On the shelf

SO. I'd come across these Fumiko Takano spreads and then fell down a hole of trying to figure out where in the world they were from. I ended up buying this German edition hoping that it contained the specific story I was looking for.

Not only is the first story in the book the one I was looking for, but it also contains a few others that I wanted too! The edition, from Reprodukt is beautifully printed in hardcover and on lovely, thick paper.

The specific story that I'd been looking for is called "The Beautiful City", or "Beautiful Town" - I came across these spreads which started my whole quest in the first place. It's drawing that's so good I don't know what to do with myself.

Auuuughhh

The story is simple, following a newlywed couple getting settled in a factory town, maybe in the 50s or 60s? If you don't like slice of life it's gonna feel like nothing's happening, but if you do, oh man. It's quiet, profound and lovely even translated through Google Translate.

Here's a great interview with her and Taiyo Matsumoto from 2006!

Auuuughhh 2.0

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I also picked up Yamada Murasaki's "Talk to my Back" (english edition by Drawn & Quarterly), which has some similar DNA but boy is it a different animal to "The Beautiful City".

The housewife main character's life is suffocating, but then you find out it's a sunny picture in comparison to the author's actual life. Woo boy.