A Drunken Dream & Other Stories

by Moto Hagio, Rachel Thorn (Translator)

Forty years ago, the legendary manga artist Moto Hagio reinvented the shōjo (girl's comics) genre with an ongoing series of whip-smart, psychologically complex, and tenderly poetic stories. Here now, in English for the very first time, as the debut release in Fantagraphics Books' ambitious manga line of graphic novels, are ten of the very best of these tales.

The work in A Drunken Dream and Other Stories spans Hagio's entire career, from 1970's "Bianca" to 2007's "The Willow Tree," and includes the mind-bending, full-color title story; the famously heartbreaking "Iguana Girl"; and the haunting "The Child Who Comes Home"–as well as "Autumn Journey," "Girl on Porch With Puppy," the eerie conjoined-twins shocker "Hanshin: Half-God," "Angel Mimic," and one of the saddest of all romance stories, "Marié, Ten Years Later."

A Drunken Dream and Other Stories is supplemented with a feature-length interview with Hagio, where discusses her art, her career, and her life with the same combination of wit, candor, and warmth that radiates from every panel of her comics.

Genres: Manga, Graphic Novels, Comics, Short Stories, Fiction, Fantasy, Shojo

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 27, 2010

About the author

Moto Hagio (萩尾望都 Hagio Moto) is a manga artist born in Ōmuta, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, though she currently lives in Saitama Prefecture.
She is considered a "founding mother" of modern shōjo manga, and a member of the Year 24 Group (24-Gumi). She helped pioneer modern shōjo manga, modern science fiction manga, and BL manga. In addition to being an "industry pioneer", her body of work "shows a maturity, depth and personal vision found only in the finest of creative artists". She has been described as "the most beloved shōjo manga artist of all time."

Moto Hagio made her professional debut in 1969 at the age of 20 with her short story Lulu to Mimi on Kodansha's magazine Nakayoshi. Later she produced a series of short stories for various magazines for Shogakukan.
Two years after her debut, she published Juichigatsu no Gimunajiumu (The November Gymnasium), a short story which dealt openly with love between two boys at a boarding school. The story was part of a larger movement by female manga artists at the time which pioneered a genre of girls' comics about love between young men.
In 1974, Hagio developed this story into the longer Toma no shinzo (The Heart of Thomas). She was awarded the Shogakukan Manga Award in 1976 for her science fiction classic Juichinin iru! (They Were Eleven) and her epic tale Poe no ichizoku (The Poe Family).

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delicate, masterfully nuanced short stories.

My only criticism -- barely a criticism, more a suggestion -- is that both thematically and artistically there is a considerable degree of commonality between the stories, so they do not benefit from being read one after another. So many lovely, delicate girls with big eyes and flowing hair, so many sad girls feeling ugly and unloved and guilty....

My favorite story was "Iguana Girl":


I would recommend this even to people who aren't generally interested in manga.

[Dov Zeller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book of short, often mystical or fantastical, emotionally complex stories.

To quote a goodreads reviewer Charles Hatfield:
Hagio does comics the likes of which I've never seen anywhere else. The best stories in this volume, such as "Iguana Girl," "Hanshin," and the title story, are disturbing little masterpieces of mood, insinuation, psychological depth-sounding, and sheer gender-troubling uncanny strangeness. Sentimentality turns on a dime into horror; horror into weird humor; sadness into reflection.

I've read these stories before and this second reading I appreciated them more and felt moved by the emotional depth and anguish, as well as the small victories of empathy and connection.

The first story, "Bianca", sets the mood for a book about misunderstandings and tragic mistakes. Clara, a painter in her later years, is showing art pieces to a man who comments on the subject of much of her work, a dancing girl in the woods. Clara goes on to tell the story of this girl, Bianca, a cousin who stayed with her family very briefly when they were children. As she narrates the story unfolds in eerie and yet sparkling pictures. We witness not only the childhood scenes, but the mystical worldview of Clara unfolding. The natural world comes to life in Clara's eyes in a way that at first seems idealized, but also hints at an awareness of a wolfish hunger and brutality. By the end of the childhood saga, Clara has become something of an adult. At least, this is a coming of age story. But we see that she has also, in a way, because of this same story, remained a child. She cannot move past the trauma and the magic and the charm, and it is what keeps her art repeating and repeating the moment of injury and transcendence.

