Ciguatera, Volume 1

Description

A story of self-doubting youth from award-winning manga creator Minoru Furuya, in his English debut series, Ciguatera. This coming-of-age tale from contemporary master Minoru Furuya centers on seventeen-year-old Yusuke Ogino, a self-described loser whose only refuge from the bullying hell he experiences at school is his dream of freedom on a motorcycle. But the unexpected entrance of a beautiful young woman into his life threatens to upend his whole world, forcing him to re-evaluate his relationships and even his sense of self. Instantly relatable and painfully honest, Furuya's manga blends pitch-black humor with pathos and the awkward realities of everyday life to produce a quintessential tale of youth. The meticulous yet uninhibited art swings from stark realism to laugh-out-loud caricature, while nuanced characters and complex emotions help Ciguatera transcend the bounds of genre to take its rightful place as one of the great masterpieces of graphic storytelling.

Born in 1972 in Saitama Prefecture, Minoru Furuya trained to be a barber before trying his hand at manga. His prize-winning debut The Ping Pong Club was made into a hit anime, while his series Himeanole and Himizu have both been adapted for film, the latter winning the Marcello Mastroianni Award when it screened in competition at the Venice International Film Festival. Furuya's fans include Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho (Parasite), manga artist Inio Asano (Girl on the Shore), and video game visionary Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear). Ciguatera is Furuya's first manga to appear in English.