Secret Comics Japan: Underground Comics Now (Paperback)

by Chikao Shiratori (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Selected by a former editor of the acclaimed manga magazine Garo and a former editor from Japan's third-largest manga publisher, Shogakukan, this collection of underground comics from the last decade ranges from the beautifully surreal to the graphically gruesome.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: VIZ Media LLC; 1 edition (July 6, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569313725
• ISBN-13: 978-1569313725
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #800,400 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting look at non-main stream manga, April 10, 2001

By A Customer

A collection of tales ranging from the almost dream-like Swing Shell (a story of a young girl coping with incest) to the bizarre Puntures (a strange look into the copings of modern society). Not every story in this collection, will appeal to everyone and it's definitely not for the kiddies. They will at least challenge any preconcieve notion as to what manga is about and change our views about another culture and perhaps ourselves. I highly recommend this book if only for the story Swing Shell due to its artwork and the way it deals with a very serious topic.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars dude...shintaro kago, March 28, 2008

By	Tim Peters (massachusetts, US) - See all my reviews

The fact that it has the world's only english-language printing of a SHINTARO mother#*&%ing KAGO story makes this book an automatic must buy.

Oh, and don't buy it for the ridiculous used prices here. If you do a good amount of googling, you can still find it for sale at other places. I got my copy for around 20 bucks at some random UK book store. You can still find it for a good price, you just need to scour the internets.

(I also thought the Junko Mizuno story was quite good and it made me buy more of her books. We need more weird, avant-gardeish manga like this in the US. As opposed to all the idiotic shounen draaaaagfests and mansexyaoifangirl stuff)

7 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Comics Japan ! ! ! No giant robots, December 22, 2001

By	H_E_H (USA) - See all my reviews

This is yet another wonderful collection of strange Japanese Comics. In the same vein as anthologies SAKE JOCK and COMICS UNDERGROUND JAPAN, SECRET COMICS JAPAN is a hearty helping of strange, weird, beautiful and questionable comics.
If you're tired of the pretentious AMerican underground comis that Fantagraphics is publishing, then check out this collection of Japanese gems and take in a refreshing breath of creative air. - JOHN