Throughout the book, characters admire each other, resent each other, work to run away from the past or to address and make peace with it. Their realizations can lead to self-doubt, tragedy and loss, or spiritual growth. Sometimes a combination of all of these things. Always there is a wisdom in the sadness and anguish of those who make terrible mistakes, or discover something important, but too late. There is also wisdom in the contentment, which, I am glad to say, shows up in these pages, too.

[Sakura · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're already familiar with Moto Hagio, then this is definitely a must-read for you (even if you weren't a big fan of her other published work). If you've never heard of Moto Hagio before, then this would definitely be a great one to try (granted that you're willing to pay the higher cost for the larger, hardcover treatment of this release).

A Drunken Dream or rather anything by Moto Hagio is different from most shoujo in that it's not all "fluffy" and stuff, like the majority of modern shoujo released today. A lot of her work has elements of sci-fi and fantasy in them, and like real life, they don't always have a happy ending (some of them even have a twist at the end). Like most manga anthologies, you will probably find yourself liking some stories more than others, and they don't always make the most sense (some stories kinda feel like they end abruptly, with you the user left to think about what was the true purpose of the story). Still, I pretty much enjoyed each and every single story. My personal favorites are Hanshin: Half God, Angel Mimic, Iguana Girl, and The Willow Tree.

Some of the stories are definitely pretty old so it does contain 70's/80's style kind of art, and while that might put off some people who are used to more modern looking stuff, I actually found it to be quite beautiful. I think that the art itself fits in with the tone of Moto Hagio's work.

This 1 volume anthology is recommended to those that have an open mind when it comes to reading manga/comics. I think that someone who doesn't normally read manga but is open to alternative comics, might enjoy this as well.

[Kayt O'Bibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of ten short stories by influential but unknown-in-America shoujo author Moto Hagio. More than just short stories, the tales contained here are three decades of haunting and touching relationships.

Hagio's art has a distinctly 70's shoujo-vibe to it, but the art is clean and easy to follow. The short stories could be surprisingly poignant, and many, though they felt complete, left me wishing for more. And as the stories progress, it's fun to see how she's improved over the decades in both art and storytelling. Of note were:

Hanshin: Half-God focuses on conjoined twins: one beautiful but weak and disabled, the second scrawny and ugly, but brilliant. The expected theme of yearning to be separate while living the only life they know as a set doesn't lessen the emotional impact.

Iguana Girl was probably my favorite story in the entire book, following a girl from birth through adulthood. Most people see her as a normal person, but from the day she was born, her mother saw her an iguana. You can't help but feel sorry for Rika when she's ignored or yelled at no matter the situation, and my only problem (although perhaps this is/was common in the Japanese familial situation?) is that the father, who clearly has no problem, isn't around more and doesn't step in throughout a lifetime of neglect. But it's a hopeful, rather than depressing, story.

Not that the other stories aren't good, but those two stood out for storytelling and the characters themselves.

The book itself is also gorgeous. Hardcover, large-print, kudos to the publisher for designing something that shows off the art and doesn't detract.

[Charles Hatfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished teaching this once again in my Comics & Graphic Novels course, and I have to say, wow, I love it. My students described the book as "weird," "trippy," "sad," and "overwrought" (but in a good way). It is all that, and then some.

Hagio does comics the likes of which I've never seen anywhere else. The best stories in this volume, such as "Iguana Girl," "Hanshin," and the title story, are disturbing little masterpieces of mood, insinuation, psychological depth-sounding, and sheer gender-troubling uncanny strangeness. Sentimentality turns on a dime into horror; horror into weird humor; sadness into reflection. Beautiful, elegant drawing and page-making as well--and a wonderful translation (by Matt Thorn) and book design (by Adam Grano). Fantagraphics did comics lovers a favor with this one; I pray for more.

[Meepelous · Rating 4 out of 5]

Content Notes for character death, age gap/teacher student romance, abortion regret, and a suicide attempt.

According to Wikipedia "Moto Hagio is a Japanese manga artist who is considered a 'founding mother' of modern shōjo manga, especially shōnen-ai. Hagio rose to prominence in the 1970s as a member of the influential Year 24 Group, and has been described as 'the most beloved shōjo manga artist of all time.' Hagio's notable works include The Poe Clan (1972–1976) [which I've also reviewed], The Heart of Thomas (1974), They Were Eleven (1975), and A Cruel God Reigns (1993–2001)." Thorn's interview with Hagio in the back of this collection really fleshed out Hagio's journey and influences in a way that I certainly will try and integrate further into the review.

