Author: Hojo Tsukasa
Copyright: Hojo Tsukasa, Nihashi Shingo

Although his works have yet to be translated into English, Hojo Tsukasa is a veteran manga artist with a large international following. His best known works are CITY HUNTER and CAT'S EYE, and most anime fans have probably seen the anime adaptation of the former, which plays off a combination of slap-stick humor and slick action. He has earned a reputation for wonderful art, beautiful female characters and hilarious visual gags, but his current serial FAMILY COMPO also proves his story-telling abilities.
For the 50th anniversary of the end of WWII, Hojo and JUMP Magazine, which carries the bulk of his work, teamed up to create three short stories to mark the occasion. Instead of the usual formula, these focused on delivering accounts of personal wartime tragedy in less than 80 pages—no mean feat. It is these three stories, along with two other unrelated tales, that are presented in this small, pocket-sized paperback. Each tale includes a commentary by Hojo, making this collection a good buy even for fans who may have read the stories before in JUMP.
The book begins with the most simple, clear-cut of the lot. Entitled AOZORA NO HATE ("THE ENDS OF THE SKY") with the original concept credited to Nihashi Shingo, this story is set in the last days of the war, when a desperate Japan began sending "kamikaze" squadrons against the American fleet. A young boy, Junpei, fulfills his dreams of flying when he is accepted into the aviation training program. He vows to follow in his elder brother's footsteps as an ace pilot, but the stark reality of the situation proves otherwise; his first, and last, assignment is as a "special attack" pilot.
We see a boy, barely 16 years old, struggling to live up to the ideals of loyalty and patriotism fostered by his peers, even while knowing in his heart he doesn't want to, that he shouldn't, die in such a fashion. His brother finds out about these orders, but there is nothing to be done but for both to carry out their duties. The story closes with Junpei rushing headlong towards a carrier, crying the name of his sweetheart, together with the words, "That day, there was no record of losses in the American fleet. And five months later, on August 15th, 1945, Nippon surrendered unconditionally to the Allies."
The second tale is SHOUNEN TACHI NO ITA NATSU: MELODY OF JENNY ("THE SUMMER OF THE BOYS"). A group of young children run away from their foster home in the countryside and head towards Tokyo in hopes of seeing their parents again. They are befriended by Dave, an American who has escaped the prison camps of the Japanese government, and he is also trying to reach his Japanese wife and daughter in Tokyo. After initial hostilities, Dave gains their trust and love as he cares for them during their journey. While the outcome is the predictable tragedy of Dave's death at the hands of the Japanese Army, this piece is memorable for the very last scene, as the narrator wraps up this reminiscence and brings it to a full close.
The last of the series, AMERICAN DREAM, is perhaps the most difficult. Just before the outbreak of war, as tensions between the United States and Japan grew increasingly hostile, Japan sent its national baseball team to play in the major leagues. The focus of AMERICAN DREAM is Murakawa, the star pitcher and a man of amazing talent. He is scouted and, after some hesitation, accepts an offer when he is told that he could make far more money in the U.S. than in Japan. (Murakawa's concern is that his family depends on his earnings to support their livelihood.) To Murakawa, who believes America is the land of opportunity, his American dream seems to be finally coming true...
Unfortunately, because of souring relations between Japan and the U.S., it turns out that Japanese are not allowed to send funds out of the States, and Murakawa's hopes are destroyed in one stroke. Murakawa's overwhelming bitterness and frustration, and the final act of friendship by the American who scouted him, forms the climax of this story.
The last two titles in this collection, TAXI DRIVER and FAMILY PLOT, have nothing to do with the Second World War but are instead included to give volume to the book. Featuring a taxi driver who is a vampire, and a boy whose father suffers from amnesia, these tales are humorous and more familiar to fans who expect something more along the lines of mainstream Hojo. The latter is, however, quite lackluster and plays up the "ideal family" concept a little too blatantly. The real focus here is on the war tragedies.
So how does this book fare? I am from Southeast Asia, but I do not hold any particular prejudice against Japanese, or so I would like to believe. These stories are about normal people from whom war has taken something precious, be it friends, hope or life itself. It does not touch upon the reasons for war, nor does it make excuses, and in that sense I do not feel offended.
These stories could be from any war, in any country. One would be hard-pressed to find any true controversy here, although you could argue that it paints everything in too romantic a light and does not cover the real issues that should have been explored about Japan's crimes. That may be so, but then again, these stories also have something history books do not—optimism for a better present. That, I think, makes this collection worth a look.

Publisher: Shuueisha
304 pages; Black and White
ISBN: ISBN4-08-617305-0
¥600
Where to buy