never ending manga posting

Journal with Witch/Ikoku Nikki (2017-2023), Yamashita - The dominant metaphor in my mind right now is "ach, I've been poisoned!" Like, ah I read the news… poisoned! This metaphor of poison feels appropriate for an age of active hostility… anyway let's move this back to manga

I find most stories about parenthood to be tiring or depressing to read, whether they're happy narratives or sad ones. The relationship we have with our parents holds enormous expectations on both ends and at every stage; failure is both inevitable and memorable. And on top of that, it's not even particularly instructive?!

Ikoku Nikki covers three years of Makio and Asa's life together, starting when Asa's fifteen and about to graduate middle school to her high school graduation. Makio is a reclusive writer; Asa is cheerful, outgoing, and gets lonely easily. She is the daughter of Makio's beloathed older sister. Makio hated her older sister in life and continues hating her in death, and I find the petty mercilessness (and eventual tempering) of her hatred excitingly honest. Makio's a lone wolf, the kind of character who's easy to like: uncompromising, passionate, bad tempered, off-beat, minimally sociable. In other words, an unconventional weirdo people find hard to get along with in real life.

( even more manga thoughts )