What kinds of keywords came to mind while reading this collection: Sweaters, outsiders, family, coming of age, and fantastical elements.

The table of contents does include the copyrights for each of the stories, which I assume is when they were published? Assuming this is the case, we are getting a sampling from across Hagio's career from 1977 to 2008, only a few years before this collection was published. That said, Hagio's style of both art and storytelling retain a quality to them that feels pretty consistent throughout. In a word, even her more recent work retains a fairly classic feel to it that includes, among other things, a lot of very iconic looking sweaters.

In the interview included in this book, Hagio does go into detail about many of the kinds of stories that really interested her growing up and that had a big impact on who she became as a Manga-ka. Unsurprisingly, at least after having read this collection, a lot of her inspiration does come from more "western" sources. Starting out with what she describes as more stereotypical girl books in elementary school (ex. Louisa May Alcott, The Secret Garden and Anne of Green Gables), moving on to science fiction (ex. Asimov) in high school. Hagio also talks at length about her parents' ongoing disapproval of her career choices, which is perhaps why she seems to have written many stories about people who feel ostracized from their community.

Looking at the representation of sexuality and gender, while I would certainly not describe this collection as expressing anything like a progressive idea for gender today, I can see how she earned such notoriety for reinventing shojo manga when she entered the scene. The majority of stories in this collection feature active female protagonists, in contrast to the passive damsels that were otherwise on offer. There's also a lot of dark themes explored just beneath the sometimes rather suburban appearance. It also takes what many people would call "women's issues" very seriously. As I already said, a lot of this collection deals with outsiders and people who don't fit in so I do think there's a lot of potential for people to see themselves in it, even if there is not much going on beyond cis heternormativity. Otherwise, Hagio was also influential in early Shonen-ia.

Race was not really explored in the text itself. Although the titular story called Drunken Dream does include the characters being reincarnated through time, which involves putting on the trappings of a couple of different cultures. This alongside the heavy "western" influence.

Class is ignored and money is never discussed.

Ability vs disability was explored in one story in particular, although I suspect not in a particularly edifying way. A brief look around the internet only turned up the metaphorical and thematic interpretations of Hanshin: Half-God - a story about two conjoined twins, one ugly and intelligent and the other beautiful and notably not smart. Are there actually two sisters, or is Hagio just talking about the two parts of one person? Even with the assumed social commentary about expectations for women I am not terribly comfortable with this stereotypical dichotomy. Not to mention the use of conjoined twins in this way. What do you think?

Otherwise people appear to be largely either alive or dead with ability assumed to be rather monolithic.

While obviously not a universal must read, I continue to appreciate this look into the history of Manga, particularly when it comes to Shojo. This edition, like many from Fantagraphics, was extremely well put together and went above and beyond. Four out of five stars.

[Damon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good stories in here.

[beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection of short stories. The style is very clean compared to others I’ve read so far; it’s gorgeous!

Some musings:

- Bianca 4/5 - Enchanting, lovely visuals, like a fairytale.

- Girl on porch with puppy 4/5 - This is so true to how kids are. Very sweet.

- Autumn Journey 4/5 - Found the getting on the train sequence interspersed amidst memories interesting, as borders were used for the present moment, whereas it was borderless for the memories creeping up in between. Interesting use of panelling to assert the immediacy of the present moment, versus the borderless signifying the hazy generality of memory.

- Marie, 10 Years Later 4/5 - Really interesting, about a group of three friends at an art University, two men, and one woman, and she gets married to one of them and they both abandon the other man. However, 10 years later, she commits suicide, revealing how unhappy she was. To me, it reads as a reflection of a woman having to give up her dreams in order to get married, and two men, both in love with her, thinking it ultimately had something to do with them not being good enough (at art, in the husbands case; or as a potential partner, as in the protagonist’s case), but completely dismissing her own ambitions and desires. At one point the husband says he wished that she didn’t know anything about art, and that she was so upset about him that it killed her. Then again, maybe we’re supposed to take their interpretations as essentially correct, but I think it’s more interesting not to.

