Ratings3
Average rating3.5
Is there a better place than Japan for a comic artist and a video game composer? Join Julia and Marc as their year in Japan unfolds in a series of short adventures, both heartfelt and hilarious. Julia and Marc are your average creative millennial couple, full of the anxieties and optimism of their generation. When the economy takes a downturn and Marc loses his engineering job, the pair realize that their relative lack of ties means they can pool their savings and his severance to embark on a new adventure: Moving to Japan! (Until the money runs out, anyway…) The pair move into a tiny apartment and enroll in a local Japanese school as they begin to acclimate to the local culture. Whether learning about the local fire patrol or the beautiful terror of Japanese toilets, the pair embrace their new surroundings with equal parts fear and wonder. Their journey is documented lovingly by Julia herself. Fans of anime and manga will notice the cheeky influence of noted mangaka (manga artists) like Akira Toriyama (DragonBall), Rumiko Takahashi (Ranma 1/2), and many more throughout the book, alongside thoughtful and heartfelt cultural observation. Join Julia and Marc as they explore many aspects of Japan, from the culture to the natural wonders, all while growing as people and partners.
Reviews with the most likes.
Love the mention of Hideo Kajima/Konami.
I knew hana could mean flower, cool to now know that hanami is flower watching, usually the cherry blossoms
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!
The book is divided in a series of mini comics instead of one big long comic which I think is ultimately for the best, because this book is totally slice of life as there's nothing ACTUALLY interesting going on in their lives while they live in Japan. But that's not the point of the book! The book is a document of the important or funny or sad or peculiar or shocking stuff the couple went through in Japan. No one actually cares about how another country separates their trash to recicle it, but it is certainly fun to see the culture shock of someone from a vastly different culture when encountering the peculiarities of living in a new country, which I think it's what the book is really about.