Rolling onigiri, talking train tickets, mythological beingsthis is The Tumbling Onigiri in the Town. A slice of life with a playful tone, fresh and told in the manner of a child. The world of panpanya it is a modern Tokyo, realistic, but permeated with the legends of Japanese folklore. Those with the right curiosity will be able to come across unmentionable secretsmysterious places and absurd characters that populate the urban legends of the Rising Sun.
The protagonist is a girl, the personification of the pen that writes and creates history, always discovering the secrets of her city. Her immense curiosity will be a companion and ally in these bizarre events: a trip to the mountain Tsukuba where they produce toad oil, the story of the steamed castle cake, the world of trees by the roadside, the underground city, the tumbling onigiri and many other adventures.
Trust someone who has read them, let yourself be surprised by a fresh, funny author, an author who mixes imagination and everyday life with masterful skill. Because the world exists regardless of you, but you can always change the way you see it.
- Original title: Omusubi no Korogaru Machi (おむすびの転がる町)
- Italian title: The Tumbling Onigiri in the Town
- Japanese release: 2019
- Italian release: March 2023
- Number of volumes: 1
- Publishing house: Star Comics
- Type: slice of life, urban, folklore
- Drawings: panpanya
- History: panpanya
- Format: Paperback with dust jacket
- Number of pages: 192
We reviewed The Tumbling Onigiri in the Town through a press volume provided by Star Comics.
Tokyo mysteries and folklore
The genre is that of the slice of life. There is no continuity between the various episodes, they are all self-contained. A very nice little girl will accompany the reader inside the big city of Tokyo, exploring their mysteries, the veracity of legends and all those places that surround them with an aura of mystery and discovery. A story with a young and childish spirit, with an extremely captivating psychological atmosphere: the reader will never get used to the surprise and twists, everything is structured to keep the surprise as an opportunity for discovery, of knowledge, in a world that is exactly under the veil of what we perceive.
The work has a compartment of notes which deepen the experience. Each story is interspersed with small parentheses that delve into folklore, urban legends and the link they have with tradition and with the author himself. The volume is therefore very rich, the comic narrative is interspersed with these little stories, with small poetic compositions that greatly enrich the narrative and also demonstrate the author’s passion for writing. Laying your eyes on these stories means floating in a reading where everything that can happen can only increase wonder and curiosity.
Carried away by an endless discovery
The whole concept is based on urban legends, rumors and popular folklore. This is by far the most interesting part of the entire manga, especially for a Westerner. The real protagonists are therefore the rumors, the folk tales, always seen under the filter of the protagonist which acts more as an observer and allows you to identify with the reader.
Childish curiosity is a fundamental feature of the story, everything is based on the thin thread of disbelief, every event is an opportunity to discover, to explore and dig deeper and deeper. Fundamental is the spirit of the protagonist who literally drags the discovery, a discovery without challenges but incredulous. This places a fundamental teaching at the center of the story, namely the need to maintain constant that innocence typical of childhood, an innocence that creates a strong identification. The surrounding city becomes a constant stimulus, a playground where the absurd becomes part of the ordinary.
The world of panpanya it makes us think a lot about the importance of good feelings, the values of respect for others, other people’s spaces and the importance of listening. In fact, the protagonist is often a witness to small misfortunes and injustices that in all ways try to undermine her emotional balance but her good heart and her purity always leads her to find friends rather than enemies, leads her to listen to the needs of others. Accomplice to this the vision of him completely pure and never affected by malice, the ability to listen to a world that speaks in silence, and a disarming lightness that gives a comic tint to the whole.
The styles of panpanya
The graphic sector of this manga is wonderful. panpanya testifies to an ability to experiment and integrate different styles and traits simultaneously. The rendering of the characters is decidedly stylized, not very detailed and caricatured and this is totally opposed to the urban backgrounds and environments. Indeed, the environment creates a big contrast because drawn in a much more realistic way, woods, roads, buildings, closely resemble the atmosphere of the rising sun and allow the environment itself to become a protagonist. The attention to the glimpses of Tokyo, to the details of some urban areas, to the paths of the Tsukuba monrte, make the experience of travel and discovery.
The attention to places rather than characters demonstrates the extreme passion panpanya has for his country. The attention to detail and the truthfulness of the places mix with folklore and imagination, creating a very fantastic that oscillates between dream and wakefulness. A world suspended between the realistic places and the incredulity of hidden worlds. An undergrowth of magical creatures, monsters, non-existent and haunted places drawn by a delicate, soft and extremely clear hand.
Reality and dream mix in the new work by panpanya.
After having grappled with the classification of new animal species, the protagonist of these episodes sets off on a long and fascinating journey on Mount Tsukubawhose secrets he wants to discover, letting himself be guided by the voice produced by the bizarre prize ticket he has won.
Thus opens the sixth volume of the series panpanya worksa new series of adventures to be discovered through tables full of characters and symbols to which the “panpanya” style has accustomed us!
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The Star Comics edition looks very good. A paperback with dust jacket with very clean, simple graphics, almost like a fiction book. The cover below shows instead the texture of a concrete wall, thus taking up the buildings of Tokyo. The edition is also equipped with a very very large note compartment. In fact, the author intersperses the narration with small written parts, demonstrating his skills as a storyteller and allowing you to better explore the world from which he himself comes.
The manga also, having many elements of Japanese folklore, he has very well adapted the translations and small notes that explain and contextualize the more complex and difficult points. This makes reading extremely pleasant and smooth. Finally, the price is excellent for such a reading, self-contained, clear, unexpected and fun.
Who do we recommend The Tumbling Onigiri in the Town to?
We suggest The Tumbling Onigiri in the Town those who want to suspend judgment to go back to seeing the world through the eyes of a child, to those who want to discover, to those who are curious, to those who never miss an opportunity to transform any place into a playground. panpanya he is an author who entertains, even with little, with fresh, fun and unexpected solutions, let yourself be carried away and discover with him a Tokyo like you’ve never seen it before.
- Captivating style designs
- Fun and light
- I swear, I can’t seem to find one
The Tumbling Onigiri in the Town
Let yourself be carried away
The Tumbling Onigiri in the Town Of panpanya is a work for everyone, especially for adults who have forgotten what it means to be a child. Let yourself be carried away where the real and the fantastic are one, perceptions are confused with rumors and everything comes to life from the imagination. A volume that all manga fans, but not only, should jealously guard in their collection.
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