is a Japanese anthology of
manga written and illustrated by
Naoki Urasawa
is a Japanese manga artist and musician. He has been drawing manga since he was four years old, and for most of his professional career has created two series simultaneously. The stories to many of these were co-written in collaboration with his ...
. It collects eight varied short stories that are loosely thematically linked, and which were originally published in various magazines and publications between 1995 and 2018. The single volume was released by
Shogakukan
is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics ( manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan.
Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the H ...
in April 2019.
Viz Media
VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
licensed it for English-language release in North America and published it in October 2020.
Overview
;"DAMIYAN!"
:Published in 2016's 49th issue of
Shogakukan
is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics ( manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan.
Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the H ...
's ''
Weekly Big Comic Spirits
is a weekly Japanese ''seinen'' manga magazine published by Shogakukan. The first issue was published on October 14, 1980. Food, sports, romance and business are recurring themes in the magazine, and the stories often question conventional va ...
''.
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the ter ...
Komoto is tasked by his superior to assassinate the family's new boss, believing him to be the one responsible for their previous boss's death. To do so, Komoto hires two odd young men to do it using one of the men's, Damiyan, supernatural abilities.
:Urasawa said he could not remember why he chose ''Damiyan!'' as the title, but, because the title character has "666" on his shirt, speculated the idea must have come from the horror movie that has a character with a similar name. He vaguely remembers deciding to put the accent on "mi",
Kansai dialect
The is a group of Japanese dialects in the Kansai region (Kinki region) of Japan. In Japanese, is the common name and it is called in technical terms. The dialects of Kyoto and Osaka are known as , and were particularly referred to as suc ...
-style, instead of using the intonation heard in that film. He acknowledged that the title character looks like
Yūki Himura from the
Bananaman
Bananaman is a fictional character appearing in British comic books. Bananaman is a parody of traditional superheroes, being portrayed as a schoolboy who is transformed into a muscled, caped adult man when he eats a banana. The character origin ...
comedy duo, but said that must have been just a coincidence. Urasawa tried to include a variety of different serious themes before abruptly switching to the finished idea. He said he likes the story, even though it is "nonsensical."
;"Throw Toward the Moon!"
:Written with
Takashi Nagasaki
is a Japanese author, manga writer and former editor of manga. He started his professional career at Shogakukan in 1980 and worked as an editor on the publisher's various manga magazines, including as editor-in-chief of ''Big Comic Spirits'' ...
and published in
The Asahi Shimbun Company
is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition a ...
's ''Aera Comic Nippon no Manga: Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize 10th Anniversary Commemorative Mook'' in October 2006.
Jesse has grown up to be a journalist just like a mysterious old man told him he would when he was a child, but has yet to win the
Pulitzer Prize as also predicted. In fact, Jesse's career seems to be on the downturn instead, stuck writing obituaries for a no-name newspaper. When that same old man requests Jesse write his obituary for his upcoming death, Jesse learns he used to work with the
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
and begins investigating the one case the old
psychic
A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws ...
got wrong.
:Because it was written to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the
Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, which he had won twice for ''
Monster'' and ''
Pluto
Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest ...
'', "Throw Toward the Moon!" was going to be a collaboration between Urasawa and his ''Pluto'' co-author Takashi Nagasaki. But Urasawa thinks the two only had one intense meeting at a café, before he drew the rough layouts based on that one conversation. Urasawa suggested a piece about a newspaper obituary writer, and that set the plot in motion. Even though it is a dense story considering the number of pages, he said it has the distinct feel of a Urasawa-Nagasaki collaboration.
;"The Old Guys"
:Three two-page music-related stories published in
Shueisha
(lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...
's ''Jump X'' in the May 2013, February and July 2014 issues.
Urasawa muses about visiting a bar and trying to keep up playing guitar with an old guy who can play any
folk song from the
Shōwa era
The was the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) from December 25, 1926, until his death on January 7, 1989. It was preceded by the Taishō era.
The pre-1945 and post-war Shōwa periods are almos ...
; attending a
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
concert alongside old guys who were singing along and crying tears of joy; and technical difficulties
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
faced during a concert that Urasawa attended.
