Soseki Natsume's Botchan: The Manga Edition

by Kaori Okura (Adapter), Natsume Sōseki

"Filled with light, satirical touches." — Donald KeeneReckless but unfailingly honest, Botchan is the youngest son in a middle-class Tokyo family. Following his graduation from college, he takes a job as a math teacher on the island of Shikoku, far from the city. Thrust into this alien small-town environment, Botchan encounters nothing but trouble from his students and fellow teachers. Among his tormentors are the pompous, two-faced vice-principal; his fawning sidekick—the art teacher; the spineless principal; and a pack of brawny, prankster students — all of whom seem out to get him. Mayhem ensues, but in the end Botchan prevails through honesty and dogged determination.A modern classic, Botchan rivals Soseki's famous I Am a Cat in popularity in Japan. This is the funniest of Soseki's novels, a penetrating portrait of a young man's quest to survive the suffocating hypocrisy of everyone around him while remaining true to his beliefs.Recommended for readers ages 14 and up due to explicit language

Genres: Manga

192 pages, Paperback

Published September 17, 2024

Reviews

[GONZA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of course, this manga adaptation, reminded me of all the others in the series that I had read, most notably Osamu Dazai's The setting sun. I find it as good a way as any to bring the rest of the world closer to Japanese literature, and certain illustrators are more adequate than others to inspire just the right atmosphere of the book.

Ovviamente questo adattamento manga, mi ha ricordato tutti gli altri della serie che avevo letto, su tutti Osamu Dazai's The setting sun. Trovo che sia un modo come un altro per avvicinare il resto del mondo alla letteratura giapponese e certi disegnatori sono piú adeguati di altri a riportare proprio la giusta atmosfera del libro.

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

This was surprisingly enjoyable despite being a manga translation and originally being written in 1906 Japan. Most modern Japanese schoolkids will have this on their school curriculum and it is easy to see why: an almost autobiographical and amusing tale of a fish out of water in a very quickly changing Japan.

Story: Botchan (which means either "little master' or a derogatory term for a neophyte) is a modern product of a Westernized Tokyo. Always in trouble or full of trouble, he ends up finally getting a degree and taking a teaching job on a remote Japanese island. The middle school kids he has to teach think he is weird, the teachers are incompetent, brow beaten, or selfish, and he quickly gets sick of the 'country bumpkins' he has to deal with daily. But there are those conspiring against him and while Botchan has spirit, he doesn't necessarily have the brains to beat the other teachers at their own game. But he may have any ally in another teacher!

This is a fun story about old Japan coming into conflict with the new, preserving one's honor and integrity in the face of scheming greedy colleagues, and learning a bit more about one's self. All the characters in the story make errors and bad assumptions but learn from them. No, this is not a Great Teacher Onizuka type of story where Botchan will win everyone over; instead, he'll get his own little revenge against the backwards townsfolk and fellow teachers who are stomping all over the nice guys (of which, Botchan is definitely NOT one). There are wonderful observations about the school kids, the other teachers, and the locals.

The story is loosely based on the author himself - the setting is the same island the author travelled to after he got his teaching degree and it is assumed he dealt with the same shenanigans. Botchan is extremely hot headed and over-reacts to everything - it's amusing to try to imagine the author being the same in 1900s Japan. But it is clear the author wanted to make observations about the greatly changing landscape of Japanese culture.

The art work is perfect and conveys the story well. This is neither overly simplistic nor too deep; there is a nice mix of observations and silliness, pity observations versus zany action. But more importantly, it really is a beloved and important work in Japanese culture and tells a lot about the situation in Japan in 1906 when Japan was modernizing and Westernizing while still trying to hold on to its own important roots. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[Susanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Japanese classic from over a century ago in manga form. Botchan, "young master", is a hot-headed young man from Tokyo who ends up teaching maths at a remote country village. It's not easy for him to fit into a small place with its cliques and small-minded people, and it doesn't help he's easy to anger. He dislikes everyone and especially teaching, but ends up making a friend of sorts eventually. He misses home and his old nanny, and in the end quits and returns to Tokyo, never to teach again.

This is a classic for a reason. It's a window to a world long lost and it's amusing too. It suffers a bit from being trunkated to a manga form, as details are necessarily lost, but as an introduction it works fine. Art is good and shows the lost world well.

I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

[Kayley Hartley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick easy read, read to see if it was suitable for Forrest who is 10, it has a bit of bad language but nothing that is rude or inappropriate to the story line so I think it will be ok. Wanted to read something to boost my numbers to hit my target for this year so this helped

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

charming