A Japanese Boy Who Draws

 For this week's watching and listening assignment, I dove into the world of Japanese Manga artists in A Japanese Boy Who Draws. This was one of my favorite short films I have watched to date. The film follows the life cycle of an artistically gifted child who strives to become a Manga author. The film is told from the perspective of the protagonist's drawings with sentence structure and the animated drawings becoming more developed as the student grows and develops better art. 

                            

    Not only does the film create a unique view into the struggles of aspiring artists in Japan, but it also broaches on childhood dreams as well as the perception of special needs children in society through Masaru, Shinji’s childhood friend who we learn is autistic.

I was pleasantly surprised to understand much of the video up until Shinji’s university/salaryman period, in which the speech patterns and terms switch to gruff casual speech, similar to the depiction of gang members or yakuza in modern Japanese films.

The film was artistically stunning with a heartwarming story, as well as an ending that is both interesting and relatable- that despite Masaru’s art exhibition reestablishing Shinji’s dream and passions, Shinji would ultimately be a commercial failure despite his passion and love for the industry.

I highly recommend this film for anyone that has twenty minutes of free time in their day, as its themes, art style, and narrative are something that is both entertaining and worthwhile.