It's been a year! Manga Night at the Beer Garden: Part 1
~Monosus' "Reading Club" #16~

I brought along "Mushishi." There are about 10 volumes in total, but I don't have them on hand, so today I'm going to read the special edition. The historical background is unclear, but the main character is wearing Western clothes and most of the people around him are wearing Japanese clothes, so it has an atmosphere like the Edo period to the Meiji period. The pictures have a gentle watercolor-like touch.

The story takes place in a world where there are beings called "Mushi." These Mushi include not only insects, but also things like plants and natural phenomena like rainbows and rain, and are close to the prototype of life.

Most people cannot see bugs, only a very small number of people can see them. Therefore, those who can see them are misunderstood and lonely. The main character, Ginko, is one of them, but he helps people who are in trouble because of bugs, and is called Mushishi (Mushi Master).

This manga is about Ginko, the main character, who can not only see bugs but also attracts them, and each episode depicts the events that occur wherever he goes. Ginko wants to coexist with bugs, rather than exterminate them. I like the way he tries to get along with the phenomenon of bugs while wanting to act as a bridge between bugs and people.

I watched the anime, but the story is slow-paced and there aren't many lines, so I fell asleep at the beginning (laughs). But as I read it, I got hooked, and the illustrations are beautiful. Are there any other Mushishi characters besides Ginko?

They are there, but they don't come out very often.

What kind of situation is Ginko in? Is he being chased or something?

He has lost his memories and doesn't remember his upbringing. He learns about Mushishi from a master, but after he dies he travels alone...

I'm traveling around the country like the old ``Toyama medicine sellers'' (laughs).

I brought along "Tonkatsu DJ Agetaro", which I've been hooked on lately.

The main character is the son of a tonkatsu restaurant on the outskirts of Shibuya. One day, he sees a DJ at a club and is reminded of the image of a DJ spinning and his father cooking tonkatsu. He decides, "Tonkatsu and DJing are the same thing. So I'm going to become Tonkatsu DJ Agetaro!"

It's a story about a boy who grows while juggling his work at a tonkatsu restaurant and his job as a DJ...It's a comedy manga so there are a lot of silly scenes, but it's great to see him grow despite his struggles.

What was interesting was that when Agetaro started DJing, he learned the word "chill out" (playing soft music on the dance floor to cool down and relax a little), and he thought, "If that's the case, then the old man playing Go and the old man at the public bath must be chilling out too." So he looked up the meaning of "chill" (to freeze) and ended up jumping into a tuna freezer (laughs).

It's interesting because it's not just about the DJ industry, but also features a variety of characters. Also, reading it makes me want to eat pork cutlets (laughs).

Maybe...that T-shirt (by Scha Dara Parr) is to promote this book?

Ah, yes. I tried wearing them together (blushes).

A perfect outfit! Let's take a picture, a picture!

Come to think of it, I've seen it in an anime.

Oh, it's a short anime of about 5 minutes. The manga is serialized in Web Jump and has 10 volumes, but in the middle there's a love story about Agetaro.

I brought a four-frame comic called "What is an Ochi?" The author, error403, is an illustrator with about 200,000 followers on Twitter and also draws manga. My sister's friend graduated from Musashino Art University, so I bought it when I went to the school festival. It was self-published and sold online, but it seems to be sold out now.

Anyway, I really like the cute illustrations. The story is about a rubber band company where all the employees have fled, and the main character tries to jump off the building, but realizes that "because it's rubber, you won't die even if you fall." I also like the story about how the genie of the lamp refuses to come out, saying "There are times when I don't want to."

Some of you may have seen him because he does illustrations for magazines, animations for NHK programs, and music videos. "Error 403" is the word that displays an error message on the Internet. He also makes LINE stamps and goods, so please check them out online .

By the way, this is the first edition. I got a signed copy and brought it with me to brag about (laughs).

Error, I saw it when it was featured in Omocoro .

The theme is surreal, isn't it? The ideas are interesting and startling.

In fact, it was selected as something like a "jury recommended work" at the 2013 Japan Media Arts Festival organized by the Agency for Cultural Affairs...

Have you reached that level?

I know someone who secretly knows him. By the way, he was born in Hokkaido in 1990 and is 27 years old.

Wow, we are from completely different generations... (laughs).

It's a four-panel comic called "Mood is Metaphysical." I think people who don't like this manga will really hate it. It contains eroticism, vomit, excrement, bugs, mental disorders, nonsense...

That's bad...Tanaka-san is sick (lol).

The contents are pretty bad... but I really like this manga. I have never laughed at it, and I don't think it's funny as a gag, but the author himself has mental problems and uses them as material. He's a smart guy who thinks about philosophical things.

I barely remember each story, but there was one story that I remember so vividly that I will never forget it. It was called "What is an Abnormal Person?" and it asked the question of what is abnormal and what is normal in four panels.

The only thing that distinguishes between abnormal and normal is "which is more prevalent." This is depicted in four panels.

There's also a story about a man who is so tied to the title of section chief that he himself becomes the kanji for "section chief"...it's crazy, but it's also philosophical and interesting.

Is it a serialized thing?

I think there are 19 volumes out so far. From volume 2 onwards, the series started with a cockroach as the main character, and it became popular from there. There's a great story, it made me cry.

I'm not laughing, but I'm crying.

It may be a bit similar to Yamada Hanako's manga.

Ah, that's true. But this one has more vomit... I think it's a manga that people either love or hate, because my parents threw it in the trash. I found it and am reading it now (laughs).