There are two universal truths in today’s rapidly changing comics industry. The first is that Dog Man is the defining blockbuster of our era. The second is that more people are reading manga and Webtoons (aka vertical scroll comics) than ever before. Therefore we at Comics Beat are continuing our Beat’s Bizarre Adventure. Every week we’ll have three writers recommend some of their favorite books and series from Japan, Korea and elsewhere. This week we have vending machine romance, a certain horror author’s cat stories, and, of course, being alive.
Can I Buy Your Love From a Vending Machine?
Writer/Artist: Yoshii Haruaki
Translation: A.Z. / Amimaru
Typesetting: A.Z. / Amimaru
Production Assistants: Emma Schumacker, Dietrich, Derek Chaplin, HIKARI / Amimaru
Proofreader: Pia Salter
Platform: Manga Planet
Ayumu is your typical dime-a-dozen salaryman. If you pay close attention to him, though, you’ll see him hanging around the lounge area with the vending machine a tad too often. He likes his orange juice, sure. But he might also be enjoying the view while he’s at it— the view that is a tall, muscular person who restocks the vending machine. Ayumu works up the courage to strike up a conversation one day and meet Yamashita formally. He considers himself brave, but the younger man leaves him in the dust by giving Ayumu his personal contact info and asking him out for dinner sometime.
Can I Buy Your Love From a Vending Machine? is Yoshii Haruaki‘s first work to be translated into English. It is followed by Please Say Yes, again on Manga Planet. This series was also my first time discovering the artist, and they’ve been on my “I’ll read whatever they put out,” list ever since. The first volume is self-contained; however, it’s still ongoing in Japan, with three volumes available by the time I’m writing this. Too bad they are yet to be available in English.
The charm of Can I Buy Your Love From a Vending Machine? is how grounded it is. Even though Ayumu knows he’s gay, he has never dated or been intimate in any way. Having no experience with intimacy has him running in circles with anxiety. In short, he’s what the kids call “a panicked gay”.
Yamashita’s straightforward and open attitude takes him by surprise. Since he tries to communicate to the best of his abilities, though, Ayumu feels comfortable and confident enough to try his best too. There’s one small misunderstanding in the second half, a staple in the romance genre, but it’s a relatively cute one resolved in a level-headed way.
Can I Buy Your Love From a Vending Machine? strikes a nice balance between feeling “real” and fairy tale-esque. Pairings of blue and white-collar workers are a favorite of mine, so this manga was tailor-made for me. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a series that focuses more on getting its characters together than on their antics between the sheets. The adorable characters simply leave you wanting more! — Merve Giray
Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon and Mu
Writer/Artist: Junji Ito
Translator: Stephen Paul
Lettering: Evan Hayden
Publisher: Kodansha
Junji Ito may be best known for his horror manga, but the man is pretty funny too and capable of telling truly sweet tales of everyday life. Take for instance the tale of Yon and Mu, his two cats who he loved so dearly he made an entire manga about them. As a cat lover and owner myself, it’s a sweet read and something I could recommend to anyone.
Of course there’s some light horror imagery drawn in Ito’s signature uncanny style. But most of it is more funny than horrifying. I especially enjoy how he draws his wife in this book. Despite how Ito paints her reaction to her caricature, I get the feeling she also found it funny as well.
The stories are mostly mundane, yet I was never bored. Manga creators are really good at exaggerating their own lives for the sake of entertainment. There’s also an incredibly cute photo gallery of both cats in the book, in case you needed more of a selling point.
If you like cats, horror, Ito, or all three, you should definitely check out Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon and Mu as soon as you can. However, fair warning – and I do feel like this is a special case where I should bring this up – the ending of the book is pretty bittersweet and sad. I recommend tissues. — Derrick Crow
I See You
Writer/Artist: Pixel
Platform: Manta
I See You is one of those special comics where you read them once and you simply can’t stop thinking about them. The comic, written and illustrated by Pixel, tells a tale of a young woman named Seowoo who wants nothing more than to die. She is pulled back from the precipice of death when she meets a grim reaper who is equally surprised that a human can see them. The grim reaper follows her home and makes a bet with her: if Seowoo still wants to die after three months, then the grim reaper will reap her soul and grant her a wish. While skeptical, Seowoo doesn’t see a reason for her to refuse. Besides, she really has nothing to lose by doing so.
In those three months, nothing drastic happens. As part of her attempt at living her life again, she moves out and coincidentally reconnects with an old acquaintance of hers. The grim reaper decides to stay at her house and brings along two other grim reapers who refuse to leave her and her house alone. Other than that, for the most part, Seowoo goes about her day like normal. She isn’t in any rush to change her mind about dying; she’s waiting it out, and as such, she’s taking each day at a time.
That’s where the beauty of I See You lies–in the quietude of everyday life, in the simple interactions with people that you see, in something as ordinary as eating a meal with friends. The story approaches serious topics like death, suicide, and depression with a careful touch, and offers hope. Even when it feels like life isn’t worth living, you never know what tomorrow will bring and how you’ll feel in one day, a week, or even three months.
I See You was one of the main reasons why I subscribed to Manta. I’ll be so sad when it disappears from the platform on March 11. Seriously, whoever hasn’t read it needs to read it now before it’s gone forever and whoever has read it needs to reread it. — Hilary Leung
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