Abandon the Old in Tokyo (4 points)

I really liked this series of short stories, probably one of my favorite works from the readings so far. I like these sorts of contained more human realistic stories. Like the stories follow fairly average individuals, in a somber and increasingly modernizing and isolating world with their very human flaws and misery laid bare. That's a key factor that I think tied the stories together, there are panels that consist of main characters being lost in the crowds of people or stuffed in train cars like sardines. I thought it was interesting how a good portion of the main characters didn’t talk all that much, like how in the 2nd story, the main character’s only speech is “I’m going to get tea.” This is when his fiance starts to remind him of his mother and how she “did so and so for him, and all the trouble it was.” He goes back to find her dead, after he left her. Tatsumi also does some interesting stuff with metaphor as well. In the third story, it is revealed that the secretary is the window wiper’s daughter. His profession was an interesting metaphor, albeit a bit on the nose (though it makes sense since it is an only 14 page story), as he tries to wipe clean the daughter’s “purity” like a window in the shower. It reminded me of something Paul Schrader, a prolific screenwriter and director, said about writing a script, which is that a good metaphor can be a profession, and that mixed with a good problem makes a solid new plot easier to write and set up. The Eel also has an interesting metaphor with the eels, as like sewer workers they are in a place they don’t belong yet they survive. The monkey also has a metaphor at the end, when the factory worker returns the monkey to the zoo and it is brutally murdered. At the end, runs away from an approaching crowd of humans. It makes sense as he says “the more people flock together, the more alienated they become.” I'm definitely going to check out more of his stuff.

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