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"Adults Picture Book: New Edition" is a manga that caught my attention when Yen Press announced the license, but I was unsure if it would truly suit my taste in the end.
The series by Kei Itoi was published in the well-known seinen magazine Big Comic Spirits, which also features titles like "20th Century Boys" and the sports manga "Ao Ashi." "Adults Picture Book" ran from 2021 to 2023 and will be collected in three volumes in its print edition.
For the one-shot "Hana to Hoho," Mangaka Itoi received the New Face Award at the 23rd Japan Media Arts Festival in 2020.
What’s it about?
“I thought if I asked, you’d take her. And so! She’s all yours.” With these words, Souichiro Kudou’s life changed forever. Suddenly, thanks to his deceased friend Haruki, he has a four-year-old daughter named Kiki. Shortly afterward, Kudou ensures the family continues to grow. While doing his tax return, he meets Fusako, and just because she resembles his friend, he spontaneously proposes to her. To his surprise, Fusako Makino actually accepts and becomes his wife, and so begins the cohabitation of three people who have just met.
"Adults Picture Book: New Edition" is a manga series that is hard to grasp and has something special about it even in the first volume that I can't quite put into words. It's a title that radiates a special warmth. A man who takes in the child of a deceased friend asks a woman he has never met to marry him, and they all start living together as strangers. The “yet” nameless relationship between these three people creates a strange atmosphere that is both funny and touching. For the little girl, they become a family, while Kudou tries to understand what it means to be part of a family and cope with the death of his friend. A calm, nostalgic, and melancholic mood pervades the initial volume.
When Kudou is thrust into the role of a father, his decision to take in the girl Kiki in memory of his friend is more out of admiration for his friend and a sense of duty toward him than an emotional need to take on this role for the little child. Nevertheless, he adapts his entire life to the child. The erotic manga artist decides to work from home and always ensures that Kiki does not find out what exactly he does for a living. You can feel that he tries to be a good guardian for her while mourning his friend. He wonders if it was the right decision to take the child in and embark on a completely new life situation that he has never experienced before. Kudou is a serious, quiet person, and that comes through on the pages of the manga.
You see how the three strangers slowly grow into a familial unit. You can tell that Itoi has put a lot of thought into and carefully considered the theme. It's something many can relate to.
Embedded in Kudou’s efforts to create a good home for Kiki are flashbacks that show us intimate moments between Kudou and his deceased friend and Kiki’s father Haruki. When they studied art together at university, Kudou was the type of student who fully immersed himself. Haruki was the exact opposite. He was an open and relaxed person in many ways, not very intelligent, but with a personality that people liked. Kudou also begins to admire him.
The sequences show us that Kudou saw his friend as the most important person in his life and, as he himself says, really loved him as a “person.” It is a special affection, a feeling of connection that Kudou has for his friend that drives him to take Kiki in.
The drawings by Kei Itoi are not overly detailed in both the characters and the backgrounds but fit well with the tone of the story. Itoi's graphics are lively, with rounded shapes and strong contrasts. Itoi also shows that he masters cinematic storytelling, delivering vivid and fluid panel sequences.
The manga is published by Yen Press in a large format. There are no colored pages.
Is "Adults Picture Book" worth reading?
"Adults Picture Book" is a manga that is certainly not intended for the mainstream market, but it will undoubtedly appeal to readers looking for a manga with a unique form of expression and approach. The beginning captivated me in a way that is hard to put into words. But after closing the book, the manga stayed with me for a while.
Adults Picture Book GN Vol 01
€16,50
Erotic manga author Kudou's friend Haruki passes away, leaving behind his young daughter Kiki and a note bequeathing her to Kudou. Strange as the situation is, Kudou commits to making a real family for the girl-so when he meets a… read more
