest but all those extra pages meant nothing. I didn't understand the point of it, I guess it shows how Kou is suffering because of his bug children and how he loves them so much but can never make them last? Because life is always so fleeting, whether human or bug? The twist at the end was just dumb. Okay, the blonde guy is also a bug. He's gonna die soon. But I don't understand why you are going to do that if Shiro is just going to die too with him. That was completely unnecessary as well with the sister being there. Overall, the last one was just a mess.



Overall, if you are a fan of Houseki no Kuni and literature in general, there is a chance you may like what the author's debut work has to offer. There are many themes in these stories that are dominant in Houseki no Kuni, with all of them answering the question of "What does it mean to be human?" If you look at this collection that way, this gives what you should be looking out for in these stories. If not, I don't see the point of reading this.

[Sana Burton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short comics, mostly a kind of weird, sad, slice of life with surreal elements. Most of the stories focus on sibling relationships, artificial humans, and body horror. Unfortunately, despite the interesting concepts, the writing wasn't really that engrossing. The best stories were "star lover" and "insects and songs".

[Sara Platero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Relatos cortos independientes en estilo manga muy diferentes entre ellos pero manteniendo algunos elementos clave entre ellos como la importancia de los sentimientos como el amor, la soledad y la amistad.

Todos los relatos podrían englobarse dentro del género fantástico o sci-fi ya que los sucesos y el tipo de personajes que los protagonizan suelen tener o padecer extrañas habilidades/acontecimientos.

La historia que más me ha gustado de este tomo ha sido la de los "Hermanos Kusaka" donde una joven promesa del baseball se lesiona el hombro y, durante su convalecencia en casa se encuentra con un extraño artefacto que poco a poco se va transformando.

Es un tomo que recopila historias poco convencionales, originales e interesantes.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

La primera historia me incomodó, por un tema en particular que toca. Creo que en general el diálogo y ciertos conceptos expuestos son interesantes, la composición de ciertas páginas también lo es, aunque el arte en ellas deja que desear, a pesar de ser característico de esta autora. Meh, siendo sincera, ni idea por qué lo adquirí, una compra impulsiva y no muy satisfactoría. Solo me queda ver qué guarda el segundo volumen.

[Gustavo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este manga es una colección de historias cortas de Haruko Ichikawa, que compré porque quería leer algo diferente y dandole una hojeada me gustaron los dibujos. Fue una experiencia rara, con historias medio surreales, con temáticas cun un poco de ciencia ficción "biológica" y insertadas en escenas cotidianas y familiares, con lazos extraños en algunos casos y hasta un poco tabú. Fue una lectura interesante, aunque las historias son un poco desparejas en calidad.

[Karina Montalvo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cuentos de ciencia ficción biológica que juegan con la anatomía humana. Este cambio biológico permite también perturbaciones en los cimientos sociales a nivel de normalizar tabúes que incomodan o impactan. Haruko Ichikawa es difícil de entender por sus regresiones y saltos a nivel que es imposible entender si es su intensión o no. Mi historia favorita fue la última y la más corta: El secreto.

[Angy · Rating 4 out of 5]

No tenía ni idea de lo que me iba a encontrar y lo cierto es que aunque las historias son muy fantasiosas y al principio de cada una no sabes muy bien que sucede, lo cierto es que la autora narra la historia para que puedas pillar rápido el hilo del mundo. Deseando que cierta persona me preste el segundo 😜

[socalloca · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5* no l’he entes

[21stpear · Rating 5 out of 5]

流星變成的，植物變成的，閃電變成的，昆蟲變成的…市川老師畫得太可愛了，假如牛羊豬會說話，假如風和雲會說話，這個世界是什麼樣子？？

[Lonewish]

看了几篇觉得并不是很喜欢，感觉市川春子总是喜欢打着非人类的名义描述一些很残忍的情节，就好像认为“因为不是人类所以没关系”一样。但因为事实上角色看起来就是人类形象，也遵循人类基本逻辑在行动，所以共情起来还是很难受（

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

人與人之間無法逾越的距離所帶來的冷酷，其中仍然有著些許的溫柔存在。