Tropic of the Sea by Satoshi Kon and published by Vertical Comics



The goal of my blog is to share the joy and love I have for unknown comics and underground artists.

Today we are looking at "Tropic of the Sea" by Satoshi Kon and published in the United States by Vertical Comics.

The volume I bought is the only volume for this series. The comic is a stand alone and the plot is completely finished by the end of the book. Now, if you are not aware, Satoshi Kon-San died several years back so this book is all we are going to get with this particular franchise. Kon-San is a famous anime director and has brought works like Paprika and Tokyo Godfathers to the big screen across the world. Now... did I mention that Satoshi Kon-San is an artist and made his own mangas from time to time? This is one of those beauties.

I will not ruin the story but the theme is about real life mixing with family dedication and a tad of mysticism. The story revolves around a boy who is ending his high school life and he is about to leave a small town and move to the city. It is about his family and their tradition of worshiping the sea and why they do it. It is a great book and quite a thriller. It will leave you bewildered and wanting to live that classy life out in a small town. This book is executed with pure mastery that I would not expect from anyone but the creator of the movie Paprika. The style is very Shonen (boys) and focuses less on splash pages and big panels but more on expressions, backgrounds, tones and movements.

Now the art work is very detailed and gives off a very 80s / 90s art work style. It looks very much like the characters were taken from a Katsuhiro Otomo (creator of Akira movie and mangas) book but if you look at Kon-San's style, this is his style as well and he uses it through out his animations and books so it is intriguing to see two famous artists with similar styles.

I finished this book and felt compelled to read more but he ended it so perfectly so I will have to live with that feeling. Sadly this is a manga no longer on the local book shelves. The book is pretty cheap on ebay but do not feel afraid to check local stores for cheaper options. I highly recommend this book. It is a mastery of the art medium in every way and makes you feel satisfied by the ending.

Score time:

Art: 8 / 10
Story: 10 / 10
Flow of book: 9 / 10
Impression after reading: satisfied

Reviewed and shared by Harry Kohles of Metairie, Louisiana. Former art student with a fetish for corny realism. Helping to share comics and mangas you never knew existed~

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