<![CDATA[Ode To Kirihito]]>

false <![CDATA[Ode To Kirihito]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172702884m/209571.jpg 209571 1 It may or may not be contagious. There seems to be no cure for it. Yet, Monmow Disease, a life-threatening condition that transforms a person into a dog-like beast, is not the only villain in this shocking triumph of a medical thriller by manga-god Osamu Tezuka. Said to have been the personal favorite of the artist, who held a degree in medicine, and surprisingly attentive to Christian themes and imagery, Ode to Kirihito demolishes naive notions about human nature and health and likely preconceptions about the comics master himself. From pregnant vistas of the Japanese countryside to closed rooms full of sin and redemption, Tezuka astounds for more than eight hundred continuous pages, his art in turn easefully concise and flamboyantly experimental, his inquiry into our most repugnant instincts and prospects for overcoming them unflinchingly serious. Incorporating elements of the often lurid and adult-oriented “gekiga” style for the first time, Tezuka entered into his fruitful late period with this work. A promising young doctor, Kirihito Osanai visits a remote Japanese mountain village to investigate the source of the latest medical mystery. While he ends up traveling the world to discover what it takes to be cured of such a disease, a conspiracy back home attempts to explain away his absence. Hinging upon his fate are those of his loved ones: an unstable childhood friend and colleague trapped between factions of the medical establishment that nurtured him; a fiancée emotionally transformed by Kirihito’s mysterious disappearance; and a stranger who becomes his guardian angel, a sensual circus-act performer with volatile psychological secrets. From plutocratic Taipei and racially divided South Africa to backwater Arabia and modern Osaka, ambition and desire beckon “normal men” to behave uglier than any beast. Riveting our attention on deformity and its acceptance like The Elephant Man by David Lynch, Ode to Kirihito examines the true worth of human beings through and beyond appearances. 202836 24 10 2006 Ode To Kirihito total:252|5:4|4:3|3:2|2:0|1:0| 252 1008 321 47 3 1 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Sep 27 11:47:33 -0700 2007 Sun Oct 14 01:10:47 -0700 2007
I think most western cultures have pretty similar expectations when it comes to story telling. All that Joseph Campbell mythic hero stuff...more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 24 13:23:59 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 24 13:27:00 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jul 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 09 20:36:47 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 09 20:43:11 -0700 2009 ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Nov 17 11:53:08 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 25 05:53:51 -0800 2008
Ode To Kirihito is a bizarre medical...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 16:28:44 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 16:44:01 -0700 2009 1
It's written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka, most widely known as the creator of Astroboy. He is as close as you can get to the Japanese equivalent of Walt Disney, though he tackles much more mature themes.

This is a long graphic novel f...more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Jul 02 09:59:44 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 02 10:01:12 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jun 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun May 31 07:50:13 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 06 20:06:13 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Oct 22 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 05 10:05:06 -0700 2008 Sat Dec 06 10:34:15 -0800 2008 1 Ode to Kirihito (Vertical, 2006)

Every once in a while I come across a graphic novel that just makes my jaw drop—Bone, Black Hole, and now Ode to Kirihito. This monstrous (832 pp.) graphic novel is not only absorbing enough that you won't want to put it down, but has as m...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Aug 10 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Apr 13 19:54:25 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 13 19:55:21 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Nov 27 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 29 13:24:25 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 29 13:40:03 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Dec 20 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 30 02:33:24 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 30 03:17:00 -0800 2009
Like most manga, this book was originally serialized in magazines and presented in chunks of 20...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 22 13:11:54 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 29 20:50:35 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Mar 16 09:13:14 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 21 15:47:53 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 02 13:58:06 -0800 2007 Mon Dec 17 22:07:36 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Feb 09 22:09:48 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 24 22:18:34 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 09 22:09:48 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jan 14 19:36:41 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 14 19:42:32 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Wed Jul 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 30 18:42:41 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 09 15:43:25 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Mar 04 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 04 07:33:17 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 04 07:33:17 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Mon Sep 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 09 13:56:28 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 28 19:33:46 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 03 18:42:21 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 03 18:45:08 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=209571