Blue Spring

by Taiyo Matsumoto

From the author of the masterful TekkonKinkreet , Taiyo Matsumoto's Blue Spring is a short story collection focusing on the lives of a small group of disenchanted high school students. Although spring usually connotes the blossoming of new life and a time of nurturing and anticipation, the spring for these characters is "blue." They can't wait for school to end and the summer to come. Their lives are balanced on the edge of a knife as they flirt with crime and their own deaths in the form of a deadly rooftop game. Each character has a different story to tell and the rebellion, questioning and frustration of these youths are palpable.

 

Genres: Manga, Comics, Fiction, Japan, Comics Manga, Seinen, Graphic Novels

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

See also: 松本大洋 and 松本 大洋

Although Taiyo Matsumoto desired a career as a professional soccerplayer at first, he eventually chose an artistic profession. He gained his first success through the Comic Open contest, held by the magazine Comic Morning, which allowed him to make his professional debut. He started out with 'Straight', a comic about basketball players. Sports remain his main influence in his next comic, 'Zéro', a story about a boxer.

In 1993 Matsumoto started the 'Tekkonkinkurito' trilogy in Big Spirits magazine, which was even adapted to a theatre play. He continued his comics exploits with several short stories for the Comic Aré magazine, which are collected in the book 'Nihon no Kyodai'. Again for Big Spirits, Taiyo Matsumoto started the series 'Ping Pong' in 1996. 'Number Five' followed in 2001, published by Shogakukan.

Source: Lambiek website bio .

Reviews

[IM]

Una serie de historias cortas sobre adolescentes que viven sin mayor supervisión y en entornos precarios.
El estilo de Taiyo Matsumoto es excelente, va muy en sintonía con las historias.
No sé si hay más casos pero, por ejemplo, en uno de los capítulos aparecen la rata y Kimura, personajes pertenecientes a otro manga del autor, Tekkonkinkreet.

[Coke Fernández]

Si estás ya metido en el mundo de Matsumoto, lo vas a disfrutar. Salvo la historia del Mahjong, todas me han gustado.

[Lucía Aceitón]

conjunto de relatos de grupos de adolescentes tontos y perdidos en un entorno hostil, me ha gustado

[Jordi Martinez]

Una obra del maestro Matsumoto anterior de sus primeros tiempos como mangaka. Aunque el trazo de los dibujos no es tan seguro como llegará a ser, lo esencial de su estilo diria que ya es visible aquí. Todo muy chabacano, historias feistas de chavales de instituto sin planes de futuro.

Como todas las obras del autor, muy expresivo y muy personal. Mas allà de cualquier argumento, sus dibujos le convierten en uno de mis autores favoritos.

Dudo que guste a los lectores de manga mainstream.

[Cristobal]

Genial! En ocasiones un poco confuso, pero eso ayuda a la atmósfera.