From Ponent Mon: Seventeen authors (nine from France or French-speaking countries, eight from Japan) brought together in the same book, a succession of freely created short stories about the same universe: Japan. The French, of course, journeyed to Japan for the occasion. Each cartoonist was sent for two weeks to a different city in the archipelago (Joann Sfar in Tôkyô, Emmanuel Guibert in Kyôto, Nicolas de Crécy in Nagoya, etc.) to bring back an original creation. The Japanese tell us about their district, the city where they live or where they originally come from (Kazuichi Hanawa's story being about the northern island of Hokkaido, Jiro Taniguchi's about the town of Tottori, etc.) The result is often inspired, always surprising: Japan through new eyes. "Japan" will appear simultaneously in French, Japanese, Spanish, Italian and English. Along with "A Patch Of Dreams" by Hideji Oda, it is the first step in a series of international creations with left-to-right reading direction, created for us by some of the best European and Japanese comic book artists. List of included short stories: At the Seaside - [TAKAHAMA Kan](https://www.mangaupdates.com/authors.html?id=4331) The Gateway - David Prudhomme Summer Sky - [TANIGUCHI Jiro](https://www.mangaupdates.com/authors.html?id=714) Now I Can Die! - Aurélia Aurita Osaka 2034 - François Schuiten & Benoît Peeters Shin.Ichi. - Emmanual Guibert The New Gods - Nicolas de Crécy *Kankichi* - [MATSUMOTO Taiyou](https://www.mangaupdates.com/authors.html?id=361) The Tokyo of Qualtérou - Joann Sfar The Sunflower - [Little Fish](https://www.mangaupdates.com/authors.html?id=19995) The Song of the Crickets - [ANNO Moyoco](https://www.mangaupdates.com/authors.html?id=152) In Love Alley - [Frédéric Boilet](https://www.mangaupdates.com/authors.html?id=6069) The City of Trees - Fabrice Neaud The Festival of the Bell-Horses - [IGARASHI Daisuke](https://www.mangaupdates.com/authors.html?id=2216) In the Deep Forest - [HANAWA Kazuichi](https://www.mangaupdates.com/authors.html?id=2080) Sapporo Fiction - Étienne Davodeau

Renei thinks she's going crazy. After many years, she has begun to dream about "Ku's World" all the time, a place beneath the shadow of the mysterious Mount Babiranma which is inhabited by fantastic creatures -Nagizari, God, the little Rey, the lethal teppas- which is where her dead brother, who is going through an identity crisis, may be, as well as her best friend, who committed suicide some time ago and has now returned for her. As she muses on the sense of life, things in the real world do not seem to be going her way either and when the inhabitants of "Ku's World" begin to reveal themselves to her and try to persuade her to go along with them, she no longer knows if her life is a dream or a nightmare. Will they find the answer to the mystery Mt. Babiranma conceals? And more importantly, will they all escape with their lives? (Source: Ponent Mon)

How do you say “thank you” and “goodbye” to a woman who has been domineering and difficult her whole life? Especially when that woman is your mother! Yukari had long struggled in a chaotic love-hate relationship with her mother Chieko, so when her mother is diagnosed with advanced stage pancreatic cancer with just months to live, she is faced with a difficult situation. Takinami honestly recounts the turmoil created by this announcement from her sister Nao without ever descending into pathos. At first she thinks of the practical – where should her mother be, who’s going to look after her, how can I with my work and my child? Then slowly she starts to face the fact of losing this energetic woman who had never even caught a cold to her memory! After years marked by difficult communication, will they now manage to overcome their conflicts and say what’s truly in their hearts before it’s too late? (Source: Ponent Mon)

This manga simply describes how Gorou Inogashira, the main character, chooses and takes a meal. Unlike other gourmet manga, Gorou likes to eat at cheap restaurants and no trivia on cuisine is given. The authors are trying to depict the essentials of the act of "eating" by Gorou's monologue, which comprises most of the lines of this manga. *Notes: Nominated to the 20th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize.*

A troubled young woman collapses drunk in a pool outside an old folks’ home, prompting a moment of lucidity from a senile old man inside, and forming a bond between the woman and the old man’s former mistress.

This project was formed as part of the celebrations of the 120th anniversary of Franco-Korean diplomatic relations with the support of the French Embassy in Seoul. In the very heart of Seoul, close to the Central Station and a stone's throw from the hotel where the French authors of this collection stayed, a huge billboard illustrates a visionary picture. The French high-speed TGV train route (KTX in Korean) links Seoul to Paris and Paris to Seoul with just a single line. For the Koreans it is not a joke, nor wild imagination, it is a project! So while you are waiting to travel to Seoul by land, here is the magic of the graphic novel with twelve Korean and French stories: escape to Korea for a while.

Acclaimed manga artist Jiro Taniguchi provides the latest entry in the Louvre collection of graphic novels. After a group trip to Europe, a Japanese artist stops in Paris alone, intent on visiting the museums of the capital. But, bedridden in his hotel room with fever, he faces the absolute solitude of one suffering in a foreign land, deprived of any immediate or familiar recourse. When the fever breaks somewhat, he sets out on his visit and promptly gets lost in the crowded halls of the Louvre. Very soon, he discovers many unsuspected facets to this world in a museum in a journey oscillating between feverish hallucination and reality, actually able to speak with famous painters from various periods of history, led to crossroads between human and personal history by... the Guardians of the Louvre. (Source: Potent Mon)

This is a semi-autobiographical story of manga author Kazuichi Hanawa's time when he was taken in for a violation of bearing of arms. The main character really loves to collect guns, what can he to do about this? Nothing, really. He cant help it even if he is living in a country where its illegal to own any. All he can do is to continue his hobby and hope that nothing goes wrong. Well, it did go wrong and we follow his experience in prison. (Source: koufukuron.com)

The first Nouvelle Manga ever produced, this is an autobiographical account detailing French artist Boilet's infatuation, courtship, affair and break-up with the eponymous Yukiko - a young Japanese woman who never attempts to disguise the fact that, whilst she might love Boilet, he is not the man she ultimately wants to be with. Yukiko not only becomes Boilet's lover but also his model and she thus becomes intimately entwined with his art. When she leaves him, he finds himself in need of a new muse - a story which is begun here and continued in the follow-up work, Mariko Parade. From ANN

Kayako Kirishima and Masami Endo are about to discover that their recent friendship is turning into obsessive love. But when today’s hopes and yesterday’s dreams meet tomorrow’s problems, will they be able to continue? With clear outline and confused feelings, Kiriko Nananan demonstrates that it is possible to make a Blue manga from black and white. (Source: Ponent Mon)

David Martin is sent as the sales representative to Japan for Heurault Cognac of France. However, he has spent the last few months discovering Japanese culture and the night life of Tokyo. Then his boss announces an imminent visit to check up on his progress. He must turn the situation around quickly or risk losing his job, his visa, and the woman he loves. So starts an amusing and exciting chase as David attempts to chaperone his boss and seduce his lover through a bustling life that is Tokyo.