Yoshihiro Tatsumi's Dark Japan in New Comic Anthology
Coconino Press has released 'Le lacrime della bestia' (The Tears of the Beast), a 2017 anthology of seven short comics by Yoshihiro Tatsumi (1935–2015), the founder of the gekiga movement. The collection assembles stories originally published in Japanese industry magazines, now selected for international audiences. Tatsumi's gekiga style deliberately broke from traditional manga by targeting mature readers, abandoning humor for realistic, bitter narratives. The stories depict marginalized individuals—workers, prostitutes, outcasts—grappling with disillusionment and failure. Notable episodes include 'Adorata Scimmia' about an injured laborer, 'Lettera a S.' recounting Issei Sagawa's 1981 murder and cannibalism of a classmate in Paris, 'Ritrovarsi' on obsessive love, and the title story 'Le lacrime della bestia' about a husband confronting his wife's rapist. The 176-page black-and-white volume (€17.50, ISBN 9788876183294) is published by Coconino Press, Bologna, part of Fandango Editore.
Key facts
- Yoshihiro Tatsumi is considered the founder of the gekiga movement.
- The anthology 'Le lacrime della bestia' includes seven short stories.
- Stories were originally published in Japanese industry magazines.
- The collection was released in 2017 by Coconino Press.
- The book has 176 pages, black and white, priced at €17.50.
- ISBN is 9788876183294.
- One story, 'Lettera a S.', is about Issei Sagawa's 1981 murder and cannibalism in Paris.
- Tatsumi was born in Osaka in 1935 and died in Tokyo in 2015.
Entities
Artists
- Yoshihiro Tatsumi
Institutions
- Coconino Press
- Fandango Editore
Locations
- Osaka
- Japan
- Tokyo
- Paris
- France
- Bologna
- Italy