- A Drunken Dream 3/5 - An interesting sci-fi tale about a man and a woman, doomed lovers, who are reincarnated again and again. The woman, in a genderbending fashion typical of older shōjo has this time been reincarnated as a man with an XX intersex condition (I wasn’t sure at first whether he was supposed to be a woman who had simply adopted a ‘male’ social role (it’s said he has XX chromosomes), AKA the way several influential masculine women heroines of classic shōjo are defined—Lady Oscar from Rose of Versailles comes to mind—, but I think it was made clear through the ‘hermaphrodite’ remark that Lem is male), so we have an example, if brief, of a gay romance. It was interesting for this reason, but little else.

- Hanshin: Half-God 4/5 - Interesting, sad tale of conjoined twin sisters; works well metaphorically as a story of personal identity with themes of neglect, grief, differentiation and transformation. ‘Hanshin’ (半身) as a noun appears to mean ‘half the body’.

- Angel Mimic 3/5 - I didn’t love the romance in this one, though at first I thought our female main character was a freshman in high school and the love interest her male teacher, but then I realised she was in college/university. I thought the later developments were interesting, and that a phone call she has with her parents where her mother is telling her she was unlucky not to have had a boy and that it’s a shame giving birth to Alice damaged her body, with the dad praying in the background for Alice’s sister to have a boy… psychological terrorism moment.

- Iguana Girl 5/5 - Lovely story about how others’ words can distort self-perception and the passing on of family traumas through generations. My favourite one!

- The Child Who Comes Home 4/5 - Understated look at grief shared by family. Arguably one of the more straightforward ones, but I found its restraint interesting given the melodrama that’s fairly typical of my foray into old shōjo so far.

- The Willow Tree 4/5 - Atmospheric and minimalist look at grief.

[D.T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rated by enjoyment. I didn’t care for this collection at first, but there were better stories toward the end in my opinion.

Bianca (2 stars)

Girl on the Porch with Puppy (2 stars)

An interesting take on how some people, even loved ones, may want you to conform, and when you don’t, they destroy you. Well, that’s what I got from this, anyway.

Autumn Journey (3 stars)

I liked the ending.

Marie, Ten Years Later (2 stars)

A story of shoulda, coulda, wouldas

A Drunken Dream (2 stars)

Ooh, this one had a burst of color. Reincarnated, star-crossed lovers always ending in death… But it’s meh and melancholy.

Hanshin: Half God (3.5/ 4ish stars)

Enjoyed.

Angel | Mimic (4 stars)

Eh, the professor literally calls this is a “wholesome student-teacher relationship” at a women’s college. Unfortunately, they have really good chemistry, and the male lead is classy. The ending’s almost a tearjerker. I like how many mangas don’t shy away from mature subject matter.

Iguana Girl (4.5 stars)

I liked this a lot, but y’all stay with the bs, talking about pink doesn’t suit (Riko’s) dark complexions. Anyway, Riko is so adorable! It’s hard to see her get treated like Cinderella the whole time.

The Child Who Came Home (3 stars)

The Willow Tree (3 stars)

I didn’t know where this was going, but I liked it.

[Katja · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of manga short stories. I haven't actually read much old classic manga, so this was fine introduction to one such artist. And I was a bit surprised how much I liked the stories. I didn't expect the stories to have so sad and somber tone in general but that just made me like them more. Because even though they were melancholy, they were beautiful. And although Hagio's stories are very much branded as shoujo, I thought some were more josei actually.

Obviously I liked some stories better than others but all of them are very much worth reading. Some stories have a sort of dated elements, so you'll know you're reading an older story even without looking the publication date but it's not so bad, it's a bit like reading classic girls' books nowadays. They are lovely but tell of their time and age.

I'm not always a fan of the style in older manga but I found Hagio's art lovely. There's also a long printed interview with Hagio from 2005 which is a nice bonus and interesting look on how shoujo manga began and evolved.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's occasionally beautiful, often hallucinatory, and sometimes downright odd. My favorite story is "The Willow Tree": told almost entirely without words, it depicts an unchanging woman standing beneath a tree as seasons and eventually years pass.

[Silvia Turcios · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first story did not leave me impressed, neither by its art, nor by the content, but as I was reading, I fell in love with the stories. Some of them too sad, but all of them so beautiful.

[Jera Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, I'm going to have to read everything Moto Hagio ever wrote now, so next up will be The Poe Clan. I can see why she's considered a classic manga artist; every story was interesting and the art pulled me in. I really liked the way she handled serious themes in fantastical ways; that's my favorite kind of storytelling.

