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Sean Michael Wilson
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Cigarette Girl Paperback – May 24, 2016

by Masahiko Matsumoto (Author, Illustrator), Sean Michael Wilson (Editor)
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 14 ratings
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Welcome to the quiet, evocative urban dramas of Masahiko Matsumoto, one of the leading lights of the Japanese alternative-comics movement known as "gekiga." Originally published in 1974, these eleven stories now form the first English-language collection of Matsumoto's mature work. His shy, uncertain heroes face broken hearts, changing families, money troubles, sexual anxiety, and the pressures of tradition, but with a whimsy and lightness of touch that is Matsumoto's trademark. With a new introduction by Matsumoto's well-known colleague, the late Yoshihiro Tatsumi.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    264 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Top Shelf Productions
  4. Publication date
    May 24, 2016
  5. Reading age
    16 years and up
  6. Dimensions
    5.2 x 0.8 x 7.2 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    1603093826
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1603093828
  9. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Top Shelf Productions; Illustrated edition (May 24, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 264 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1603093826
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1603093828
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 16 years and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.9 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 0.8 x 7.2 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 14 ratings

About the author

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Sean Michael Wilson

Sean Michael Wilson

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Sean Michael Wilson is a Harvey and Eisner nominated comic book writer from Scotland. He has had more than 30 books published with a variety of US, UK and Japanese publishers. Although also writing 'western' style graphic novels, such as adaptations of classical novels, he often works with Japanese and Chinese artists on manga style books.

He is currently the only British creator writing books for big Japanese publisher Kodansha. He is also the editor of the critically acclaimed collection 'AX:alternative manga' (one of Publishers Weekly's 'Best ten books of 2010' and nominated for a Harvey Award) and writer of the Stan Lee Award winning adaptation of 'Sweeney Todd'. In 2016 his book 'The Faceless Ghost' was nominated for the prestigious Eisner Book Awards, and received a medal in the 2016 'Independent Publisher Book Awards'. His book 'Secrets of the Ninja' was awarded a medal in the 10th 'International Manga Awards' of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs - the first British person to receive that award.

He has given talks on Gekiga style manga and AX in the USA, UK and Japan, to try to increase knowledge of mature, literary style manga. He has received various grants in support of his publications. In general, Wilson has attempted to do comic books that are different from the normal superhero/fantasy brands, working with a variety of 'non-comic book' organisations in the process. His book with War on Want, 'Iraq:Operation Corporate Takeover' was reported on by a variety of mainstream agencies - such as Reuters, CCTV in China and several Middle Eastern magazines. His main influences remain British and American creators - such as Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Eddie Campbell and Harvey Pekar.

http://seanmichaelwilson.weebly.com

http://sean-michael-wilson.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @SeanMichaelWord

https://www.instagram.com/seanmichaelwilson/

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
14 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Island of Sanity
5.0 out of 5 stars Utterly charming
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2016
Verified Purchase
This is an utterly charming book. I've read and re-read it multiple times. It is about the aspirations of gentle souls looking for love in a complicated time as Japan was becoming a rich society after the Pacific war. The characters are conflicted and not entitled. It seems that they don't really think that they can be loved. But they find love around them as they try to survive. There is an underlying theme of complex people finding respect and compassion from unlikely sources in their lives. The compassion that the characters show to each other in their messed up lives yields a message of hope that should resonate with anyone who finds themselves caught in the daily grind of their lives, and who needs a reason to be decent and good to those around them, even when they feel put upon and in despair. It gives one hope. The art is lovely, and sometimes masterful in setting the mood. For me it was the best book of 2016.
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L. Martin
3.0 out of 5 stars One Big Flaw
Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2018
Verified Purchase
An interesting and often touching depiction of the lives of ordinary Japanese c. 1960. There is a sense of loneliness always waiting in the wings, as these characters go through their complex efforts to find a place for themselves. It's pretty clear that the creator of these stories has great compassion for his characters.

On the other hand, the drawing is pretty bad, in an especially irritating way: Creating stories about the difficult emotions felt by people trying to find a person or situation to belong tp, this artist sadly just can't draw faces very well. For a manga from the same time period, with the same deep compassion for its characters AND good-quality drawing, see "Red Snow" by Susume Katsumata. That manga collection was published by the same outfit that published this one.

It is striking how different these manga from the '60s are from the highly superficial strictly-for-fun manga predominating in Japan today.
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Steve
2.0 out of 5 stars Strange and occasionally enjoyable
Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2022
Verified Purchase
While I’m familiar with a good deal of literary/slice-of-life manga from this period (“gekiga,” by Tsuge, Tatsumi, Yamada,) the stories in this volume tended to be quite obtuse and, at least for me, unsatisfying. A couple of stories were impactful, but most were meandering and left me scratching my head. I don’t know if it was the translation or original script, but this book rarely came together for me. Also the strange “Family-Guy-like” art style that other reviewers mention never grew on me. For fans of this era of gekiga manga, I wouldn’t recommend this title before most of the others I’ve gotten to read.
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Paige L
3.0 out of 5 stars I liked this book because it told various tales of how ...
Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2016
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I liked this book because it told various tales of how men and women interact in both life and love and how one should especially guard what is precious to themselves and know what they want. Although even when you stick your neck out it can turn awry!
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Wayne A McCoy
4.0 out of 5 stars Manga meets indie film in this collection of quieter stories that I really enjoyed
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2017
'Cigarette Girl' by Masahiko Matsumoto is a reprint collection of manga from the 1970s. These stories come from the alternative comics movement known as "gekiga."

There are 11 stories collected here and they are about normal people and lives that don't feel fulfilled. One story follows an older lady as she tries to make her way as a condom salesperson. She ends up not being very good at sales, but pretty good at getting entangled in people's lives. In another story, a man buys cigarettes, not because he smokes, but because he secretly likes the woman who sells them.

Alternative and mature should be described more as indie film. The stories tell quiet stories of people interacting in each others lives and the solitude and isolation that can be felt even in a crowd of people. This volume also includes some essays about the artist and the work. It's an interesting reprint and I'm glad I got a chance to read it.

I received a review copy of this manga from Top Shelf Productions, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this manga.
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Kristine Fisher
4.0 out of 5 stars innate disgust, ongoing body issues
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2016
Cigarette Girl by Mashiko Matsumoto is a free anthology of e-comics given to me by NetGalley that I read in early May, shortly before seeing my mom for an early Mother's Day.

Cigarette Girl describes a New Japan, a new person who observes and interacts with their world and other people with boredom, idleness, surprise, innate disgust, ongoing body issues, and suppressed desire.
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IlanaWD
4.0 out of 5 stars Understanding Japan
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2016
A book to read by anyone interested to understand the contemporary Japan. The collection of e-comics reveals different aspects of the young Japanese, revealing the ways in which ancestral restrictions and tabus are translated into everyday modern-times rituals. Many of the issues are still of actuality, after all these years and changes underwent at the global level, hence the relevance of the reading.
Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher via NetGalley.com
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