Customer Reviews

A Distant Neighborhood, Vol. 1

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Hiroshi Nakahara is a middle-aged business man on his way home from a business trip in Kyoto. Somehow, he winds up on the wrong train, one bound for his home town in Tottori. Although Hiroshi can't imagine how he made such a mistake, he decides to visit his mother's grave while he's there. But as he's about to leave, something strange happens. His body feels lighter and smaller, and even his surroundings seem to have changed somehow. Hiroshi finds that he's returned to his fifteen year old body, and that his home is exactly as it was when he was a boy. He has no idea how or why this happened, and all he can do is go home and try to adapt. He's living as his younger self again, but with all his adult knowledge in tact. Not only that, some events happen differently than they did the first time around. Will Hiroshi be able to change his past for the better?

This is not the kind of manga I usually read. I love wide-eyed characters and shojo romance. This, of course, has none of that, and none of the action found in shonen. But the story here really caught my attention. "A Distant Neighborhood" was written for adult men, but the story is universal. Who hasn't wanted to relive happy memories or redo mistakes? I'm still young at 21, but I often reminisce about my childhood. And Taniguchi handles the story so well. It's very emotional, especially the scene where Hiroshi first sees his family again. As he encounters old friends, he thinks about where each of them ends up in the future, an interesting touch. One of the best things about the story is that Hiroshi reacts and behaves exactly how you would expect for a person in his situation. He uses his adult knowledge to excel in school, and tries to convince a friend of his predicament in a moment of weakness. These are things I've always imagined myself doing in the same position. Although Hiroshi does revert some, he retains most of his adult maturity. It's really funny to hear him talking like a 43 year old in his 14 year old body.I also loved the way Hiroshi is aware of things he didn't see the first time around, like his parents' marriage problems.

The art here is great. Taniguchi's characters are more realistic than those in most manga, which fits the tone of the story. The scenery of modern and 1940s Japan are wonderful. Taniguchi pays great attention to detail, and the towns and clothing and hair styles are perfectly matched to the time-period. He uses interesting perspectives in his panels, which enhances the story. I particularly loved the way Hiroshi is shown set apart from his family the first time he sees them, like he's observing a memory.

The publishers did a great job on this manga. It's an over-sized softcover with inside flaps and sturdy paper. It's printed left-to-right (American style), which makes it accessible to non-manga readers, but great pains were taken to keep the artwork as it originally appeared (Taniguchi himself collaborated with the publisher to preserve the art). My only complain was several obvious typos, but these are easy to correct mentally.

"A Distant Neighborhood" is a wonderful manga that anyone should be able to relate to. The story is reflective but well paced. The characters make it realistic despite the fantastic events. And the art is also top-notch. The whole time I was reading this manga, I kept thinking what a great movie it would make- it's interesting, thoughtful, and touching to a wide audience. This is the kind of story that you don't forget, the kind that you come back to over and over. I have a feeling that it'll become more meaningful to me as I get older. It's a wonderful experience, so don't miss it.

This is a beautifully drawn graphic novel about a middle-aged Japanese man who suddenly wakes to find himself in the form of his 14-year old self. At first frustrated by being trapped in his youthful body, he soon embraces it, and tries to find out why his father left the family during that time.

The artwork is exquisite, and though the story is slow-moving, it fits the art and left me wanting more.

Having enjoyed Taniguchi's previous works like "Inu o kau" and the "Botchan" series, I figured I might like "Neighborhood" over "ICARO" (maybe another time); I wasn't disappointed. The premise here is simple: a man in his late 40s, burnt out, is given a chance to relive his life as a 14-year old boy. Wise and skilled beyond his body's age, he naturally begins to life life more vigorously and enjoying the basic things: friendship, nature, and family. Taniguchi perhaps excels at giving the reader the a sumptuous visual world of the ordinary (here: Western Japan, 1963).

As you expect with Taniguchi, the plot or dramatic tension in the story lurks so quietly in the background you'd forget about it: namely, how can the protagonist Hiroshi prevent his father from abandoning the family. Instead, this volume gives us small, flawless vignettes of jr. high school violence, love, drinking, and noisy parents. The scene where the character makes a connection with his father is sure to impress even the most cynical reader.

Again, the story here is minimal. But that's why you should read Taniguchi. He has a slow and gentle style of storytelling. Very little flash, but a lot of slow sizzle. I look forward to volume 2.