The translator, Matt Thorn, also has some great articles in the back, one laying out the history of shoujo manga and another interviewing Moto Hagio herself. I feel like I learned a lot this way. In particular, the one on the history of shoujo manga gave me a ton of authors and titles to check out, so I'm very excited. I've also realized that Matt Thorn is basically leading my dream life: anthropologist? translator? writer? Clearly I need to take a few notes out of her book.

[Kayla Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning stories by one of my all-time favorite artists! The included article on the 49ers & interview with Moto Hagio were a pleasant surprise. Highly recommended to any fan of classic manga!

[Kaion · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection alternately made me all excited "Where has Moto Hagio been all my life?" and ashamed I hadn't already perused the work of the Magnificent 49ers, other than a brief sojourn into the guilty-pleasure Cold-War-spy-parody adventures of From Eroica with Love. Not the American football team, the Magnificent 49ers were a loosely-defined group of pioneering Japanese artists who revolutionized manga for girls and women in the late-60s. (As as translator and editor Matt Thorn ruefully notes, this still hasn't really happened in the American market yet.)

In short, Moto Hagio is a bit of a living legend, and the collection of shorts which includes selections from the 70s, 80s, and 00s provides a very instructive overview of her work*. There's her early work for younger audiences which combines off-kilter weirdness with gothic sentimentalism, exemplified by "Girl on Porch with Puppy", a creepy Twilight-Zone-esque parable. There's her middle full-blown speculative-fiction that's anchored by powerful depictions of alternate mental states, represented with "Hanshin: Half-God", a story of a resentful siamese twin. And there's her later period work which shows increasing maturity in depicting contemporary life, particularly exploring the coping fantasies of "outsiders," such as the melancholy college-aged heroine of "Angel Mimic" who dreams of becoming an angel.

Throughout, Hagio shows a keen interest in fraught parent-child-sibling dynamics, the potential for betrayal in close relationships, and the painful (if not deadly) process of transformation. The two masterpieces of the collection take entirely different approaches to these themes but show the same psychological astuteness. The titular "A Drunken Dream" is a hallucigenic full-color story which combines no less than princesses, Mars-exploration, hermaphrodism, and time-travel in its tale of star-crossed lovers.** On the other hand, "Iguana Girl", which begins with a woman giving birth to a daughter she sees as an iguana and everyone else sees as human, progresses with great realism to tell a powerful fable about coming to adulthood by renegotiation (if not outright rejection) of parental expectations.

If those two stories weren't worth the price of admission, Matt Thorn's extensive notes interview with Moto Hagio about her inspirations and the history of the Magnificent 49ers is very illuminating and places her work in appropriate context. The production as a whole is extremely impressive, though with one or two odd translation choices-- this may be the best-looking volume of manga I've ever seen.

If I haven't made it abundantly clear, A Drunken Dream is a must-read for any comics fan or anyone interested in the genesis of women's literature, besides functioning as a very accessible primer to Moto Hagio and introduction to the world of early shoujo comics. I certainly intend to get to Hagio's seminal Heart of Thomas post-haste.


*Though there was notably a lack of representative of her "boy's love" work, I understand the constraints of collections.
**No seriously, the following words are delivered with extreme skepticism: "So... you and I are the product of psychologically ill space-time?" If this sounds amazing to you, you know who you are.

[Miss Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

really beautiful collection. it made me sad that there seems to be such an aversion to translating older classics in north america. moto hagio's work is very different from the kind of shoujo generally picked up here which is fun but often formulaic in art style. i'm not sure everyone would dig the 70s vibe to this collection but as someone who's been regularly reading manga for ten years i appreciated the change of pace.

in terms of story? i guess the words i'd use to describe this collection is melancholic complexity. hagio's stories feel very rooted in reality even when they experiment with the fantastic. for example, you have iguana girl with a girl whose mother sees her as an iguana and consequently dislikes and neglects her growing up. it does a really good job at getting at a difficult parent-child relationship and the process of growing up and growing out of it. and no, there's no reconciliation at the end which felt fitting for the story

i've been really impressed with fantagraphics' manga publishing choices so far, i hope they keep this up. i'd love to read some more work by the magnificent 49ers matt thorn discusses in the appendix to this collection

4 stars

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surreal, wistful short-stories, often with fantasy/sci-fi & romance elements.

