The Troublemakers, by Baron Yoshimoto. c.1970s, translated by Ryan Holmberg
2018
This is part of Ryan Holmberg's attempt to dramatically increase the amount of Gekiga (mature manga) available in English. It seems to be the first translated work by Yoshimoto. Right off the Batman that's a stunning cover, and representative of Yoshimoto's work. Most of the stories are about sex or violence. The stories are mostly about Japan in the 60s and 70s, though one story is about WWII in Europe. Gangsters, strippers, gamblers, aimless lower class folk, upper class folk exploiting their money... Yoshimoto writes about tough times.
The art is a mystery to me. The art in the early stories is super-tight, in a way I don't care much for, but he does some pages with a loose Japanese brush, which are beautiful.
The WWII story veers into full Tezuka-style cartooniness. The essay at the back shows some samples of his work over the decades, so I have no real handle on what Yoshimoto's style actually is.
Was he someone following his muse as his style evolved, or was he adjusting his style to suit what he could get paid to make? I don't know yet, but he certainly made some stunning images.
It's the first time I've ever read Yoshimoto's work and I'm definitely interested in reading more.
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| I want to see a book done with this brush! |
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