Interesting to get a taste of manga, but the plot was a boring cliche. ( )

Wow, this is a brutal and unpleasant book - quite deliberate, but unnerving coming from Tezuka, and in his cartoony style.

The plot is set over roughly 25 years, and revolve around the Tenge family, who are coping with the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. Every member of the family is culpable for some crime - legal or moral, and of differing severities. Every member that is, except Ayako, who is only 4 when the story begins. She becomes something of a scapegoat for the family's ills - the guilty secret that haunts each of them.

It's an impressive work, with a wide emotional range. Very affecting, as even though at times unpleasant it is also compelling, and does not descend into mere prurience. In the story of one rotten family, Tezuka illustrates a swathe of Japanese history, and enriches it with a powerful allegory of sacrificed innocence. A truly multi-layered, monumental work.

One thing - I found the translation a little jarring. There was lots of mimicking of American country talk, presumably to show the provinciality of the Tenge family. It didn't really work for me. ( )

Ayako descubre por accidente que su hermano mayor, Jiro trabaja como agente realizando asesinatos para el gobierno de Estados Unidos. El problema se complica cuando también descubre un terrible caso de incesto dentro de su familia: la mujer de su hermano mayor es en realidad su propia madre, quien ha tenido frecuentes aventuras con el padre de Ayako.

Para esconder toda esta serie de secretos, la familia presionada por el patriarca Sakuemon decide encerrar a Ayako en un sótano por el resto de su vida...

The period is 1949-72. Twenty-three years that cover roughly the ill-fated existence of a young girl that, having grown up in seclusion and isolation, is thrown into a world that she cannot understand and has violently abused her. Born into a family of incestuous relations in which powerful traditions and connections rule, Ayako is a victim that reminds the reader of some well-known real cases of long-term incarceration suffered by children and youngsters. Yet Tezuka goes beyond the horror of the situation by placing it in the midst of a Japanese society torn after the upheavals of the Second World War. A dislocation that is marked by corruption and greed. Not a comfortable story to read but, nevertheless, an unforgettable one that reminds us of ethical values and the ways that life can sometimes go completely awry. ( )

By "Father of Manga" Osamu Tezuka, those expecting something of the line of Astro Boy or Kimba the White Lion, are strongly recommended to avoid this, ...or at least change their expectations. More of a greek tragedy than anything else, Ayako is the post WW2 story of the Tenge family, who's drama is something akin to VC Andrew's Flowers in the Attic. Equal parts decadent and historical, Ayako is definitely a piece of work, ...but one not for children. ( )