Review: Tokyo These Days, Vol. 1 by Taiyō Matsumoto, translated by Michael Arias.
Viz Media, January 2024. 216 p. ill. ISBN 9781974738809 hardcover, $28.00
Reviewed July 2025
By: Taylor Strong, Research and Instruction Librarian, Savannah College of Art and Design, tstrong@scad.edu
Volume one of Tokyo These Days by Taiyō Matsumoto is a slice of life manga that follows Kazuo Shiozawa, a manga editor, who decides to “retire” after one of his magazines fails. After he leaves the office, Shiozawa meets with one of the mangakas he used to edit and imparts some final words of wisdom. Despite quitting, Shiozawa continues to be drawn back into the industry by his old colleagues, who seek his advice. For Shiozawa, he must decide to either let manga go or rediscover his passion and love for the craft.
Matsumoto’s art style is realistic and expressive. The hand-drawn art is not only impressive to look at but serves a higher purpose for the story. Shiozawa longs to return to the days when artists put meaning and heart into their work instead of only making what is profitable. Matsumoto fulfills his character’s desires of dedication to the craft by using pen and ink to illustrate the manga. Matsumoto transports his readers to Tokyo through the beautiful single-panel pages found at the beginning and end of each chapter.
This Eisner-winning manga is a great addition to academic and public libraries for their adult graphic novel and manga collections. Readers interested in learning more about the manga industry will find this book informative, as it does not shy away from the darker side of the profession. The manga reads like a literary fiction novel. This could be a great entryway for first-time manga readers who are less interested in reading action/adventure titles that are often associated with manga.
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