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Why Autobiographical Manga Is So Interesting

When I was perusing my manga collection recently for something to read, my eyes were drawn to a manga called “Ichi-F”. Covering the cleanup operation after the disaster at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, the story followed the true tale of a worker called Kazuto Tatsuta, a pseudonym, as he worked at the power plant and, later on, covering his decision to write the manga series itself. I found the manga itself very enjoyable but, more than that, it reminded me of how unique reading an autobiographical manga is and I decided to take a look at some particularly notable examples and why I find them so interesting.

One thing you’ll notice when you begin to examine the field of autobiographical manga is how many of them centre around artists and the manga industry. This makes sense to me as, in contrast to autobiographic prose where most people seem to have some capability to write, being able to draw a work to an acceptable quality is not a skill that most people tend to have. I do confess that this seems to restrict the variety of autobiographical manga to a certain extent although we still see some series develop that cover unusual topics.

The cover of the English edition of Ichi-F.

The earliest autobiographical manga that I’m aware of is “The Four Immigrants” by Henry (Yoshitaka) Kiyama. Originally released throughout 1924-1927, the story follows Henry and three other Japanese immigrants who have migrated to San Francisco. The story is portrayed quite comedically although it does note the day to day struggles and discriminations that these immigrants faced.

Of course, I’d be remiss if I failed to mention the legendary mangaka Shigeru Mizuki who quite often explored his own life through his works. His work Onward Toward Our Noble Deaths covers his experience in New Guinea during World War II, portraying the ineptitude of the Japanese military officers while showing the horrors that Japanese soldiers faced such as disease and injury and death due to the local wildlife. Later on, he decided to write Showa: A History of Japan, a series that covered Shigeru Mizuki’s experiences throughout the Showa period.

I confess that I’m not the biggest fan of true stories in general. All too often, I find that works based on true stories are relying on the prestige associated with telling a true story to make up for any shortcomings present in their storytelling. I’ve had too many experiences where I’ve encountered people who look down on fiction while simultaneously praising true story media that I, and sometimes others, find lacking quality.

However, I’ve noticed that I tend not to have that problem with autobiographical manga. Upon consideration, I feel that many of the autobiographical manga that I’ve read feel more genuine than many Western media dealing with true stories. Of course, this could be the byproduct of the fact that higher-quality manga are more likely to be licensed and released by Western publishers and many poorer examples may never see a release here. However, I feel this may also be due to the fact that much of the true story media I’ve encountered before have been filtered through layer upon layer of writers, producers, directors etc. until the story begins to feel disingenuous. In contrast, an autobiographical manga is being written and drawn directly by the person involved in the events. Perhaps if I read more autobiographical prose, I’d feel similarly about it as well although I will confess that I rarely do.

There is plenty for me to continue to explore when it comes to the world of autobiographical manga and I can’t wait to check out more interesting titles that fall into this category. Let me know your thoughts on autobiographical manga, which ones you’ve read, if they feel more genuine to you than Western works based on true stories or if they feel the same and any additional information you might have on the topic.

Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!

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