Shunju Aono

This is a manga about a middle-aged man who has a mid-life crisis, quits his boring office job, and decides he's going to be a manga artist. It ought, by any rights, fall square in the category of "self-pitying autobiographical indy comics by whiny middle-class men that make me want to smack the artist upside the head. With a rotten basking shark."

Somehow, though, it doesn't. This is probably partly because being Japanese makes it fall just far enough away from the cultural markers that really bring the frustration. But also, it's very self-aware. The selfishness that's inherent in the premise is acknowledged and not glossed over; the protagonist is sometimes self-pitying but the narrative doesn't always agree with him, and it's aware of its own ridiculousness with going overboard in to self-congratulation. I think I actually like it.… (more)