Page 45 Review by Stephen
From the creator of the inspiringly contemplative WALKING MAN, come six equally unusual stories, the last of which, particularly affecting, is about a marine biologist's seemingly inseparable relationship with a bowhead whale, his potentially fatal curiosity in the Chukchi people's legend of the sea mammals' graveyard at the bottom of the freezing ocean, and his sadness as he watches the ancient leviathan, tail torn by endless encounters with sharks and killer whales, slow down with old age and prepare for one final, solitary journey.
Taniguchi's art is even more detailed than Masashi Tanaka's GON, and with an added quiet dignity that Tanaka obviously wasn't striving for.
"Shokaro" follows a young man's life as an aspiring mangaka (comicbook creator), living in an usual apartment within a converted brothel alongside some very unusual neighbours. The affordable apartments, of course, are doomed to give way to high-rise luxury apartments.
The recollections of "Kaiyose-Jima" ("The Island Where The Wind Brings The Sea-Shells") I thought I'd read somewhere before, but I was confusing it with the short story (also by Taniguchi) in JAPAN AS VIEWED BY 17 CREATORS.
"Our Mountains" is another of those gutting tales of a hunter who'd lost his son to a giant roaming bear set up in the freezing mountains of the Akita Province, and feels compelled to renew his search - in spite of his marital promises - when the bear is spotted once more.
"White Wilderness" is another frozen tale involving man's best friend - in this case six huskies pulling a coffin across the ice - only to be picked off one by one, each night, by a feral fellow canine now more wolf than woof, and nasty it is too: genuinely terrifying and enough to have made me wince. The only disappointment came at the end which was abrupt because - I hadn't realised - it was an adaptation of part of Jack London's "White Fang", whereas the first story, set amongst gold prospectors, is a biographical piece about Jack London, as a group of supposed friends falls prey to greed whilst an old man, abandoned by his own people, goes in search of the fabled White Moose in order to save the very tribe who'd left him behind.
So yes, unusual all, because they each have something to say and Jiro is in possession of than enough skill with which to say it. A great collection for Christmas, full of ice and snow, and yet another addition to the library of intelligent manga, courtesy of Fanfare publisher Steve Robson. Three cheers for Steve, please.