:"The Old Guys" and "Musica Nostra" were a part of a project by a group of manga artists centered around
Katsuhiro Otomo. Because young ''
moe'' characters were in fashion, the project was a "revolt" against that by depicting middle-aged men. Urasawa said he never expected that just a few years later there would be a social phenomena around things like "''ossanzu'' love" (old guys' love) like there is now.
;"Henry and Charles"
:Published in the April 1995 issue of
Fukuinkan Shoten
is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. It was founded on February 1, 1952.
They have published multiple best-selling series, including '' Guri and Gura'' and '' Iyaiyaen'' by Rieko Nakagawa and the ''Kiki's De ...
's ''Okina Pocket''.
The mouse Henry tries to stop his dimwitted lackey Charles from traveling all the way around the countertop to acquire cake, worried he will accidentally wake up the sleeping cat on the floor.
:A fan of American comedies like ''
Looney Tunes'' (especially
Tweety
Tweety is a yellow canary in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons. The name "Tweety" is a play on words, as it originally meant "sweetie", along with "tweet" being an English onomatopoeia for t ...
and
The Road Runner
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons, first appearing in 1949 in the theatrical cartoon short ''Fast and Furry-ous''. In each episode ...
) and ''
Bewitched'' since childhood, Urasawa created "Henry and Charles" with that sensibility in mind. It is in full color because it was for a children's magazine, which adds to the Western feel. He said it has a similar atmosphere to "Swimmers", a work he made before his debut about a cat and dog living in
New York. Urasawa questioned if "Henry and Charles" could be his finest work.
;"It's a Beautiful Day"
:Original concept by musician Kenji Endo. Published in the November 2018 issue of Shogakukan's
''Monthly! Spirits''.
After a concert circa 1971, Kenji Endo, Yosui Inoue, Wataru Takada and the three members of
Garo
Garo may refer to:
People and languages
* Garo people, a tribal people in India
** Garo language, the language spoken by the Garo tribe
Places
* Kingdom of Garo, a former kingdom in southern Ethiopia
* Garo, Colorado
* Garo Hills, part of the Ga ...
all visit a
strip club where they watch a woman perform onstage with a large snake. The next morning, Endo, Inoue and Takada see the same woman pushing a baby stroller and note how the image bares a striking similarity to the cover of the
self-titled album by the band
It's a Beautiful Day
It's a Beautiful Day is an American band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1967, featuring vocalist Pattie Santos along with violinist David LaFlamme and his wife, Linda LaFlamme, on keyboards.
David LaFlamme, who as a youth had once p ...
.
:Urasawa first heard this anecdote from Endo about ten years ago and was fascinated by the oddly beautiful and dramatic elements. Endo asked him to make it into a manga, but Urasawa was working on a serialization at the time and years passed. In June 2015, he contacted Endo and had him send a thoroughly detailed description via email.
Endo died in October 2017. Urasawa finally made the manga in 2018, utilizing the story he heard, the email, and a printout Endo had left with his widow. He wrote an apology to Endo for being so late. Inspired by how Endo was a multi-instrumentalist, for the first time in a long while Urasawa did all the backgrounds,
inking Inking may refer to:
*Inking (attack), act of throwing ink on other person
*Inking, a defensive activity of certain cephalopods and sea hares
* Inking (comic book production)
*Pen computing
Pen computing refers to any computer user-interface using ...
, erasing and
screentone
Screentone is a technique for applying textures and shades to drawings, used as an alternative to hatching. In the conventional process, patterns are transferred to paper from preprinted sheets. It is also known by the common brand names Zip-A-T ...
s by himself.
The sense of fulfillment this gave him, led to him doing a lot of the background work in ''
Asadora!
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoki Urasawa. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's ''Weekly Big Comic Spirits'' since October 2018, with its chapters published in seven ''tankōbon'' volumes as of November 2022. It ha ...
'' by himself. As such, he said Endo rekindled his enjoyment in making manga.
Urasawa received permission from the musicians, and relatives of most of the dead musicians, to include them in the story.
The cover of the album shown in the manga is identical to the It's a Beautiful Day's self-titled album.
;"Musica Nostra"
:Seven two-page music-related stories published in Shueisha's ''
Grand Jump
is a Japanese semi-monthly seinen manga magazine published by Shueisha under their ''Jump'' line of magazines. Launched in November 2011 as a merging of '' Business Jump'' and ''Super Jump'', it carried over nine series from the former and thre ...
