Distant Town (Author: Taniguchi Jiro) —— The Middle-aged Crisis of Two Generations (1)

The term "comic novel" was introduced by the American comic industry in the 1970s and 1980s to distinguish it from the traditional comic books focusing on teenagers. Although it is a commercial marketing concept, I also think it is an appropriate concept distinction and "grading". Although coffee and tea are both drinks, there are significant differences in culture, nationality and age among the drinkers. Tea is tea after all and coffee is coffee after all.

Image novels are mainly aimed at adult audiences, with profound and serious themes, literary language, more diverse and rich painting styles, more emphasis on mature aesthetic feeling, and even deliberately avoiding traditional comic style. Moreover, you will find that in many graphic novels, voiceover, as a third party, often takes up a lot of space and promotes the progress of the plot.

Jiro Taniguchi, a Japanese cartoonist, was born in 1947 and died just last year (20 17). Most of his works are aimed at middle-aged and even elderly people with families, and the themes are mostly slowly unfolding family stories, which can basically be classified as graphic novels.

The protagonist of the story is an ordinary middle class in Tokyo (with its own architect's office, which should be more nourishing), a 48-year-old husband and father, Hiroshi Zhongyuan. After a hangover, he got on the train and returned to his hometown. After sleeping in front of his mother's grave, he found himself back to 14 years old.

Bo Shi, 14 years old, returned to his happy family when he was 14 years old, but he still kept his 48-year-old memory and mind. He knew that under the happy appearance of his family, an undercurrent of collapse was brewing. At this time, he is going to explore this deep undercurrent and try to stop the collapse of this family. ...

Bo Shi knew that when he was 14 years old, just a few months after his crossing time, his father set foot on a long-distance train alone after a union party one night and never came home. Bo Shi's mother accepted all this calmly, worked hard and raised her two children, who died of overwork shortly after they got married.

Bo Shi never understood why his father left this very happy and warm family and returned to Bo Shi at the age of 14. He has been trying to find out why his father left, hoping to stop him. In this process, he gradually learned about family history, father and mother, and began to re-examine and cherish his present life. ...

The whole story revolves around this process of discovery and understanding ... (to be continued)