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Oba Electroplating Factory is the fourth collection of Yoshiharu Tsuge’s manga to be handsomely collected (and painstakingly researched and translated by Ryan Holmberg) by Drawn & Quarterly, but it’s more than just another anthology of comics from one of the most consequential pioneers of Japan’s post-war underground comics scene. Few artists from Tsuge’s era are responsible for bodies of work that have remained as compelling, or as vital, as his.
As with prior volumes (The Swamp, Red Flowers, Nejishiki), the seven stories collected here are semi-autobiographical, culled from a period in the artist’s life (1973 – 1974) as a struggling mangaka still searching for his own identity, documenting what Holmberg calls in his essay (“The Art of Oneself: Tsuge Yoshiharu Settles In, 1973–74”) “that middle ground between art and entertainment, between literature and comics, between self-respect as a creator and self-preservation as a working human.”
Heavily influenced by the great Shigeru Mizuki (GeGeGe no Kitaro, Tono Monogatari), whom he would work under, many of the most familiar markers of Tsuge’s work are present; cartooning, travelogues, self-doubt and sex. While I typically shy away from trigger warnings, those unfamiliar with his manga might be shocked at his frank depictions – and rationalizations – of sex (and often, sexual assault). This remains the case here, so proceed with caution.
“Boarding House Days” follows two friends and manga artists catching up, perhaps unbeknownst to each other their lives (and careers) could soon be branching on very different paths. A great reminder that “success”, in both life and art, is relative. The titular “Oba Electroplating Factory” reminds us the famous ‘economic miracle’ of post-war Japan was forged in grime and chaos, often powered by fidelity to duty and station – and little else.
A young couple visit an inn that inspired the short story the man’s working on in “Someone I Miss”, hoping the stay will respire him to finish it. What he finds is the actual ‘source’ of both his inspiration and frustration, an unrequited obsession he’d mistaken for something else.
“Realism Inn” has an artist hoping to capture the zeitgeist by writing about staying at merchants’ inns, or lower-quality (i.e. lower cost) lodgings, only to learn he’s probably idealized the concept a bit too much. A mysterious stranger locks himself inside his car in “The Incident”, refusing to come out, much to the chagrin and curiosity of the townsfolk around him. Looking to cut down on his housing expenses, a young artist hopes to buy land in “Wasteland Inn”, but after seeking shelter realizes the area is more provincial than he could have imagined.
“Yoshio’s Youth”, easily the largest and most autobiographical of the collection, details a time when creating manga was truly a family affair, a period of hard lessons and disappointments that prove happy endings are for other stories.
Part comics anthology, part history lesson, Yoshiharu Tsuge’s Oba Electroplating Factory is another outstanding entry in Drawn & Quarterly’s collection of one of the most eclectic manga artists in Japanese history, due in no small part to Ryan Holmberg’s skills as both translator and scholar. The seven stories included run the gamut from darkly comic to unsettling, often quite disturbing. But at no point does Tsuge ever feel dishonest, though his level of brutal frankness might strike some readers just as self-destructive as it can be illuminating.