Recur by AsakuraG+

 Aaand, this time around we're reviewing a nice, simple illustration dōjinshi, no fancy concept or postmodern deconstruction of the medium. Recur is a full-color, 21 pages illustration work by AsakuraG+, a circle founded in 2006 that is still quite active and pumps out an average of one dōjinshi per year, mostly dedicated to the Touhou franchise. 

The artbook in question, from 2012, is an entirely original work, a sort of 'visual book' detailing, through large-sized illustrations and caption, the journey of a girl 'towards corruption'. She moves through a series of chromatically-themed, beautiful two page spreads that skillfully combine computer graphics with drawings, meeting on her way a bony psychopomp who leads her... back to our world? was it a dream all along?

The accent here is definitely on the production values: the colorful, glossy images really capture snapshots from a dream-like world, capturing well themes of ice, forest and wastelands. The girl protagonist, competently portrayed save a few minor inaccuracies, blends in with the landscapes rather than stand out, contributing to the overall tableau-like feeling of the illustrations. The book is nicely capstoned by a few pin-ups portraying the protagonist and the other characters in different outfits, suggesting that the young girl might actually be a recurring character - from what I could tell, she is in fact featured in a few of AsakuraG+'s other collections. 

Overall a nice find, not too heavy on story but particularly stylish on the visual side of things - definitely enoug to make me want to seek more work from the author. In case you want more info, their site is awfully lacking updates, but they seem to be quite active on Twitter. 

 

午後の少女にお茶の時間を by 麻衣子

 If you take a look at past reviews on this blog, you might notice that we're not new to dōjinshi with tie-ins to businesses or locations - I reviewed one that featured local business ads just a few weeks ago, and even earlier I reviewed a few of the manga and dōjinshi famous Tokyo maid coffeeshot Schatzkiste has put out. So, this week we're totally in our ballpark, as we review another dōjin offering that takes its inspiration from a Tokyo coffee shop...

Nested in the hustle of central Tokyo is R-za Dokushokan, a tiny coffee shop that, charming decor aside, has one peculiar trait: while on its premises you're not allowed to talk, and even orders have to be placed in a hush. Wonderful place, and I regret it wasn't already on my radar when I was over in Japan. Just look at their site's pictures... the ambience looks magic, and place in a metropolis where you can't blabber? fantastic. 

And a magical place is, of course, the perfect setting for a magical tale, or even two. 午後の少女にお茶の時間を is a short but sweet b&w manga that takes place within the walls of Dokushokan, where one can go to give their overworked tongue a rest, as well as encounter a certain barista who has the power to take one into their own inner world. A lost girl and a pair of sisters take advantage of this magic and take a new perspective on life, all the while enjoying a nice hot coffee... or some edible ivy. 

The stories are short and sweet, dialogue is sparse (as appropriate) and the style is super-simple, reminescent of shōjo manga from times past. The dōjinshi's author is not the bar's owner, who apparently mostly gave the story input, but amateur mangaka and doll lover 麻衣子of circle "Syoujyo Gahou"... who, unfortunately, recently seems somewhat inactive on the illustration side. Aside from the two short stories, the dōjinshi closes with a short feature on the coffee shop (with few B&W pics, unfortunately) and includes an extra brochure with a interview with the coffee shop owner and the author, in a pseudo-handwriting that I found all but impossible to decipher. Shame.

Overall, a nice and short offering that, once again, shows how dōjinshi do not need be about lustful teachers and Evangelion inflation fetishes. And the coffee shop goes right to the list of places to visit when I make it over to Japan again...