is a

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

manga author A is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. As of 2006, about 3,000 professional manga artists were working in Japan. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist bef ...

. The manga was serialized in Japan by

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...

in the monthly ''

seinen is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word ''seinen'' literally means "youth", but the term "''seinen'' manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like ''Weekly Ma ...

'' magazine ''

Afternoon Afternoon is the time after solar noon. It is the time when the sun is descending from its peak in the sky to somewhat before its terminus at the horizon in the west. In human life, it occupies roughly the latter half of the standard work and s ...

'' from October 2004 to 2005, and the 11 chapters were collected into a single bound volume. A French translation was published by Kana in its collection ''Made in'' in 2008. The story is set in the contemporary Japan, and follows the manager of a public bath Kanae whose husband vanished while traveling. The French edition of the manga was widely reviewed, being praised for its dreamlike qualities and calm pace, the richness of its emotions, and its characterization.

Manga

Kodansha published the single ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' volume on 22 November 2005 in Japan (). Kana published the French edition of this manga on 19 September 2008 ().

Reception

In France this manga was an official selection of the 2009

Angoulême International Comics Festival The Angoulême International Comics Festival (french: Festival international de la bande dessinée d'Angoulême) is the second largest comics festival in Europe after the Lucca Comics & Games in Italy, and the third biggest in the world after Lu ...

, and won the Prix Asie-ACBD 2009. It was named as top manga pick for year 2008 by the Belgian newspaper ''

Le Soir ''Le Soir'' (, "The Evening") is a French-language Belgian daily newspaper. Founded in 1887 by Emile Rossel, it was intended as a politically independent source of news. It is one of the most popular Francophone newspapers in Belgium, competing ...

''.

References

External links

Kodansha official website
*
Manga News.com review

Anime Land review

* ttp://www.bodoi.info/critiques/2008-11-10/undercurrent/6238 Bodoï review
Bd Gest' review

{{Afternoon Drama anime and manga Kodansha manga Seinen manga Slice of life anime and manga