#okashiratsuki

Okashiratsuki will be licensed in English by Tokyopop as A Tail's Tale! Publication Date: 5th November 2024

I promised @sevencolouredworld / @sumomoyumekalibrary photos of the (recent) French publication of Okashiratsuki about a week ago, so here they are! :D

To anyone not familiar with the manga, here’s an excerpt from my upcoming site:

Sahara’s latest series, Okashiratsuki (2018), brings out the recurring themes in her works best: The protagonist cannot acquire a tan, no matter how many hours she puts into outdoor sports, and so the people around her assume she doesn’t do sports, doesn’t go outside, doesn’t give her best. Understandably, she wants to acquire a tan to fit in with her peers, a wish that translates to: I want people to see the effort I put in, and to see me for who I am; I want what makes me me to be plainly visible, to leave no space for misassumption.  The male lead, on the other hand, has a pig tail that is literally depicted in the manga, but is otherwise an obvious allegory for a non-conforming trait, a difference that may be harmless, but is stigmatized. By depicting that trait playfully, yet treating the subject matter in all seriousness, Okashiratsuki is a powerful open narrative that pleads for more tolerance and genuine understanding in matters of disability, mental illness, disorders, sexual orientation, gender identity, body image and further.

Noeve Grafx is a relatively new publisher on the French manga market, but the attention to detail and care they put into their publications makes any volume a true delight and real treat. The dust jacket and undercover design is standard in French manga publication; the obi (the strip of paper around the volumes), however, is not. (All three are standard in the original Japanese publications, if I’m not mistaken.) The collector’s cards are in Noeve Grafx’ own design and come with each volume that they publish.

I really love what kind of content (visual and textual) the publisher decided to feature on the obi and cards, especially since I rarely see this kind of playful, artistic and poetic quality in bonus material! (E.g. in the German market, they tend to be more gaudy.)

Translations of the bonus material under the cut.