'' in the 15th and 23rd issues of 2015 and the 5th to 9th issues of 2017.
They include Urasawa's musings about guitarists and playing guitar; his traveling to
Sunset Sound
Sunset, also known as sundown, is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon due to Earth's rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth (except the North and South poles), the equinox Sun sets due west at the moment of both the sprin ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
to record a song with
Mike Viola
Michael A. Viola is an American producer, musician, songwriter, and singer, best known for his work with Panic! at The Disco, Andrew Bird, Ryan Adams, J.S. Ondara, Mandy Moore, and Jenny Lewis. His original music has been featured on soundtrac ...
and
Jim Keltner
James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Dow ...
, the latter of which sends a picture of Urasawa's
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
manga to
Ringo Starr, and why their performance is credited to "Monaka"; Urasawa seeing
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...
and Paul McCartney perform at
Desert Trip
Desert Trip was a six-day music festival that took place on October 7–9 and 14–16, 2016, at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, United States. The performers were the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Roger Waters ...
; his meeting with
Jack Oliver and depicting how the English record executive started working at
Apple Records
Apple Records is a record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Ma ...
. "Musica Nostra" began with the belief that manga artists often listen to music while working, so the topic of music has universal appeal. But Urasawa said everyone was focused on drawing rather than listening, so the musical element never took off much. Despite that, he said it still really lifts his spirits to read the work.
;"Kaiju Kingdom"
:Published in 2013's 16th issue of Shogakukan's ''
Big Comic
is a semimonthly Seinen manga, ''seinen'' manga List of manga magazines, magazine published since 18 February 1968 by Shogakukan in Japan. It was originally launched as a monthly magazine, but switched to twice monthly on the 10th and 25th begin ...
''.
In a world where ''
kaiju'' actually exist, French ''kaiju''
otaku
is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, particularly in anime, manga, video games, or computers. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in '' Manga Burikko''. may be used as a pejorat ...
Pierre travels to
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
hoping to see one in person. There he meets beautiful government scientist Misaki and together they learn why ''kaiju'' travel to and attack Tokyo every year since 1954, despite first appearing down in the southern islands. Urasawa wrote that he is of the "kaiju generation," and grew up watching them rather religiously. Even in early elementary school he was a tough critic, complaining about things like how there seemed to be an increase of battles at sea to save the costs of making city sets. He wrote that when a boy of that generation becomes an adult, "Kaiju Kingdom" is the type of manga he writes.
;"Tanshin Funin/Solo Mission"
:First published in
Humanoids's ''The Tipping Point'' on February 16, 2016 in France, and later in Asuka Shinsha's ''The Turning Point'' on September 25, 2017 in Japan.
A man argues with his wife about how he is being deployed to a dangerous planet for the safety of the universe. In Tokyo, he destroys a creature, but is then promptly stepped on by a human. "Tanshin Funin/Solo Mission" was created after receiving a request to contribute to an anthology commemorating the 40th anniversary of the founding of French publisher Humanoids. Because it was to be published in France, the work reads left-to-right instead of manga's usual right-to-left. Urasawa began working on the layouts assuming it would be simple to reverse the order of the
panel
Panel may refer to:
Arts and media Visual arts
* Panel (comics), a single image in a comic book, comic strip or cartoon; also, a comic strip containing one such image
*Panel painting, in art, either one element of a multi-element piece of art ...
s, but found it harder than expected. Although there were topics assigned to the anthology, Urasawa said he completely ignored them and drew what he wanted.
Publication
''Sneeze: Naoki Urasawa Story Collection'' is an anthology collection of eight short stories by
Naoki Urasawa
is a Japanese manga artist and musician. He has been drawing manga since he was four years old, and for most of his professional career has created two series simultaneously. The stories to many of these were co-written in collaboration with his ...
.
Shogakukan
is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics ( manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan.
Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the H ...
published the ''
wideban'' volume under its Big Comics imprint on April 26, 2019.
The book provides the definition of the word "sneeze" as "A sudden expiration of breath. A short work as opposed to a long work. It can make the most beautiful person look momentarily ugly." Rebecca Silverman of
Anime News Network took this to metaphorically mean that each of the short stories included "is sudden, short, and challenges the idea of what is beautiful and ugly."
