わかりま千円 by ンキッャヒ

So, April is shaping up to be a long, dragged out month just like the ones before it - unfortunately, the bad spell that started somehwere in February last year seems to be still active. At least there's good weather outside, and plenty to do in the garden. Sprouts of all varieties are out, and my dogs just love to feast on them :S

This month's dōjinshi haul has been something of a mixed bag. I bought a copy of one of the first (if not the first) item I ever put on my wishlist, 黒猫カフヱー by Ataraxia: purchased on its color palette alone, I really liked the brownish choice of paper (it really lends to the period and atmosphere the story is set in), but it's very, very short and the story is kind of a silly non-sequitur that would have been more fitting as an omake to a bigger publication. JAS SKY MOKKOR is a collection of short stories written and illustrated by a variety of people, mostly unknowns but one of the stories has drawings by Kigitsu Katsuhisa (mangaka of Franken Fran): it's fairly long and difficult, has no furigana and was bought mostly as a persuading device to actually put more time into Japanese practice... Alfine2 will have its own review because it deserves it: it's a stylish mock-fashion magazine with some really interesting design choices in it.

Today's review is, however, focusing on the impulse purchase of the month - which turned out to be the best of the lot. わかりま千円 by ンキッャヒ (2015) is the tiny booklet lower right in the picture: and believe me, it's tiny. It must be an A6 or some other minuscule format I wasn't aware of - even smaller than those Japanese bunko novel editions. It's stapled, it's only 20 pages and the paper is so flimsy it was shipped inside a small plastic bag (complete with a little extra sticker): basically one of those zines that were all the rage before the computer era - mileage may vary, but I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff so I it's been love at first sight.

In fact, the 'zine' factor is a large part of the allure of this little booklet, amateur even by dōjinshi standards. Grainy print quality? check (though not nearly as bad as some zines I worked for back in my days). Rough stapling and slanted page cuts? check. Minimal page count? check. Still, what amazed me is that none of these elements detract from the quality of わかりま千円, quite the opposite; they are an integral part of its aesthetic and themes. It screams indie, and stands in sharp contrast with the super-polished, 'maybe they'll see this and hire me for their eroge' regular fare that is the norm in the dōjinshi world.

And the gal (or guy?) can draw too. The actual contents of わかりま千円 were another deal maker for me: there is no text at all, and the booklet is a series of images that mix photography, shōjo and abstract designs according to an incredibly stylish, yet tenderly homely collage aesthetics. Graphically, there are echoes of Inio Asano, Kimura Kon, even some Ueda Hajime in there, and the general 'tone' of the work had something of that 'alt-Japan' vibe I love so much - ンキッャヒ could totally illustrate a Banana Yoshimoto novel.

I also suggest you check out their Pixiv and Tumblr, some very good stuff in there. Personally, I will try to track down all other publications by ンキッャヒ, and will be looking forward to what's to come next.