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Original title:
少年と犬
Original language:
Japanese
Publication info:
Bungeishunjū
28 June 2022
208 pages
A5 size (148 x 210 mm)
Genre:
Manga / Graphic Novel
Rights handled by New River:
Foreign rights outside Asia
Rights sold:
French (Éditions Akata)
Italy (Feltrinelli)
Russia (Eksmo)
World Spanish (PRH Spain)
The Boy and the Dog (manga)
by Seishu Hase and Takashi Murakami
The manga edition of the 2020 Naoki Prize-winner
After the 2011 tsunami, a young man finds a stray German shepherd mix. The dog becomes a faithful companion to him and his mother, who suffers from dementia, for a time before the young man is killed in an accident. A thief is the next temporary owner, followed by a prostitute, an old hunter, and finally the young boy that the dog had been seeking all along. Five interrelated stories, each set in a different part of Japan and depicting the life of each new owner, track the progress of the dog on its epic journey from tsunami-ravaged Tohoku in the north to earthquake-ravaged Kyushu in the south.
The mystery of where the dog is going drives the narrative and, as details of his origins emerge, we also see that the humans whose lives it enters desperately need a guardian presence. This manga edition combines Seishu Hase’s renowned storytelling abilities with Takashi Murakami’s heartfelt illustrations to create a moving portrayal of damaged lives and the semi-mythical relationship between humankind and dogs.
About the author
Seishu Hase (1965-) is a prolific award-winning author. His debut All Night City (1996) was nominated for the Naoki Prize and was the first of many of his books to be adapted for film. His subsequent titles have won him honours including the Mystery Writers of Japan Award and he was nominated six times for the Naoki Prize before finally winning with The Boy and the Dog.
Takashi Murakami (1965-) is an acclaimed author of graphic novels in Japan, best known for Stargazing Dog (2009), which has been translated into many countries and won the Jury's Recommendation at the 12th Media Art Festival organised by the Ministry of Culture in Japan in 2008.