かくかくしかじか
Natively: L27
Summary
Japanese
自分は絵がうまい。本気でうぬぼれていた林明子（高3）は竹刀を持った絵画教師・日高先生に罵られ…!? 少女まんが家を夢みたあの頃を描くドラマチック・メモリーズ！
English
The autobiographical manga by Eisner-winner Akiko Higashimura, the creator of Princess Jellyfish and Tokyo Tarareba Girls, about her high school dream to become a comic book creator! High schooler Akiko has big plans to become a popular mangaka before she even graduates, but she needs to get much better at drawing if she ever wants to reach her goal. Looking for an easy fix, she signs up for an art class, thinking all her problems will soon be solved. She’s in for a surprise: her new instructor is a bamboo sword-wielding taskmaster who doesn’t care about manga one bit. But maybe this unconventional art teacher is just what she needs to realize her dreams!
Availability
Physical: Amazon (only available secondhand)
Digital: Bookwalker | Amazon (Kindle)
Personal Opinion
This is an autobiographical manga by the author of Princess Jellyfish! I read this in English ages ago and really enjoyed her humorous take on her intense art education, as well as her story of breaking into manga. Now I’m ready to revisit the story in Japanese; I really enjoy reading a good autobio manga and maybe you will too!!
I also really enjoyed watching the episode on her in Urasawa Naoki’s manga documentary series, so you can watch that as well as a supplement!
Pros and Cons
Pros
- The full manga is 5 volumes (not too long) if you want to follow her whole story in an offshoot club.
- Interesting look at the life of a mangaka with humor and insight into the industry and struggles
Cons
- Looks like it’s out of print
- If you have school trauma about harsh teachers, I’d probably skip this one
The subject is approached with humor but her teacher is very old-school.
