ASIAN BEAT (アジアンビート) • Mizuki Hakase • Tokyopop (2007) • Shinshokan (2002) • 1 volume • Drama • 16+
Mizuki Hakase’s stories involve anorexic characters, stark black and white art, and an obsession with alternative families as an antidote to overpowering loneliness. Asian Beat is one of her best books and one of her only books without supernatural elements. The title story “Asian Beat,” and two linked stories, involves a group of unwanted teenagers (the son of a yakuza boss’ mistress, the son of an alcoholic abusive father, etc.) who sell drugs to their classmates. Another long story, “The Town Where Snow Falls,” observes a girl’s troubled relationship with her single mother, and her affair with a typical Hakase male, a cigarette-smoking, skinny man with scruffy hair. Although all the stories wallow in teen angst, the characterizations are convincing, and Hakase modifies her usual high-contrast minimalism with detailed drawings of the setting, a wintry town where lonely streets pass by vast industrial buildings and warehouses.
*** (three stars)
What a crazy busy week it’s been! I spent last weekend at the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco, selling comics with my friend Victor Hao, the artist of my upcoming graphic novel King of RPGs. Fanfare/Ponent Mon, Drawn and Quarterly, VIZ and No Starch Press were among the manga publishers at the Expo, and I stocked up on manga. Then it was back home for three solid days of working on the manga reviews for the next issue of Otaku USA Magazine.
What else is there…? Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Today’s winner is Adele S. of Ohio! Congratulations, Adele! I’ll be sending you some manga tomorrow!
You got my state but not me ]: