{"id":1953,"date":"2015-03-16T18:17:45","date_gmt":"2015-03-16T10:17:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/?p=1953"},"modified":"2015-03-16T18:34:19","modified_gmt":"2015-03-16T10:34:19","slug":"38-sayonara-sorcier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/2015\/03\/16\/38-sayonara-sorcier\/","title":{"rendered":"38. Sayonara, Sorcier"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sayonara,<\/a><\/p>\n

There was a time when nobody knew who Vincent Van Gogh was. Nowadays, everybody knows about him. And in different versions too (like the Dr. Who Van Gogh or the Cumberbatch Van Gogh). Most representations of Van Gogh show this miserable soul whose art was either too early for his time hence he was \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcunloved’ as an artist. Hozumi, on the other hand, thinks that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the case. In Sayonara, <\/em>Sorcier Hozumi shows us how loved Vincent was by his younger brother, Theodorus \u00e2\u20ac\u2122Theo’ Van Gogh.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Sayonara,<\/a><\/p>\n

Perhaps an art lover or a Van Gogh aficionado knows the story of Theo Van Gogh better than I do and would probably make a better opinion on how to read Hozumi’s retelling. In most stories showing Vincent\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life, Theo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lost behind his brother or even forgotten altogether. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know anything about Theo prior to reading Sayonara, Sorcier. <\/em>Hence, I read this manga with the only expectation that it would be a good read. It won as best girls’ manga for Kono Manga ga Sugoi a year ago. At the same time, I did enjoy Hozumi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Shiki no Zenjitsu. <\/em>That said, Hozumi’s writing for Shiki no Zenjitsu<\/em> was emotionally heavy, the kind that required some heavy reading in between the lines and to be honest I don’t know if I can handle such an atmosphere for another Vincent Van Gogh story. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case.  <\/p>\n

The story opens with cheeky scene of Theo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life as an art dealer for one of Europe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s top art dealers, Goupil & Cie. Early into the comic, we see Theo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s knack for unconventional things. He skips work, pisses of his boss, and manages to sell a humble painting of a loaf of bread. There was something amusing about Theo’s cockiness, enough to make me forget that this was Vincent’s story but is actually Theo’s story. I couldn’t help but feel relieved about that. I love historical retellings but if it’s the same drama again and again, I just can’t help but lose affection for the next one. <\/p>\n

Now, back to Theo. It seems that Theo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been getting some flack from Paris\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 art circles because he has been known to support a group of emerging artists which we realise are the impressionists (well\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 some of them). We see the breadth of Theo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s passion for the arts until Hozumi ties this passion with Theo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s admiration for his brother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talent.<\/p>\n

\"Sayonara,<\/a><\/p>\n

Theo calls Vincent\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talent a gift. The kind of gift that captures the soul of his subjects. The kind that makes magic. I really love how Hozumi showed us the value of Vincent’s work through Theo. Her clean drawings also managed to divorce me from any preconceived notion I had about Vincent Van Gogh’s art. It allowed me to focus the story of the brothers, the memories they hold dear, and the affection they had for each other. Hozumi would only remind me of Van Gogh when it mattered. As such, the impact of seeing his paintings merge with his brother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s vision of his work was truly a gift.<\/p>\n

\"Sayonara,<\/a><\/p>\n

As to whether things were historically accurate, well, it seems that this was the last of Hozumi’s concern. It seems Hozumi did a fair amount of research for this title however she took many liberties that veered away from som basic facts. Just by looking at her illustration of Vincent, it was clear that Hozuki did not aim for historical accuracy. Instead, she chose to capture what was clearly visible between the two brothers: love, respect, and legacy. Within this work, readers can feel the deep admiration the two brothers had for each other and I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s enough. In a world filled with so much tragic stories about Van Gogh, Hozuki\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story was one I enjoyed as it actually told me that there was someone who loved and admired Van Gogh. And given all the sad things in his life, the idea that Vincent Van Gogh was loved makes the world a little better.<\/p>\n

Series Information<\/h3>\n

Sayonara, Sorcier by Hozumi
\nSerialised in Flowers
\nPublished by Shogakukan
\nAvailable in Amazon Japan<\/a>, Ebookjapan<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There was a time when nobody knew who Vincent Van Gogh was. Nowadays, everybody knows about him. And in different […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Bitter as most Van Gogh stories are, Hozumi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Van Gogh manga, Sayonara, Sorcier, was filled with love.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[597,596,473],"class_list":["post-1953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-history","tag-hozumi","tag-josei"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p26e5y-vv","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2281,"url":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/2018\/05\/22\/2018yabaibl\/","url_meta":{"origin":1953,"position":0},"title":"The polarised “dangerous” boys love manga of 2018","author":"khursten","date":"May 22, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This year's best boys love manga titles are CRAY! Like doused in cajun spices and butter cray.","rel":"","context":"In "Features"","block_context":{"text":"Features","link":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/category\/features\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/yabaithumbnail.png?fit=360%2C200&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":87,"url":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/2007\/12\/31\/2007-looked-good-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":1953,"position":1},"title":"2007 looked good. :3","author":"khursten","date":"December 31, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"And so I round things up, just like before, about the fun things and the good things that I read and played with in 2007. I managed to read a lot of good new manga and reconnected with the old. :3 I did a couple of recommendations for mangacast already\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fujoshi Life"","block_context":{"text":"Fujoshi Life","link":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/2151303227_4b55400a3d_o.jpg?fit=500%2C200&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1479,"url":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/2013\/08\/02\/801mmf-the-fujoshi-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":1953,"position":2},"title":"#801MMF: The Fujoshi Bible","author":"khursten","date":"August 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In Eureka's Fujoshi Manga Compendium, there's this interesting section where they list down the things a fujoshi must read.\u00e3\u20ac\u20acThey called it the Fujoshi Manga Bible.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0I thought it'd be best to share the list down here for fujoshi to check what these women think are titles that we fujojos must read.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Features"","block_context":{"text":"Features","link":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/category\/features\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5535\/9420898588_273302a7ac_m.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1669,"url":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/2014\/01\/25\/2014-manga-taishou\/","url_meta":{"origin":1953,"position":3},"title":"A Sneak Peek of The 2014 Manga Taisho Nominees","author":"khursten","date":"January 25, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s another year for Manga Taisho (Manga Award) where some of manga\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most influential critics select a number of titles to choose the best of manga released last year. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been a yearly tradition of sorts for me to check this award out since I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a lazy fart and I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Features"","block_context":{"text":"Features","link":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/category\/features\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"sevendeadlysins","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2824\/12128974094_67e8b13ae6_b.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":791,"url":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/2011\/09\/09\/five-years-after-a-champloo-of-manga-in-the-philippines\/","url_meta":{"origin":1953,"position":4},"title":"Five years after: A champloo of manga in the Philippines","author":"khursten","date":"September 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I just can't believe that even five years later, I missed my own blog anniversary. AGAIN. OTL. WHY DOES LIFE HAVE TO MAKE ME SO BUSY!?! >A<)9\u00c2\u00a0 It's been five years since I started this blog and while I had started this with the intention to just link to my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fujoshi Life"","block_context":{"text":"Fujoshi Life","link":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/shelf.jpg?fit=600%2C450&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/shelf.jpg?fit=600%2C450&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/shelf.jpg?fit=600%2C450&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":514,"url":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/2011\/01\/31\/spotlight-naoki-urasawa\/","url_meta":{"origin":1953,"position":5},"title":"Spotlight: Naoki Urasawa","author":"khursten","date":"January 31, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Having consumed manga for years, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve grown to like some authors a little more than the others. 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