Japan

Japan

  • Downloads：7387
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-08-22 06:51:39
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Sergio Toppi
  • ISBN：1951719182
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Reviews

Sam Quixote ，

The sixth （of seven） books collecting the works of master Italian illustrator Sergio Toppi contains his Japanese comics， mostly from the 1980s， with one from the ‘70s and one from the ‘00s。 They’re an uneven bunch writing/story-wise but Toppi’s art is incredible throughout。 The six stories all have a folklore-ish flavour to them - the last one， Momotaro， is one of the most famous Japanese folktales - so the storytelling style and morals are simplistic。 Like in Kimura， one of the better stories， The sixth （of seven） books collecting the works of master Italian illustrator Sergio Toppi contains his Japanese comics， mostly from the 1980s， with one from the ‘70s and one from the ‘00s。 They’re an uneven bunch writing/story-wise but Toppi’s art is incredible throughout。 The six stories all have a folklore-ish flavour to them - the last one， Momotaro， is one of the most famous Japanese folktales - so the storytelling style and morals are simplistic。 Like in Kimura， one of the better stories， which is about a master swordsmith who， under duress， crafts a sword for an evil prince， who uses it for bad， and a sword for a noble man， who uses it for good。 Guess what happens when they fight？ Yope。 And the moral？ Don’t be evil！ Cheers。 In Momotaro （“Peach Boy”， though Toppi dispenses with the peach origin so his name is arbitrarily meaningless）， there are sorcerers， talking foxes， and demons; the talking fox knows everything， can do anything， and nothing is explained。 So， just like most mythology。 I can accept that here， though I don’t usually read folktales because they’re a bit too easy and childish for my taste。 Kimura and Momotaro were my favourite stories here， though The Return of Ishi， about an elderly farm couple whose only son goes to war so they adopt a stranger， and Sato， about a disgraced samurai living the humble life， weren’t bad either。 Tanka， about a poet who keeps her eyes closed permanently， and Ogari 1650， a weird revenge story presaging the atomic bombings of WW2， were plain crap - boring and confusing both。 By far the main reason to check out this book though is Toppi’s first rate art。 The black and white art is so skilful and detailed， the shading perfect， the character’s expressions so realistic， and the period detail looks authentic - he really takes you to the days of feudal Japan。 I also really enjoyed the fantastical character designs of the sorcerer and demons in Momotaro。 I haven’t seen a great deal of Toppi’s art outside of this book so this criticism may not pass muster， but it doesn’t seem like he does action well。 There were at least two stories which had some compelling action sequences written but we didn’t really see them on the page - only the aftermath - which is a bit disappointing。 Obviously if you’re a Toppi fan， you’re gonna check out this book， but also if you’re in the mood for some Japanese folktale comics with outstanding art， The Collected Toppi， Volume 6: Japan is worth a look。 。。。more

Misa ，

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review。This was crazy amazing work of art， I could not be overcome with awe in the presence of such a masterpiece。 I felt like I was watching some old Samourai Japanese movies。 The tales were so fascinating due to the artist work that you find youself so immersed in the stories till the end。 I've already seen Toppi's work but I've never got interested in finding or reading more， I was always more attracted to Hugo Pr Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review。This was crazy amazing work of art， I could not be overcome with awe in the presence of such a masterpiece。 I felt like I was watching some old Samourai Japanese movies。 The tales were so fascinating due to the artist work that you find youself so immersed in the stories till the end。 I've already seen Toppi's work but I've never got interested in finding or reading more， I was always more attracted to Hugo Pratt's books since I discovered him when it comes to Italian's comic books creators。 In Europe these great artists are not forgotten because they continue to be republished so that the new generations could discover them as well。 。。。more

Kaffeeklatsch and Books ，

This graphic short story collection is an absolute gem！There are five Japanese fairytales included and adapted as graphic novels by Sergio Toppi。As an artist and illustrator myself I was blown away by the use of composition， style， facial expression， body language and use of white space throughout the book。I’m glad I’ve stumbled across this little collection and I’m sure to find more by the artist。I can recommend this to anybody who likes Japanese fairytales or just a beautifully inked graphic n This graphic short story collection is an absolute gem！There are five Japanese fairytales included and adapted as graphic novels by Sergio Toppi。As an artist and illustrator myself I was blown away by the use of composition， style， facial expression， body language and use of white space throughout the book。I’m glad I’ve stumbled across this little collection and I’m sure to find more by the artist。I can recommend this to anybody who likes Japanese fairytales or just a beautifully inked graphic novel in general。 The text isn’t perfect by any means， but the art is worth it。Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more

