Category: manga


  • On Hayao Miyazaki’s Starting Point

    When I got the email informing users that Book Depository was closing down for good (so much sadness about this), I did some browsing for what was to be my farewell bounty.

    I looked for authors I enjoy, to see if there was something I had missed, glimpsed through the available artbooks to find out if there was something that called out to me, and tried to remember if there was any author that belongs to my “must have at least one book of theirs” list that I had somehow ignored.

    While I was doing this, of course, a lot of artbooks on Ghibli movies came up, and between those, there was one that lured me in, because, well, it isn’t an artbook at all.

    There are two Hayao Miyazaki books that I had no idea they existed, which collect a huge amount of of articles, lectures and notes he wrote from the late seventies to early 2000s (I do mean huge, each book is over 450 pages long). One is Starting Point, the other is Turning Point (I am currently halfway through Starting Point).

    I find it extremely interesting to read the notes of authors on their process and their craft. I also have an insane affinity with capricorns and their methods o.o. They lure me in with our shared saturnian vibes. It has become somewhat of a game to see the sign of authors I enjoy, and how 80% of the times, that sign is capricorn.

    But astrology games aside, I’ve had a brush with viewpoints that I can’t but find so mediocre last month, from people who, if we consider “work in the graphic arts” as a shared element, are from the same field as I am, that some healing by being submerged in an affinity I respect was needed.

    This book is doing all the healing.

    The writing is so clear, to the point, and with a sincerity and clarity in motives that’s so beautiful to read. My brain feels loved. The book focuses on animation, manga, life as someone that works in a creative field that involves storytelling, and the reality of what it’s like to work in that field.

    So if you work on either field out of ambition and drive, then it’s a book that it’s likely that it will speak to you.

    It’s a pity I wasn’t aware of Starting Point and Turning Point earlier on, but I am grateful that I found them now.

    Even when I have very strong opinions, I tend to express them “publicly”, be it in a lecture or my socials, through reactiveness. When I see something that triggers my sense of justice, I jump in. Or something that overwhelms me. Otherwise, everything pretty much exists inside. But these days I am so aware of how beautiful it is to find solace and understanding through the written words of people whose thoughts and experiences trigger a certain affinity, that I am starting to feel more inclined to share more, and express more, not just when I feel I have to, but as a way of sharing experiences and adding more viewpoints into the sea of individuals that is the collective human experience.

    To sum it up, I am very grateful to all the things Miyazaki’s Starting Point is making me think about. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the reality of working in a creative field, and to those who have a sense of wonder about this world.

    It will make your brain happy.


  • METAMORFOSIS, el nuevo libro en la familia

    metamorfosis el libro nuevo en la familia

    Una semana pasó de Crack Bang Boom, y entre las muchas cosas que pasaron a nivel evento y experiencias; a nivel personal estuvo el lanzamiento en Argentina de METAMORFOSIS, el nuevo libro en la familia Gutter (y el primer libro propio después de la pandemia, que prolongó la pausa planeada a un año extra).

    Es un libro que es un antes y despues, y que suelo describir como la maduración de la artista. Siguiendo la filosofía de El Cid de Capricornio, mucho de la vida es buscar que nuestras habilidades estén lo suficientemente afiladas, y en este caso, es un libro que considero bastante filoso.

    Para quienes todavía no lo tienen, METAMORFOSIS contiene historietas cortas que se ubican dentro del género de terror. O para ser más específica, en lo extraño. Pornipulpis para mí es una historia romántica, no terrorífica. Quienes ya lo tienen en sus manos, es probable que se reencuentren con páginas que vieron en otros formatos (Pornipulpis, Netsuke, La Zarigüeya y la Perra y La Farfalla salieron en otras publicaciones). Todas ellas fueron actualizadas para METAMORFOSIS, además de estrenar a Hypnos y a la adaptación del cuento Las Rayas, de Horacio Quiroga.

    Hace rato que en la obra propia me permito dibujar y contar lo que tengo ganas, y este libro es bastante una oda a eso. Hay muchísima naturaleza absoluta en sus misterios, mucho sobre el lado oscuro de la empatía. Y a nivel visual, muchísimos desafíos. No hay una página que no tenga algo que fue complejo desarrollar, ya sea desde la fluidez lúdica de Pornipulpis, a la ultra intelectualizada Las Rayas, y la felizmente guilty pleasure La Zarigüeya y la Perra.

    Es, en algo inesperado considerando la temática del libro, una publicación que considero celebratoria. Después de tanto aislamiento, generar un libro donde cada página fue lanzarse contra desafíos técnicos con alegría, es un gusto. Espero que se noten las ganas de compartir con ustedes todo mi amor por el medio y cuánto lo disfruto. Creo que metí todo lo que amo de la historieta en METAMORFOSIS.

    Oveja Negra es el final de los training days, Cría Cuervos es tinta-sangre. Rakas es una búsqueda por mi propia fuerza.

    Me gusta considerar a METAMORFOSIS la fuerza.

    Las Historietas
    • La Farfalla
    • Hypnos
    • Netsuke
    • Pornipulpis
    • Las Rayas
    • La Zarigüeya y la Perra
    • La Zarigüeya y la Perra: Mørt y Cinder
    • La Zarigüeya y la Perra: Dientes

    A partir de Septiembre entra en distribución por CHE, así que recuerden pedírselo a su comiquería amiga.