In Translation | "Apple" by Yosuke Inoue
A surreal adventure from a major artist.
Boy oh boy do I love a post like today's: One where I don't have to do anything.
That's because the "In Translation" bit of the title is yet again a total lie for sorting convenience--today's manga, scanned from the July 1969 issue of COM, is totally wordless.
Yosuke Inoue wasn't a manga artist. Sure, he drew a handful, but his career in the field was decidedly short, his complete comic works able to fit into a single slim volume. Unlike other short-lived artists however, this does not mean Inoue wasn't successful. Quite the opposite in fact. He just spent his time in a different field.
A major name in children's picture books, Inoue is responsible for the art in dozens of classics for kids as well as a regular stream of art shows where he could express more adult ideas and styles. Over a decades long career, Inoue won just about every award there was for him to win, exhibits continuing at a constant pace even today, eight years after his death. By any metric--critically, commercially, in the minds and memories of countless--Inoue made it.
Which brings us to today's comic, the one-shot "Apple" ("Ringo" in Japanese). By this point Inoue was approaching forty and was already well into his career in pictures books, but reading this and you wouldn't guess it, because "Apple" is a dense and dark surreal adventure of associations. It's bizarre, challenging stuff: stuff to stare at and admire and reread and pick up different meanings and ideas with each visit.
I'm a fan! And I'm happy to be able to share this little piece of a major artist with everyone. Enjoy!
Music of the Week: Daisy by Nelories
Don’t get a chance to talk about it much here, but I’m a huge twee pop fan, especially w/r/t pre-2000s releases. Absolutely adore the stuff, Rose Melberg is my idol, etc. Anyway, this album from Nelories could almost trick you into believing it came out in K Record’s golden era. Deviously catchy and playful (the second track has a twang to it…but also some theatrical Dracula-esque progressions) and ramshackle with that dose of wistfulness and melancholy necessary for twee to really shine. It’s music that makes you feel young no matter how old you are. The prime of your life is always now.
Book of the Week: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
A towering work of modern Japanese literature, this slim little book took over the literary world for a solid year plus when it released, selling like hotcakes around the country. And despite its simple plot about a woman who just really likes working at a convenience store, the book is challenging and startling and resolutely refuses anything easy. Characters, emotions, narrative movement and themes—at every turn Convenience Store Woman pulls an incredible magic trick, pushing you uncomfortably deep into the mind of its protagonist while simultaneously keeping you at an unknowable distance. A modern classic for a reason! A book so good that I (clearly) don’t know how to talk about it!
Movie of the Week: X-Cross (dir. Kenta Fukasaku, 2007)
2000s digital compositing absolution. A wild low budget cell phone horror with big aesthetic ideas that operates in video game logic and freely shifts through time and perspective to celebrate how much girls rule and guys drool. Not as loud as it leads you to believe, but also a movie where a scissors wielding one-eyed maid fights a piss covered chainsaw woman. If you appreciate the finer things in life (see: previous sentence) and surprisingly ambitious genre exorcises leaning on the trashy side, this’ll rock you.
Have thoughts about anything covered this week? Got a recommendation you’re dying to share? Want to tell me how handsome and cool I am? Leave a comment below!
oh, and here's an interview with Shinichi Sakamoto about his awesome Dracula manga, #DRCL!