I find myself really attracted to Ichikawa Haruko's work for it's simplicity, but that makes me go back time and time again to re-read pages or whole chapter because I constantly think I have missed something. I have noticed all of her work follows similar themes and if it wasn't executed in such a lighthearted manner, this could very well be considered horrific.

These two volumes of one shots were a great read, but most likely enjoyable to someone who enjoys plots and art that is niche/cultish/off-the-beaten-path. All of the stories were honestly heartwarming if you look at the humanity of it all. Every story creates it's own world (or maybe I could go back to read it again to find out different). In even the simplest and shortest of the stories (Volume 1 Chapter 5) it gives you enough of a sense of the world at large that you can become immersed into it, perhaps even sympathetic to their moral values and understandings. If you enjoy finding out about a new world through character interactions and surprises, these stories may be for you, but this mangaka does not largely focus on character development and backstory unless it is to further the concept of the world around them.

Volume one is a set of thematically linked oneshots whose subject matter can be summed up as "human-nonhuman relationships of varying nature." The first story: lovers; second: friends; third: siblings; fourth: creator-creation. The fifth seems to have been stuck there as a kind of afterthought, as it was extremely short and had barely any plot.

I question the wisdom of making Star Lover the first chapter; as you might expect from a story that deals with genetically engineered lovers, it's extremely morally questionable to the point of being unethical. Though nothing too shocking compared to the usual seinen fare, it starts off the collection on the wrong foot, as the rest of the stories are charming, gentle, melancholy and free of any such dubious content. So if you find yourself creeped out by Star Lover, I urge you to keep reading, as it's all uphill from there. Mushi to Uta in particular was very creative and touching: I can see why it won an award.

The second volume continues in the same vein, and once again the first story was by far the least palatable to me. I don't condone incest, so a 130-page story which felt the need to repeatedly drive home that "if a pair of siblings actually seem to get along, then they're sure to be secretly lusting after each other!" was a bit difficult to stomach, and the weird insistence on pretending to be sci-fi rather than fantasy did nothing to help matters... Though I can't deny that it deserves acclaim for sheer uniqueness.

On Pandora (master-servant, non-romantic) and Funeral of the Moon (found family, brothers) were more to my taste: unusual and creative in premise and quietly endearing in the relationships portrayed, though no less odd than any of their predecessors.

The unusual art style, vague narrative and subtext-laden dialogue means that a good deal of close attention is required when reading, so don't expect to be able to rush through Haruko Ichikawa Sakuhinshuu. And if your tastes tend towards the mainstream, I doubt you'll find much to enjoy here.

... Last updated on July 4th, 2020, 3:53pm