Ken Niimura !!!!!!!!!!! Oh boy. I was first introduced to Ken Niimura when I saw the variant cover for Feathers #1 recently and then realized that he also does I Kill Giants which I put away new inventory of every week but still haven't read. I absolutely LOVE his illustrations, the use of line is so awesome. Loose sketches that have a lot of energy and emotion behind them.
On the back of the book it reads " 'Henshin' means transformation in Japanese, and in all 13 stories, choices and events-whether momentous or seemingly small-change the lives of people finding their way in Japan". I like the concept of this book as well, 13 short stories all revolving around the same theme of change. Some are super short and brief, others are a little longer that weave throughout the book, continuing every few stories where they left off.
There are moments when you turn the page and the next panel takes up an entire page, super dramatic and gives you a moment to really be there with the character in whatever is going on. It's beautiful and I loved reading it. I can't wait to read this again, and again.
I found myself really enjoying this mirror manga. Tezuka explains the origins of Buddism and the birth of Gautama Budda in his own unique way. I was surprised with how violent and graphic the story was, but enjoyed the back history and side stories of each character.
Even though it was a fairly large volume, I'm still not really sure who each of these characters are in relation to the origin of Buddism, which is intriguing. I read about them for the entire volume, but still not sure what their part is in all of it. Interested to find out each person's part.
I think this is the first volume of 7, and I am super eager to read the rest of the volumes. The illustrations are really beautiful and I LOVE the way that all of the animals are drawn - similar to Disney style of animals from Bambi and Fox and the Hound, super big eyes and so so so cute.
