A Drunken Dream and Other Stories
Cover art from A Drunken Dream and Other Stories, as published by Fantagraphics
Manga
Written byMoto Hagio
Published byShogakukan
English publisher
DemographicJosei
PublishedAugust 2010
Volumes1

A Drunken Dream and Other Stories is a Japanese manga anthology written and illustrated by Moto Hagio, collecting a variety of her short stories originally from 1970 to 2007.

Publication

The stories were selected by translator Rachel Matt Thorn to be an introduction to Hagio for English speakers,[1] with the input of a mixi fan club for Hagio.[2][3] The anthology also contains an interview with the author, and an article about the Year 24 Group, which Hagio belongs to. Both supporting articles were excerpted from articles originally published in The Comics Journal #269.[4] To launch the book, Hagio attended Comic-Con 2010.[5] The manga is presented in unflipped format and the article about the Year 24 Group and the interview with Moto Hagio are presented as appendices in the left of the book, reading from left to right.

Volume list

No. Release date ISBN
August 2010[6]978-1-60699-377-4
  • "Bianca" (1970, 16 pages)
  • "Girl on Porch with Puppy" (1971, 12 pages)
  • "Autumn Journey" (1971, 24 pages)
  • "Marié, Ten Years Later" (1977, 16 pages)
  • "A Drunken Dream" (1980, 21 pages)
  • "Hanshin: Half-God" (1984, 16 pages)
  • "Angel Mimic" (1984, 50 pages)
  • "Iguana Girl" (1991, 50 pages)
  • "The Child Who Comes Home" (1998, 24 pages)
  • "The Willow Tree" (2007, 20 pages)

Original place of publication:

Title # of pages Original
publication 		Date
"Bianca" (ビアンカ, Bianka) 16 Shōjo Friend, Special Issue No. 5 1970
"Girl on Porch with Puppy" (ポーチで少女が小犬と, Pōchi de Shōjo ga Koinu to) 12 COM January 1971
"Autumn Journey" (秋の旅, Aki no Tabi) 24 Bessatsu Shōjo Comic October 1971
"Marié, Ten Years Later" (十年目の毬絵, Jūnenme no Marie) 16 Big Comic Original 20 March 1977
"A Drunken Dream" (酔夢, Suimu) 21 Newly drawn for "Kingin Suna Kishi" (artbook) 1980
"Hanshin: Half-God" (半神) 16 Petit Flower January 1984
"Angel Mimic" (天使の擬態, Tenshi no Gitai) 50 Petit Flower November 1984
"Iguana Girl" (イグアナの娘, Iguana no Musume) 50 Petit Flower May 1991
"The Child Who Comes Home" (帰ってくる子, Kattekuru Ko) 24 Child – Igyou Collection No. 7 1998
"The Willow Tree" (柳の木, Yanagi no Ki) 20 flowers May 2007

Reception

Katherine Dacey describes "Bianca" as a "lovely, unabashedly Romantic story" and as "a meditation on artistic inspiration". Dacey notes that other stories in the book "explore the complexity of familial relationships". Dacey praised Hagio's ability to "make the ineffable speak through pictures".[4] Snow Wildsmith praised the flow of the anthology and felt the anthology's theme was that of connections between people, recommending it to fans of Fumi Yoshinaga and Mitsukazu Mihara. Wildsmith praised the details in Hagio's art, and felt that the art dated well.[7] Publishers Weekly felt Hagio's works were more restrained and subtle than modern shōjo manga, saying that this reflects Hagio's wisdom and "creative strength".[8] Lissa Pattillo describes the anthology as "a mature collection of stories that aims to provoke thought and feeling and succeeds endearingly".[9] Thomas Zoth describes the presentation of the book as "part textbook, and part holy book". His only complaint about the presentation of the book is that he found the font choice reminiscent of The Simpsons.[10] Joe McCulloch feels that the title story is "more interested in evoking sensations of exquisite heartache and romantic frustration than delineating psychological realism or building suspense".[11] Nicole Rudick feels that "The theme of spiritual crisis runs throughout Hagio's stories—from the mundane ('Angel') to the surreal ('Hanshin: Half-God') to the phantasmagoric ('A Drunken Dream')".[12] David Welsh found it easy to sympathise with Hagio's heroes.[13] Noah Berlatsky disliked the first four stories,[14] suggesting that Hagio's characterisations are poor, and that a fantasy or science fiction setting can help to distract from this.[15]

The volume has been nominated for an Eisner Award.[16]

References

General

Specific

  1. ^ Garrity, Shaenon (27 July 2010). "An Interview with Moto Hagio". The Comics Journal. Archived from the original on 29 July 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  2. ^ Thorn, Matt (9 March 2010). "Matt Thorn's Blog · Moto Hagio collection, Takako Shimura's "Wandering Son"". Matt-thorn.com. Archived from the original on 5 August 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  3. ^ "A Conversation With Moto Hagio". Anime News Network. 8 August 2010. Archived from the original on 5 August 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  4. ^ a b Dacey, Katherine (22 July 2010). "Blog Archive » A Drunken Dream and Other Stories". The Manga Critic. Archived from the original on 26 July 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  5. ^ "Shōjo Manga Pioneer Moto Hagio Heads to Comic-Con". Anime News Network. 8 August 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  6. ^ "Fantagraphics Books – A Drunken Dream and Other Stories [Pre-Order]". Fantagraphics.com. Archived from the original on 30 July 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  7. ^ Wildsmith, Snow (13 August 2010). "A Drunken Dream and Other Stories". Graphic Novel Reporter. Archived from the original on 23 November 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  8. ^ "Comics Reviews: 8/2/10". Publishers Weekly. 2 August 2010. Archived from the original on 6 August 2010. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
  9. ^ Pattillo, Lissa (15 November 2010). "Drunken Dream and Other Stories GN – Review". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 1 November 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  10. ^ Zoth, Thomas (12 October 2010). "Drunken Dream and Other Stories". Mania.com. Archived from the original on 15 October 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  11. ^ McCulloch, Joe (31 August 2010). "THIS WEEK IN COMICS! (9/1/10 – Wild Dreams)". Comicscomicsmag.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  12. ^ Rudick, Nicole (19 January 2011). "A Drunken Dream". Comicscomicsmag.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  13. ^ Manga Cumurdgeon David Welsh
  14. ^ Berlatsky, Noah (7 June 2010). "Die, Little Girls! Die!". The Hooded Utilitarian. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  15. ^ Berlatsky, Noah (7 June 2010). "Incoherent Dreams". The Hooded Utilitarian. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  16. ^ "SF Site News » Eisner Award Nominations". Sfsite.com. 11 April 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
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