While compiling the stories for the collection, Urasawa noticed that much of his work depicts things that he enjoyed as a child; ''kaiju'', superheroes, and
slapstick comedy
Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...
. He was shocked at how little he has changed, but expressed gratitude to the culture of the 1960s and 1970s which has brought him so much inspiration for so long.
In North America,
Viz Media
VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
announced the English-language release of the volume in February 2020. The volume was published under the Viz Signature imprint on October 20, 2020.
Chapter list
Reception
Rebecca Silverman of ''
Anime News Network'' ranked the volume as A−. She commended the stories featured in the collection, which despite being varied from each other are thematically linked. She cited "Kaiju Kingdom", "It's a Beautiful Day", and "Throw Toward the Moon!" as the best. Silverman concluded: "''Sneeze'' as a collection is an interesting read. Its pieces are more linked than not in their themes and plots, but each also feels unique, so that it never feels like reading a retread. Whether you've read Naoki Urasawa's work before or not, this solid short story collection is nothing to ''Sneeze'' at".
Reuben Baron of ''
Comic Book Resources
''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion.
History
Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...
'' felt that the stories in the collection "tend to showcase Urasawa's lighter, more humorous side." He also noted how "The Old Guys" and "Musica Nostra" are more like illustrated diary entries rather than full stories. Baron finished by saying those looking for complex storytelling might find most of the book underwhelming, aside from the cleverness of "Throw Toward the Moon!" and "Kaiju Kingdom", but recommended it to those looking for "a fun and breezy read" and to those looking to see Urasawa's wider artistic sensibilities.
Comicon.com
Richard Veitch (born May 7, 1951) is an American comics artist and writer who has worked in mainstream, underground, and alternative comics.
Early life
Rick Veitch is a native of the small town of Bellows Falls, Vermont. One of six children, he ...
's James Ferguson was struck by the sheer variety of the stories included in ''Sneeze'' and noted that they all have a positive vibe to them, even when the plot takes a dark turn. He was riveted by every story, even the ones about Urasawa's real life. Ferguson cited either "Kaiju Kingdom" or "Tanshin Funin/Solo Mission" as his favorites, the latter for "putting an interesting twist on super heroes fighting alien creatures."
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
called the content of the collection diverse, but still described most of the fiction as dealing with monsters and the supernatural, while the nonfiction centers on Urasawa's love for folk rock idols. They called "Kaiju Kingdom" a "nuanced
allegory for how the West fetishizes Asian cultures," but accused "It's a Beautiful Day" and "the lecherous (if unintentionally)" "Musica Nostra" of
paternalism despite the two being engaging and technically sound. They finished by calling Urasawa's "emotive art" and clever humor "unparalleled within the genre."
Ian Wolf of ''Anime UK News'' gave the volume a 9 out of 10 rating. He wrote that ''Sneeze'' has a lot in it to appeal to many different fans, but called its structure "strange", saying, for example: "the child-friendly comedic short about two cartoon mice is followed by a period music-based story which features nudity". Wolf said that the music stories are particularly interesting pieces for including some of the most famous music stars of modern times; "Not just the
Fab Four, but
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
and
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...
also appear during the course of this book, so if you are a big music lover, this is a manga to get". Wolf concluded: "Each of the stories comes with a commentary from Urasawa himself, and it is also nice to see two of these stories being coloured entirely.…For this and many other reasons, ''Sneeze'' is one of the best short story manga collections I have come across".
Reviewing the English release of ''The Tipping Point'' anthology, which is where "Tanshin Funin/Solo Mission" was first published, John Seven of
Comics Beat
Heidi MacDonald (born November 15) is a writer and editor in the field of comic books based in New York City. She runs the comics industry news blog '' The Beat''.
Career
MacDonald is a former editor for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint and '' Disney ...
wrote that Urasawa's story "sets up a comedic space adventure against the backdrop of family expenses, but the punchline fizzles."
References
External links
*
{{Naoki Urasawa
Comedy anime and manga
Manga anthologies
Naoki Urasawa
Seinen manga
Shogakukan manga
Viz Media manga