Awabi

Kan Takahama (*Monokuro Kinderbook*) is an underground artist whose work, as much like jôsei as it is like any conventional manga demographic, deals with age, depression and relationships (generally younger woman-older man, and often unhealthy). Her un-idealized characters and gray, tonal artwork, which appears to be scanned directly from the pencils and computer-painted, have a warmth and depth not often found in manga, even when the action consists mostly of people talking. In the title story, "Awabi," a troubled young woman collapses drunk in a pool outside an old folks' home, prompting a moment of lucidity from a senile old man inside, and forming a bond between the woman and the old man's former mistress. This wry story is followed by several short vignettes—in "My Life with K," a middle-aged man gets involved in the life of a suicidal young woman, in "Something's Not Quite Right Story" a young Korean man talks about his depressed manga artist girlfriend, and in "Local Wide Show" Takahama makes up an imaginary tabloid scandal about her own life. There's also a two-page collaboration with French artist Frédéric Boilet (*Yukiko's Spinach*). While none of the other pieces are as substantial as the title story, and some are fairly cryptic, it's an insightful, if downbeat, collection. (Source: Jason Thompson, via suvudu.com)