Spotlight: Naoki Urasawa
Having consumed manga for years, I’ve grown to like some authors a little more than the others. When this happens […]
Distracted by Urasawa’s Billy Bat
I can’t get it out of my system. I’m compelled to spazz. Three weeks ago, Morning announced that they’ll be […]
Facing the bakemonos of manga
A friend of mine recently asked me to write something about manga for a national broadsheet, the Manila Bulletin. Instead […]
Pluto feature film?
*fangirls* Okay. I have to breathe here for a second. In between waiting for Gundam 00 fansites to load, I […]
Manga Kissa 10 e ikimashita~!
?????????,??????:*:????????????o(?????????????*)/????????????(*?????????????)o?????????,??????:*:???????????? Waaaaaiiii!! Yesterday was the happiest ever because my friend and I managed to go to this new and probably […]
ARMAGEDDON AND UTOPIA IN NAOKI URASAWA’S 20TH CENTURY BOYS
This was a paper I submitted for my Japanese Literature class. I thought of sharing to people what I have […]
#01 – Happy by Naoki Urasawa
Happy by Naoki Urasawa
Published by: Shougakukan
Serialized in: Big Comic Spirits
If there’s something happy about Happy, it’s the fact that it’s not quite the happy tale that you expected. Miyuki Umino may look happy in this cover, however, the unfortunate turn of events in her life isn’t really something to rejoice about. You’ve got an idiot brother who owes 250 million yen to some yakuza loan sharks. You’ve got 2 brothers and a younger sister to feed. You barely have enough cash for a lavish meal hence you’ve got curry for three days again. Might I add that the loan sharks want to pimp you in some bath parlor? Swamped with bad luck, Miyuki tries to make ends meet by trying her chance with her dream, becoming a professional tennis player.
Still fresh from his Yawara escapade, Naoki Urasawa gives us a refreshing, slightly tragic, nonethless perservering heroine under Miyuki. He may have given up Judo, but on this end, it’s all about who becomes the princess of tennis! That may sound cheesy, but it really is the tale of two women who have different paths to victory. As Urasawa exposes these two women, he asks us, which one of them will be truly happy?