Isabella ，

Thank you to NetGalley and Magnetic Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review。This collection of short stories set in ancient Japan are hauntingly beautiful and amacingly drawn。 I expecially enjoyed the first one about a woman， who watched her world crumble and now refuses to open her eyes and watch the destruction of what once was。 Highly recommended。

Leah ，

Another great collection of illustrated stories by Toppi， this one all about Japan。 This is the sixth volume in a collection of Toppi’s work， each volume highlighting a different region or culture’s folklore。 Each volume has been delicious in its lines， Toppi was truly a master of his art， the stories themselves are dark but really bring out the essence of the theme。 With the Japan volume， each story is centered on war。 There are plenty of samurai and ronin， and enough mythical creatures to make Another great collection of illustrated stories by Toppi， this one all about Japan。 This is the sixth volume in a collection of Toppi’s work， each volume highlighting a different region or culture’s folklore。 Each volume has been delicious in its lines， Toppi was truly a master of his art， the stories themselves are dark but really bring out the essence of the theme。 With the Japan volume， each story is centered on war。 There are plenty of samurai and ronin， and enough mythical creatures to make things interesting。 The opening story sets us off on our journey with a Princess who has been left with nothing and the volume ends with Toppi’s version of Momotaro。 This last story is my favorite。If you enjoy graphic novels or art， or are interested in Japanese folklore you will enjoy this。 Thank you to NetGalley， the publishers， and the author for an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review。 。。。more

Marice ，

I'm very impressed with the art style。 The artist worked with straight lines and changing perspectives。 It feels quite linear， without appearing static。 There are bold contrasts between black and white， but the illustrations are still very detailed。The stories themselves are rather short， they mostly adapt the theme of war and its consequences like loss or guilt。 The illustrations impressed me more than the stories， but I still enjoyed this collection very much。3。5 Stars I'm very impressed with the art style。 The artist worked with straight lines and changing perspectives。 It feels quite linear， without appearing static。 There are bold contrasts between black and white， but the illustrations are still very detailed。The stories themselves are rather short， they mostly adapt the theme of war and its consequences like loss or guilt。 The illustrations impressed me more than the stories， but I still enjoyed this collection very much。3。5 Stars 。。。more

Theediscerning ，

See reviews passim regarding this series about how great I think Toppi is at visually creating his comic short stories。 My memory doesn't give me any clues as to whether I lauded his actual storytelling craft， but the first piece here made me do it。 I didn't know of the royal poetess the tale concerns itself with， but if she penned one of the first tanka verses and nobody really knows the truth of what it means， this makes for a delicious back-story to that poem， and it's just such a wonderfully See reviews passim regarding this series about how great I think Toppi is at visually creating his comic short stories。 My memory doesn't give me any clues as to whether I lauded his actual storytelling craft， but the first piece here made me do it。 I didn't know of the royal poetess the tale concerns itself with， but if she penned one of the first tanka verses and nobody really knows the truth of what it means， this makes for a delicious back-story to that poem， and it's just such a wonderfully fun， high-brow yet perfectly accessible entertainment。 It also proves you can feature ronin and warriors and hacky-slash stuff， without the need for all the genre action filling the page。There're a massacre and lots of sword-play in the second piece， too， but again it's pretty much all off-page。 What this proved to me was that Toppi was a master at getting to the core of lots of storytelling worlds， without ever patronising – the stereotypes of the measured Japanese way of thinking， social restrictions， respect for craftsmanship etc are all here but done with perfect cultural sensitivity。 The third work in this collection has all the hallmarks of a traditional Japanese folklore tale， too， while someone dares to get their sword out and use it in the fourth， which is fine stuff – if the bearer of a twist you see from miles off。 Nobody would see the reveal in the next piece coming， but that's because it's blatantly stupid， proving that throughout his extensive career， and with so many publications to cater for， Toppi was more than capable of naffness。That's not a description of the final story， a longer-form piece that again has all the hallmarks of folk tale （a fox gifting a quester a sack containing just what he needs for every eventuality， and so on）， and all the respect I talked about。 You could see a fully animated cartoon version of the fantasy at play here， but you can also see that with these pages such a thing is unnecessary。 It's wonderful， and caps a really strong themed compilation of someone ranked amongst the greats。 All the volumes from this series I've had the privilege to see have been well worth my time， and this has the one misfire to prevent it from being five stars。 The gap is shoji-thin， mind。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Japan

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Japan&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Japan&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0