24 Nov / Never Open It: The Taboo Trilogy by Ken Niimura, translated by Stephen Blanford [in Booklist]
*STARRED REVIEW
Three ancient, traditional Japanese myths get fabulously, subversively transformed in Tokyo-based, Spanish Japanese graphic creator Ken Niimura’s (Henshin, 2014) irresistible latest. “Never Open It” was, once upon a time, “Urashima Tarō,” a “Rip Van Winkle”-like tale about a fisherman who saves a turtle from further abuse and is rewarded with a visit to the underwater Dragon Palace, only to return home to find he’s been away for more than a century. Niimura’s Taro gets an older savior who changes his lonely fate.
“Empty” originates from “Ikkyū-san,” about the (mis)adventures of a 15th-century Buddhist monk. Here, Niimura embeds the more familiar story of Ikkyu as a contrary, mischievous apprentice into a parable of experienced wisdom. Niimura saves the best for last with “The Promise,” which enhances the classic “The Crane Wife” into a mecha revenge thriller, transforming the avian weaver into a furious force of destruction. Stephen Blanford, who translated Niimura’s Eisner-winning Umami digital series, returns to bring this collection to English-language readers.
As absorbing as Niimura’s storytelling is, his extraordinary art proves even more engrossing. Drawn in black-and-white strokes of various weights with occasional, critical additions of eye-popping red, Niimura’s urgent panels vary in size and movement throughout, often unable to contain the movement from page to page. The result is a poignant, passionate display of magnificently elevated storytelling.
Review: “Graphic Novels,” Booklist, November 1, 2021
Readers: Young Adult, Adult
Published: 2021