05 Apr / Tono Monogatari by Shigeru Mizuki, translated by Zack Davisson [in Shelf Awareness]
*STARRED REVIEW
The late Shigeru Mizuki’s most recent posthumous import, Tono Monogatari – in English, Tales of Tono – is as multi-layered as the eminent manga creator himself. Venerated for his magnificently detailed histories – Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths, for example – and cherished for his charming supernatural collections, including the Kitarō series, Mizuki here combines both history and yōkai (demons and ghouls) for delightfully edifying and entertaining results. Translator Zack Davisson also provides crucial contextual background, highlighting provenance, historical gravity, and cultural/literary relevance.
The original Tono Monogatari, published in 1910, was a partner effort by bureaucrat Kunio Yanagita and storyteller Kizen Sasaki to gather – and preserve – the disappearing myths and legends of Japan’s Tono region. Mizuki’s captivating graphic adaptation was serialized in 2008 and 2009, then compiled and published in 2010. Mizuki’s opening page features a full-color, highly detailed torii (traditional gated entry) scene, with a caricature of himself pondering what his next steps might be. His oversized visage expands beyond the panel, as if definitively announcing his presence. His recurring insertion as guide/interpreter/commentator throughout remains a delightful addition as he reveals 119 Tono tales – some full narratives, some interlinked, some mere fragments – prefaced by encircled numbers.
Wary villagers and mountain demons clash, gods appear while humans disappear, the dead aren’t dead, betrayals are plenty, dubious rewards happen as often as fatal punishments. Spirits possess and destroy, and neither children nor elders can avoid tenacious monsters. At the collection’s end, Mizuki’s surprise encounter with Yanagita proves especially engrossing. Sublime, hair-raising, occasionally laugh-out-loud ludicrous, Mizuki continues to charm – and haunt.
Discover: Legendary Japanese manga master Shigeru Mizuki’s posthumously translated collection of ghosts, gods, and monsters edifies and entertains.
Review: “Graphic Books,” Shelf Awareness, April 2, 2021
Readers: Young Adult, Adult
Published: 2008-2010 (Japan), 2021 (United States)