Five Covers Selected by Rumiko Takahashi

Translated by: Harley Acres

The first Taniguchi-sensei work I chose was Blue Fighter (青の戦士). Additionally he was often paired with a manly, hard-boiled original author. ^[1] I get the impression he is the sort of creator who was good at those sorts of scenarios. So Keeping a Dog (犬を飼う/Inu o kau) was quite a shock. The simple daily life of dog-ownership was depicted and it touched my heart and brought a tear to my eye. Furthermore, following Keeping a Dog was Keeping a Cat (猫を飼う/Neko o kau). It may not have been intended, but it felt a little mischevious and taught me about the wide breadth of Taniguchi-sensei. ^[2]

Then there was The Solitary Gourmet (孤独のグルメ). I originally liked the previous work of Kusumi-sensei, the writer of the original. ^[3] When he was paired with Taniguchi-sensei it was sincerely fun. Taniguchi-sensei was so wonderful. I think he had an expressive power that appeals to the five senses and a sense of presence that is backed up by the power of his drawings. I would dare say that his drawings are so rich- you can feel the temperature in them, smell things, hear sounds and experience the flow of time even in a single chapter's introduction illustration. That is why I would dare to say that Taniguchi-sensei was at a place where he could truly express the full power of his drawing abilities. I am extremely happy to choose these manga.

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Footnotes

• [1] Jiro Taniguchi (谷口 ジロー) primarily worked in the gekiga (劇画) style of manga and often worked as an illustrator alongside a writer. He debuted in 1970 and worked with Garon Tsuchiya (土屋ガロン) (aka Marley Caribu [狩撫麻礼]) on Blue Fighter (青の戦士/Ao no Senshi), Knuckle Wars (ナックル・ウォーズ/Nakkuru Wozu) and Live! Odyssey (LIVE! オデッセイ). Taniguchi wrote and illustrated the mountain climbing manga Summit of the Gods (神々の山嶺/Kamigami no Itadaki) though it was based on a novel by another of his writing partners, Baku Yumemakura (夢枕獏). Alongside French artist Moebius, Taniguchi illustrated Icaro (イカル/Ikaru). Taniguchi passed away in 2017 at the age of 69. His manga Hotel Harbor View (海景酒店), written by Natsuo Sekikawa (関川夏央) was one of the first manga published by Viz in the United States. Later his manga Benkei in New York, written by Jinpachi Mori (毛利甚八), was also published by Viz in English.
• [2] Keeping a Dog (犬を飼う/Inu o kau) and Keeping a Cat (猫を飼う/Neko o kau) are both short stories by Taniguchi.
• [3] The Solitary Gourmet (孤独のグルメ) was written by Masayuki Kusumi (久住昌之) a prolific manga writer who often delves into subjects dealing with food. The Solitary Gourmet was adapted into a live-action series by Netflix.

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