NonNonBa

by Shigeru Mizuki, Jocelyne Allen (Translator)

Overview

The first English translation of Mizuki's best-loved work

NonNonBa is the definitive work by acclaimed Gekiga-ka Shigeru Mizuki, a poetic memoir detailing his interest in yokai (spirit monsters). Mizuki's childhood experiences with yokai influenced the course of his life and oeuvre; he is now known as the forefather of yokai manga. His spring 2011 book, Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths, was featured on PRI's The World, where Marco Werman scored a coveted interview with one of the most famous visual artists working in Japan today.

Within the pages of NonNonBa, Mizuki explores the legacy left him by his childhood explorations of the spirit world, explorations encouraged by his grandmother, a grumpy old woman named NonNonBa. NonNonBa is a touching work about childhood and growing up, as well as a fascinating portrayal of Japan in a moment of transition. NonNonBa was the first manga to win the Angoulême Prize for Best Album. Much like its namesake, NonNonBa is at once funny and nostalgic, grounded in a sociohistorical context and floating in the world of the supernatural.

Translated from the Japanese by Jocelyne Allen.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781770460720
Publisher:	Drawn & Quarterly
Publication date:	05/22/2012
Edition description:	Translatio
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	672,019
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Shigeru Mizuki (1922–2015) was one of Japan’s most respected artists. A creative prodigy, he lost an arm in World War II. After the war, Mizuki became one of the founders of Japan’s latest craze—manga. He invented the yokai genre with GeGeGe no Kitaro, his most famous character, who has been adapted for the screen several times, as anime, live action, and video games. In fact, a new anime series has been made every decade since 1968, capturing the imaginations of generations of Japanese children. A researcher of yokai and a real-life ghost hunter, Mizuki traveled to over sixty countries to engage in fieldwork based on spirit folklore. In his hometown of Sakaiminato, one can find Shigeru Mizuki Road, a street decorated with bronze statues of his Kitaro characters.

Editorial Reviews

Mizuki conveys his pen-and-ink messages with a surreal combination of cartoon-like people superimposed against harsh realistic renderings of their environment.” —Marco Werman, PRI's The World

“Shigeru Mizuki is the preeminent figure of Gekiga manga and one of the most famous working cartoonists in Japan today–a true living legend.” —Graphic Novel Reporter

“[Mizuki] is one of Japan's greatest illustrators, a master of both realism and manga.” —Globe and Mail

“This book is excellent . . . I can only hope we're soon flooded by Mizuki translations. I'd like to drown in them.” —Newsarama

From the Publisher

Mizuki is a one-armed artist who lost his limb in World War II combat horrors, which he thinly fictionalized in the acclaimed Onwards Towards Our Noble Deaths. But from childhood, the artist was drawn to a goofier roster of horrors: the supernatural creatures collectively termed yokai, from Japanese folklore. In this fictionalized memoir, young Shige grows up in rural Japan, scrapping with neighborhood kids and filling his head with ghost stories from neighborhood crone NonNonBa. NonNonBa has a yokai for every situation, and is not above impersonating a demon herself to scare off bullies chasing Shige. The book follows Shige as he matures and encounters yokai personally, with stories that are nostalgic, comical, and creepy all at once. Mizuki evokes the lush fantasy life of childhood as well as the perils of 1930s Japan, where children could be sold, elderly widows could starve, measles could strike down playmates, and militarism was growing. VERDICT A sort of family-with-monsters sitcom overlaying a serious period piece, this can be enjoyed by tween to adult readers and would make splendid family reading. The art tends towards realistic backgrounds with a more cartoonish style for people and yokai.—M.C.

Library Journal