The volume opens with a 48-year-old businessman named Hiroshi Nakahara heading on his way home from a business trip. He doesn't feel his best, and he manages to get onto the wrong train. However, the train is heading to his hometown, which he hasn't visited in quite a while. As he realizes he's heading to his hometown, he realizes that he is the same age that his mother was when she died. After getting off the train, Hiroshi goes by his old house, and then goes to visit his mother's grave. When he's by the grave, he hears a sudden noise and goes unconscious. When Hiroshi awakes, he discovers that he's 14-years-old again; however, he retains his knowledge of the future. Not only that, his hometown is exactly the same as it was when he was that age. He tries to find a way to return to his time, but to no avail. As time goes on and he spends more time here, events are not happening the same way that he remembers them. Hiroshi begins to wonder if his future will end up changing because of the changes happening to him now. By the end of this first volume, Hiroshi learns some information about his family that he had not known previously.

Taniguchi's art is stunning, and he has quite a talent for being able to draw effective facial expressions to show his characters' emotions. However, I do notice that some of his character designs do look rather similar. For Hiroshi and his father, this is completely understandable, due to genetics. However, Hiroshi's mother and his wife look uncannily similar, and even one of Hiroshi's daughters looks a lot like his younger sister when she was a child. I don't know if this is due to Taniguichi's ability for character design, or if this may be a relevant plot point later in the story.

The story itself is very fascinating and rather well done, especially for a story that is dealing with the concept of time travel. I also appreciate that Hiroshi wonders how the changes happening to him in the past will have an effect on his future. As a reader, I felt invested in Hiroshi's story and I wanted to know what happened next. By the end of the first volume, I wanted to find the next volume to learn how the story progresses. Personally, I would recommend A Distant Neighborhood for manga readers who are in their mid-to-late teens and older.

I wrote this review after reading a copy of this manga that I checked out through the King County Library System.

What if you could do it all again?
Nice artwork, good story, went a ahead and ordered volume 2. Get them together so you don't have to wait.
Highly recommended.

I once asked a friend if he would want to go back to his teen years. He replied, "Only if I could take with me the knowledge, abilities, and sense of who I am that I have now." That is what this story is about: what if you went back to being a teenager set in that historical moment, but as the person you are now?

At only two volumes, this is a good manga to read if you are an adult who does not want to get involved in having to collect a long running series. It is adult in the real sense, not in the gratuitous porn or violence sense that usually gains that title. Taniguchi has crafted a story that takes his protagonist, "middle aged businessman Hiroshi Nakahara," and asks him to face the question, "What does it take to change history." Can you do it merely by changing events? Or can you only do so by first changing yourself?

While the tale exhibits a warm humor, it is not played for jokes, like most time travel stories of this type have done in the West. The real centerpiece is the character of Hiroshi: his shock at being back in time, his coming to terms with being a teen again, the awkwardness of being an adult appearing as a teen having to relate to both other teens as peers (who really are not) and to other adults whose authority he is now under (yet whose effective authority passed out of his life decades ago). How do you see and relate to your parents, now? Your sister? The school toughs? That girl you were too shy to talk to as a boy? The hostess women who work for your friend's family?

Hovering in the background is the looming shadow that Hiroshi has returned to the year when his father mysteriously disappeared and was never seen again. Can he figure out why this happened? Can he stop it? As he grows to understand his father through new eyes as an adult, how will his relationship with both his father and himself change?

Then, buried even deeper, can you see how what is happening in this new past time is also a commentary and eventual revelation to Hiroshi about his relationship to his own family, still in the distant future?

This is a beautiful human story, meticulously illustrated. Family life in a small 1960s Japanese town is lovingly recreated as the setting where Hiroshi learns to forgive himself and take responsibility for the person he is.

If you want to see what manga can be, without the teenage take on giant robots, big eyed girls, ninjas, and etceteras, or you have just outgrown books targeting that age, but still would like to read manga, you should do yourself a favor and take a look at this set of books. You should also look at other ones by this publisher, Fanfare Ponent Mon, as well as many of those is Viz's Signature Line. Real manga for real adults are starting to appear on our shores and it should be supported if you want to see more of it.

i liked the authors Walking Man book.
i dont mind slow stories but in this case author thinks the reader is stupid and doesnt understand how clever the story is.
the guy moves in time and he is young again in his old town.
he is very surprised his body is different.
he is very surprised the town looks like before.
he is very surprised to see his old teacher.
he is very surprised to see his father alive.
he is very surprised to see his mother alive.
etc. etc.
every time he asks things like "how is it posssible? is it a dream? i cant believe it."
well, maybe i am very clever but i really got it the first time and i dont need the author remind me again and again.
this doesnt make the story just slow and silly, i am afraid the author actually thinks you are stupid.