Distant Neighborhood, A

This is the beautiful story of a middle-aged businessman, Hiroshi, who, on mistakenly returning to his childhood town, is transformed into his younger self after falling asleep at his mother's grave and is thus presented with the opportunity to re-experience some of the joys and disappointments of adolescence again. In addition to the daily demands placed upon him at school and at home, the central character is haunted by the foreknowledge that his father, on the pretext of making a business trip, will shortly abandon his wife and children without explanation - an event which will leave indelible marks on the whole family. While the anticipation of, and Hiroshi's ultimate attempt to thwart, this traumatic event provide the narrative heartbeat of the story it is the beautifully detailed illustrations which are truly gripping. Taniguchi’s exquisite line-work is frequently breathtaking and provides an evocative sense of what everyday life in Japan must have been like in the 1960s.

touching I read. Has to be read

AWESOME

Great!

A very beautiful, delicate and touching story. Undoubtedly a masterpiece in my opinion. Manga at its very best!

If you're a fan of popular time-travel manga like Erased and Orange, or if you're a fan of manga that takes art to a quality level like AKIRA, then Jiro Taniguchi's work is for you. Beautifully illustrated panels create a story of life, with life's messages and the means behind it. There is no grand plot behind A Distant Neighbourhood (or Neighborhood as this is translated by Americans) other than a man travelling back in time to his childhood body. Nakahara - our main character and father of 2 - must learn to live his new life, all the whilst coming to the realisation of how his life has now changed. He runs from his old life and falls in love with his new present until he recalls his father. A man who left his own family the summer of the year he's in. A man who had such a similar family to his and a man whose mistake he was about to repeat. In the climax of the story - as there is one - he has to make a choice: Letting his father go and returning to live his life, or holding onto his father and leaving his life behind. Tanichugi really makes lovable characters and a means to like them. A wonderful manga and one to read! (The printing is really nice too with a sleek hardback, it is printed in a Western format though...)

Beautiful book and story. I just received it today and I noticed that only the first few pages of the book are in color. Starting from page 11 until the end, it is only in black and white. Was there a printing error? I payed 40$ for the hardcover book and the colours are beautiful. Would make sense if all pages would be in color! Feedback would be appreciated!

Really nice story

Arrived in very banged up condition. Packaging needs to be better.

Capa dura grossa e resistente, excelente gramatura do papel. Foi publica no formato ocidental, mas com autorização do autor. Um dos melhores trabalhos do recém-falecido Juro Taniguchi numa edição de respeito.

I wonder if Alex Robinson read this, before he wrote his graphic novel, "Too Cool to Be Forgotten," back in 2007? I's a similar situation - a fortysomething salaryman finds himself years in the past, in the body of his teenager self, right before a major change in his young life. In TCTBF, the protagonist goes back to age 17, when his father is dying of lung cancer. In this book, a man goes back 30 years, to the time his father vanishes. It's almost identical to the theme of Quantum Leap (if anyone under 40 remembers that show.) What struck me the most is that this book really shows you how much school dominates the lives of kids in Japan. He rarely seems to have any enjoyment outside of school activities. Then there are the adults, who force themselves to live as cogs in a machine. His father is a WWII veteran, probably traumatized from the war. There was a similar concept in the author's other book, "Journal of My Father," where the post-WWII Japanese parent overwork himself, lives in a home in back of the store, and lives in total rigidity. In JOMF, it's the mother who leaves, and it alters the boy's way of thinking about his family. In "A Distant Neighborhood," the boy knows his father will disappear, but tries to deduce the reason for it. Or at least try to dissuade him.