This is a really fascinating selection of work by pioneering cartoonist Moto Hagio, from the mid-70s (only a few years after her career began) to the present day. Her work was always aimed at girls, and when she started it was unusual for women to be creating comics.

The stories are refreshingly creative, and often really funny. There are some recurring themes (isolation, lost love, conflicted siblings, absent (for some reason) family members...), although the plots and setting are incredibly diverse. I believe that Hagio is more famous in Japan for her longer serials; based on the shorter stories here, I'm going to look our for them.

There's a long interview with Hagio from The Comics Journal included in this volume. In TCJ I often find these interviews a little too long, but really enjoyed this one in this context. It really added a lot to the enjoyment of the book, and had some fascinating insights into Hagio's work. Read it before, or (as I did) after - but skip it at your peril!

[Miss Ryoko · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this collection of short story mangas had a lot of high reviews. When I read through the first couple of stories, I feared this would turn out like Gogo Monster where everyone loved it but me. But once I got passed the first couple, I really started loving the stories within this book's pages.

My favorite story was by far Hanshin: Half-God. I honestly don't think words can describe how incredibly touching that story is because of how entirely true and believable it is. It's both heart breaking but a little triumphant, in my opinion.

I did enjoy Hagio-san's artwork. She has an amazing way of telling stories in such a short amount of space. There is definitely something raw about her stories. Even though sometimes the artwork can be cutesie and silly, the stories are so personal and powerful. You even feel the emotion of the story when the artwork has it's moments of non-seriousness.

A really very spectacular collection of short stories. Two thumbs from me!

[Laura (ローラ) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so fantastic! I'm not generally a fan of short stories, but these were so wonderfully created and curated. They generally follow themes of past regret or finding your place in your family. The stories varied quite a lot in form and genre, but were delivered with with a similar feel. The artwork was stunning, especially in the title comic. Those reds! Gorgeous!

I did think there were translation issues with one of the comics. But I may be interpreting the interpretation wrong.

I guess the only real problem with this title is that it is a collection. This would have been nice to read in singles. I can never allow myself that time to take a break when I've got a whole compilation of great stories staring at me. The best way to enjoy this would be to read a story and take some time to reflect on it.

[sweet pea · Rating 4 out of 5]

i haven't read lots of shōjo manga, so this was a fascinating jump into the culture. the stories in this collection are widely varying, from sentimental to dark to bizarre. "A Drunken Dream" has a plot worthy of James Tiptree, Jr and must have inspired CLAMP. "Hanshin: Half-God" is deliciously dark. "Iguana Girl" is a wonderful exploration and baby iguana children are damn cute. while i wasn't taken by every story, i did like all of them. after reading the interview with her, i wish more of her work was available in the US.

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully printed book with very good stories. My favorites were Iguana Girl and the one about the trio of art school friends, whose title I'm ashamed to say I can't recall.

My only quibble with the book was the lettering. The same font was used everywhere, and no there was attempt at retouching backgrounds where original the Japanese text was whited-out. Come on, publisher. If you're going to make such a gorgeous binding and printing, you can at least put that much effort into the content. :/

[Ruba AlTurki · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow!!
I don't know what to say about this one-shot , it's about a conjoined twins having a problem in accepting their issue? anyway after a long time of suffering ,they find a solution .would they do it? and how would it go?..I have to admit that the story was excellent,and it was published in 1984!! This is really wonderful!

[marcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my first rodeo with Moto Hagio: I like Otherworld Barbara and don't really care for Lil' Leo. This collection is very hit-or-miss, but the stories I enjoy I absolutely love. I appreciate that they're organized in chronological order, because you can see her writing getting stronger over time.

Favorites:
"Hanshin: Half-God"
"Iguana Girl"

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful collection. Chronological works by Moto Hagio that just keep getting better & better, and more diverse. Wonderful to see what artists were doing to revolutionize women's manga.

Absolutely cried my eyes out when I got to the last page of the final story. Well done.

[Akemi G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the Japanese collections that cover Hanshin, Iguana Girl, The Child Who Comes Home, and a lot more, so I guess I qualify to rate and review this. Absolutely gorgeous; these stories will leave you speechless.

[Paperclippe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ten beautiful and moving short stories enhanced by the art in the manga, each of them relatable and enjoyable. Grab your tissues.

[Jillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every time I read this book, I cry at a different story. I don't know why.

[Jojo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essa é uma coletânea de histórias curtas da Moto Hagio belíssima. Fico muito feliz com a reimpressão desse volume e poder ter o prazer de ler tantas histórias incríveis. A edição é belíssima e a seleção das obras é impecável (e gostaria que mais dessas existissem em inglês e em português).

As histórias que encontramos aqui são simples e potentes, normalmente com um elemento fantástico (coisa que a Moto Hagio faz muito tempos). Eu fico impressionada que mesmo com alguns enredos sejam tão simples, tem muito sentimento envolvido ali. Histórias como Bianca, Autumm Journey, Marié, Ten Years Later e Angel Mimic não tem elementos fantásticos, mas me marcaram de um tanto que não sei explicar. As vezes menos realmente é mais.

Girl On Porch with Puppu me deixou boquiaberta com o final. The Child who Comes Home e The Willow Tree tem temáticas próximas e são muito muito lindos, especialmente o segundo que não precisa de tantas palavras para se fazer entender. A Druken Dream eu fiquei querendo mais, porque é o tipo de história que envolve romance e tragédia que eu curto, adorei.

As histórias favoritas são, sem dúvida, Hanshin: Half-God e Iguana Girl. Eu nem sei descrever o que eu senti lendo essas histórias. A partir deles, podemos ter várias discussões interessantes, temas muito atuais e que vai tocar muito quem está lendo.

Além dessas 10 histórias curtas incríveis, eu amei a entrevista que tem no final do livro. Muito bom saber mais sobre a história da autora e como cada evento influenciou sua carreira e trabalho. Visitar realmente o shoujo mangá desse início é uma coisa incrível, e fico feliz que ela e tantas outras mangakás tenham contribuído pra uma demografia tão diversa e pungente. Sou muito fã de shoujo, e ler e estudar sobre essas mulheres e suas obras me deixa bem feliz.

Uma coleção incrível! Já está na hora da Moto Hagio, e tantas outras mangakás clássicas, serem publicadas no Brasil.

[Roo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a masterpiece. Not all the stories pulled me in the same way, but some of them were so good that I have to give this 5 stars. I know Hagio is famous as a shojo writer, but it's not the modern, romance heavy shojo that I am used to. It's so complicated and tragic and honestly kind of creepy. Everything I've read by her so far has been so unique and beautifully written. They are all like poetry, but also filled with elements of sci-fi, fantasy, horror, tragedy and less romance than I thought.

I'll write a little bit about each story. **slight spoilers*

Bianca was a weird first one. I was foolishly expecting fluffy romances in this book, and the first story being about a little girl dying was a jolt. Well written, but not one of my favs.

Girl on porch with puppy was so weird. I still liked it! I liked the art style differentiating between the girl and everyone else.

Autumn Journey, and Marie were a little more predictable and boring, but still so beautifully drawn and well written that I can't hate them.

I loved A Drunken Dream! Here's where I started to really love the stories. A nice little sci-fi story in the middle.

Hanshin was so fucking unsettling. Deeply disturbing. I loved it a lot but I need to stop thinking about it. Hagio is too good at drawing creepy as hell imagery.

Angel Mimic was good, and the sort of story I was more expecting from shojo.

Iguana Girl is a masterpiece!!! Honestly this story and Hanshin were what bumped the rating to 5 stars. Such an incredible story about self hate and mothers.

The boy who comes home was pretty regular, and I was disappointed by The Willow Tree, mostly because the blurb in the beginning said I would need tissues but I found it pretty boring and the ending didn't really get to me.

[Thurston Hunger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this nearly two months ago, and shared with one of my sons while we were driving to and from a Thanksgiving gathering. Praise as always for Fantagraphics for assembling this sturdy and eye-opening collection of 10 stories over 31 years (1997-2008) from a woman manga creator. The interview and forward, I wanted to reread and try to find work by other authoresses. Alas time is running out on my 2023/24 winter hibernation, so soon back to the technocratic wage-earning.

Both of my sons can talk more about than I about Shojo Manga. I root for it, the way I root for lady rappers - I should know more but appreciate the little I do.

The tales here do cover things like beauty myths and mistakes, the role of a mother, heart-breaking love (and soul-aching abortion). All done with deft hand for the artwork and a deft mind for the tales told. Quite a triumph for any type of creator any where.