Voices From the Archive: Matt Thorn on Bianca and Other Moto Hagio Stories
“I wanted to represent her whole career, not just collect a bunch of first-rate stories that modern anglophone readers today can easily appreciate.”
“I wanted to represent her whole career, not just collect a bunch of first-rate stories that modern anglophone readers today can easily appreciate.”
For Ken Parille, the story is about punishing adults. Whether or not that’s the case, there’s not doubt that “Bianca” is more effective at punishing Bianca than it is at punishing Clara. Clara grows up and becomes a successful artist. Bianca suffers death by landscape.
It took me a little while, but thanks to Melinda Beasi I finally caught up with a long review at Manga Curmudgeon by HU columnist Erica Friedman discussing A Drunken Dream. Itβs in many ways a response (either intentionally or otherwise) to my series of posts on the book, and particularly to my discussion of [...]
Over the last couple of months, I’ve written five lengthy posts about A Drunken Dream Fantagraphics’ collection of stories by the great shojo manga-ka Moto Hagio. I’ve spent so much time on this book for a number of reasons. Hagio is a central figure in the history of shojo, a genre in which I’m interested. [...]
This is I think my penultimate post about the Moto Hagio’s collection of stories A Drunken Dream. You can read the whole series here. _________________ Drunken Dream concludes with two entirely forgettable sentimental ghost stories: “The Child Who Comes Home” and “The Willow Tree.” Both exploit familial grief β respectively, dead child and dead mother [...]
I’m blogging my way through Fantagraphics’ Moto Hagio collection, “A Drunken Dream.” You can read the whole series of posts here. _________________________________ In reviews of Drunken Dream, “Iguana Girl” is generally pointed out as the highlight of the collection along with Hanshin: Half-God. The two stories are similar in a lot of ways; both involve [...]
I’m blogging my way through Fantagraphics’ Moto Hagio collection, “A Drunken Dream.” You can read the whole series of posts here. _________________________________ Hanshin: Half-God and A Drunken Dream were both more plot hole than story; odd broken fairy tales with glimpses of trauma breaking through the prevailing aphasia. They’re unique, bizarre, and lovely. “Angel Mimic” [...]