Yumeka Sumomo - Same Cell Organism (Eng. trans.)

[oyceter]

(yes, the lack of a hyphen in the title is still bugging me)

This is a really gorgeous collection of BL short stories. The stories themselves don't have much plot: two high school guys, one shy and one not as much, have a relationship and discuss their future. An angel gives up angelhood to be with someone. Two high school students who enjoy being alone find that they enjoy each other's company in the attic.

Guess which one was the one that made me pick up the book?

There's this sense of wistfulness about all the stories, which are all about people who might have drifted through the world if it weren't for finding the other. The art and the panel layout echoes this: the art is spare and sketchy and sometimes seems to disappear into the page; and the panels are open, lots of white space and open-ness. I love just looking at it. Also, part of the aesthetics may have been enhanced by the good paper stock; it's thick and white and the blacks stand out superbly.

Also, vom_marlowe! It uses lots of wordless sequences! And I love how the panels focus on the small details -- a hand reaching out to another, someone bending down to kiss another person and then deciding at the last minute not to. I just love how spare and lovely it all is; there's so little dialogue, and yet, the mangaka nails the moods perfectly.

I am going to hunt down her other translated manga now.