Popular author Taiyo Matsumoto’s latest manga arrives via ECC Ediciones, Tokyo Día a Día. In the year In 2020, the author won two Eisner Awards for “Cats of the Louvre.” His international fame rose to prominence with his ‘Tekkon Kinkreet’ or ‘Ping Pong’ works adapted to film and animation. In its 2022 winter issue, Japanese magazine ‘Freestyle’ has chosen ‘Tokyo Dia a Di’ as its first manga of the year. It’s a work full of humanity and anguish, set within the manga industry itself.
About Taiyo Matsumoto, author of Tokyo Day Day
Considered one of the most influential and important artists of modern manga, he became interested in manga after his mother advised him to read works such as ‘Nightmares’ by Katsuhiro Otomo. He started his career as a Four Seasons Award finalist with a short story titled ‘Straight’ from Kodansha Afternoon Magazine. He had his first big hit in the early 90s with ‘Tekkonkinkreet’ and won an Eisner Award.
His sainthood came with ‘GoGo Monster’ receiving a special award from the Japan Cartoonists Association. Since then, he started publishing in the monthly magazine ‘Ikki’, winning many awards for his stories. In the year In 2006, together with Issei Efuku, he began his international career with the series ‘Takemitsuzamurai’, which received very positive reviews from the special media and other authors.
In the year In 2016, after publishing ‘Cats of the Louvre’ and winning the Eisner Award again, he decided to collaborate again with Issei Ifuku on the series ‘Mukashi no Hanashi’, another huge critical success. His desire to tell regular stories in a well-paced script makes him one of the references in the modern manga world.
Summary and first impressions after reading Tokyo Day in its entirety
Shiosawa, an influential manga editor who only lives with (and talks to) the canary, has retired after 30 years at the same job. He is not sure what his next step in life will be as he has devoted most of his time to his work. The manga shows us how his daily life is developing, in relation to the former colleagues and authors he used to lead, now he is free from the pressure of work. He who loves his art, will not cut ties or cut himself off because longing is greater than retirement.
In ‘Tokyo Day by Day’, the author explores the character’s mind which can be very similar to his real life experiences. It is not a far-fetched work, on the contrary, it wants to open a reflection on the simplicity of everyday things, on the interruption of work. After years of being devoted to the same thing, his move leads him down open roads he hasn’t traveled before. In situations like the conversation with the sweeper, Shiosawa taps into the experiences of other characters to understand what he wants to do with his life now.
In his story, he finds that maintaining a connection to the world of work from which he has retired is his anchor to life. He gradually recovers and preserves his relationship with his companions and preserves his bond with the one he loves with the advice he gives. The Japanese culture of respect and education is constantly shown in the manga, which is very faithful to reality. This respect for his legacy is what makes the main character face the new reality.
In short, it’s about life’s work, about how change disrupts and changes how we face the world.