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Sep 06, 2024 Web Exclusive By John Paul Bullock

Yamada Murasaki never received international acclaim during her lifetime. But now, thanks to Drawn & Quarterly’s excellent English language translations of her work, the groundbreaking manga artist is starting to get some of her much deserved recognition. Second Hand Love builds on the outstanding 2022 release, Talk to My Back, and contains two of the author’s most important stories: “A Blue Flame” and “Second Hand Love.”

“A Blue Flame” (also known as “A Shimmering Pale Color”) was originally serialized in Comic Morning from 1983-1984 then loosely adapted into the 1986 film Bed-In by erotic director Masaru Konuma. It’s the story of Emi, a woman in a long term affair with a married man. It showcases the author’s expert ability to take a quiet, nuanced character and tell a concise, elegant, and deceptively simple tale about overwhelmingly complex issues that are absolutely roiling with subtext. “Second Hand Love” is more of the same. This time it follows Yuko, who attempts to make sense of her own relationships while dealing with the fact that her father was unfaithful to her mother.

The book was translated by scholar Ryan Holmberg and includes illustrations that were drawn for Mita Masahiro’s 1997 novel A Loving Family. Fans will undoubtedly be delighted by the 1985 interview with the author from Advertising Review, where she gives some thoughts on her art such as: “I don’t really learn anything in the process of drawing. Instead, I draw whatever conclusions I’ve already come to in the process of living.” That’s just one in a series of truly fascinating insights into this important creator’s body of work.

Second Hand Love is an essential document of Yamada Murasaki’s career. Her work here is an incredible achievement in the face of the male dominated world of manga. This volume is definitely worth picking up. Hopefully, Drawn & Quarterly will release more of her stuff soon. (www.drawnandquarterly.com/books/second-hand-love)

Author rating: 8.5/10