My Brother’s Husband: Volume I

Description

One of Amazon.com”s Top 10 Graphic Novels of the year

”[My Brother”s Husband] arrives in the UK garlanded with praise from, among others, Alison Bechdel. It”s not hard to see why. Not only is it very touching; it”s also, for the non-Japanese reader, unexpectedly fascinating” Rachel Cooke, Observer, Graphic Novel of the Month

”When a cuddly Canadian comes to call, Yaichi – a single Japanese dad – is forced to confront his painful past. With his young daughter Kana leading the way, he gradually rethinks his assumptions about what makes a family. Renowned manga artist Gengoroh Tagame turns his stunning draftsmanship to a story very different from his customary fare, to delightful and heartwarming effect” Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home

Yaichi is a work-at-home suburban dad in contemporary Tokyo; formerly married to Natsuki, father to their young daughter, Kana. Their lives suddenly change with the arrival at their doorstep of a hulking, affable Canadian named Mike Flanagan, who declares himself the widower of Yaichi”s estranged gay twin, Ryoji. Mike is on a quest to explore Ryoji”s past, and the family reluctantly but dutifully takes him in. What follows is an unprecedented and heartbreaking look at the state of a largely still-closeted Japanese gay culture: how it”s been affected by the West, and how the next generation can change the preconceptions about it and prejudices against it.