Red Colored Elegy

by Hayashi Seiichi

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Description

"Seiichi Hayashi produced Red Colored Elegy between 1970 and 1971, in the aftermath of a politically turbulent and culturally vibrant decade that promised but failed to deliver new possibilities. With a combination of sparse line work and visual codes borrowed from animation and film, the quiet melancholy lives of a young couple struggling to make ends meet are beautifully captured in this poetic masterpiece. Uninvolved with the political movements of the time, Ichiro and Sachiko hope for show more something better, but they're no revolutionaries; their spare time is spent drinking, smoking, daydreaming, and sleeping--together and at times with others. While Ichiro attempts to make a living from his comics, Sachiko's parents are eager to arrange a marriage for her, but Ichiro doesn't seem interested. Both in their relationship and at work, Ichiro and Sachiko are unable to say the things they need to say, and like any couple, at times say things to each other that they do not mean, ultimately communicating as much with their body language and what remains unsaid as with words" -- from publisher's web site. show less

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Member Reviews

2 reviews
Pretty pictures, but dialogue so sparse as to be meaningless. I found this graphic novel hard to understand. It seemed to be about a highly artistically sensitive comics artist in a failing relationship -- failing because he was unable to commit. There were a few other characters apart from the main couple but they were never really introduced. Too much was left to this reader's imagination.
I agree with another reviewer that stated, "This is comics as mood and not as story..." That pretty much sums up in toto exactly how I felt about this work. Lots of angst with almost no narrative structure to speak of.

Curious side effect: After reading this book, I spent the rest of my evening singing along to old 90's R&B songs. Dru Hill, Silk, Xscape, Something for the People....

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Author Information

Picture of author.
9+ Works 235 Members

Some Editions

Nettleton, Taro (Translator)

Series

Belongs to Publisher Series

Common Knowledge

Canonical title
Red Colored Elegy
Original title
赤色エレジー
Original publication date
1978 (book) (book)

Classifications

Genre
Graphic Novels & Comics
DDC/MDS
741.5952Arts & recreationDrawing & decorative artsDrawingComic books, graphic novels, fotonovelas, cartoons, caricatures, comic stripsHistory, geographic treatment, biographyAsianJapanese
LCC
PN6790 .J34 .S45513Language and LiteratureLiterature (General)Literature (General)Collections of general literatureComic books, strips, etc.
BISAC

Statistics

Members
138
Popularity
236,900
Reviews
2
Rating
½ (3.28)
Languages
English, French, Japanese, Spanish
Media
Paper
ISBNs
5
ASINs
1