くしゃみ浦沢直樹短編集

KUSHAMI: URASAWA NAOKI TANPENSHUU

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
1
RELEASE
April 26, 2019
CHAPTERS
8

DESCRIPTION

Urasawa's characters confront fantastical elements ranging from psychic powers, to alien visitors to planet Earth, to attacks by giant monsters. On the flip side, the author philosophizes about his real-world experiences with the wild and wacky international music scene.

Plus, a classic, funny animal tale, in Urasawa's inimitable style!

(Source: VIZ Media)

DAMIYAN!
Tsuki ni mukatte nagero!
Oyaji Shu
Henry and Charles
It's a Beautiful Day
Musica Nostra
Kaiju Okoku
Solo Mission

CHAPTERS

RELATED TO KUSHAMI: URASAWA NAOKI TANPENSHUU

ONE SHOT SupernaturalDAMiYAN!

ONE SHOT ActionTanshin Funin

ONE SHOT ActionKaijuu Oukoku

ONE SHOT AdventureTsuki ni Mukatte Nagero!

ONE SHOT ActionHenry to Charles

ONE SHOT Slice of LifeIt's a Beautiful Day

ONE SHOT MusicOyaji Shuu

MANGA MusicMusica Nostra

REVIEWS

dusk
70/100
Decent selection of stories with a few standouts.
Since this is an anthology I'll be reviewing each one individually. My review for the complete package is in the conclusion at the end. There are no spoilers (not that it really matters here).

DAMIYAN!: 8/10

A schoolboy with psychic abilities acts as a hitman for the yakuza so his friend can repay his debt from his gacha game addiction. It's about as goofy as it sounds. I cannot stress enough how much I like the character design for Damiyan. Appearing very similar to Shigeo Kageyama, and also possessing psychic abilities (hmmmm), he, along with Pierre from "Kaiju Kingdom", are by far the most memorable characters in this collection. The story doesn't take itself too seriously and is full of betrayal and unfortunate events. However, the conclusion is sweet and ended the first story in the anthology on a high note.

Throw Toward the Moon!: 7/10

This was produced by both Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki, who co-authored with Urasawa on works such as Billy Bat and Pluto. In the author's commentary, Urasawa states that "it's a dense story for the number of pages" and that it has "the distinctive feel of a Urasawa-Nagasaki collaboration". I'd say that is fairly accurate, as although nowhere near as complex as Pluto or Billy Bat, shares a similar atmosphere. It focuses on an obituary writer for a local newspaper who meets a man who can see the future. What follows is a concise, albeit confusing murder mystery that is probably the best it can be given the page limit.

The Old Guys: 6/10

Urasawa discusses his experience at concerts as the titular Old Guy. The story features big names such as The Beatles and Bob Dylan. While not bad, it wasn't anything too special or memorable. It was a nice snippet of Urasawa's personality seeing him describe his experiences.

Henry and Charles: 8.5/10

A Saturday-morning cartoon-esque story in the likes of Tom and Jerry or Looney Tunes. Henry and Charles embark on a mission through the treacherous kitchen in an attempt to retrieve a cake, while trying to avoid awakening a cat from its slumber. It is pure wholesome fun, and there are a lot of genius ideas for hijinks in a small-scale world.

It's a Beautiful Day: 4/10

My immediate thoughts upon finishing this are "???". I was expecting a Monster-esque side story from Urasawa here but what I got was a bizarre and uninteresting story about the late musician Kenji Endo, who was friends with Urasawa and the inspiration for the 20th Century Boys protagonist of the same name, who finds a stripper who has a snake for some reason (???). At the end of the short story it is revealed that the events of the short actually happened, which makes the short more amusing in hindsight. That along with a nice double-page spread are the only reasons I didn't rate this story lower.

Musica Nostra: 6/10

A recount of Urasawa's experience meeting with rock icons (rather, people associated with them) and attending music festivals. It too features big names such as The Beatles and Bob Dylan. Perfectly fine for what it is, but I was keen to move on to the next story, and I'm very happy I did.

Kaiju Kingdom: 9/10
```
>"This totally rocks!"
~ Pierre
>
<center>
This thought-provoking sentiment articulately sums up my opinions on this short story. 
The story follows Pierre, a kaiju otaku who has finally fulfilled his dream of travelling to Tokyo with the goal of seeing a kaiju on one of their yearly attacks. 
This was by far my favourite short in this anthology. Every second of this was enjoyable, with me imagining this perfectly cheesy script as a legitimate kaiju movie. The plot makes no sense at all and touches on multiple clichés in kaiju movies. A concerningly-quick-progressing romantic subplot, a government conspiracy with a generic villain, a tragic backstory, random side characters appearing out of nowhere and acting as if they've been there the whole time, Tokyo Tower and an epic ending. I had a lot of fun reading this one.
#</center>Tanshin Funin/Solo Mission: 7/10<center>
Solo Mission is about a man who has to save the cosmos and get money to pay off his home loan and his son's tuition. The story begins quite grim, with his distressed wife worrying about his fate after the mission. The ending however was... _unexpected_, to say the least.

# </center>Conclusion~~~
Sneeze: Naoki Urasawa Story Collection is a decent collection of short stories from a legendary mangaka. The stories, some of them even being only a few pages, are nowhere near the level of "Monster" or "20th Century Boys", but that wasn't expected. I do not regret buying this, despite its lows, as some of the highs are, well, for lack of a better term, high.
```
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