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Week 3

For this week, I read a little of Golgo 13, and all of Cigarette Girl and Abandon the Old in Tokyo.

The gegika we read this week, I feel like, closely resembles more of our modern manga than does earlier works of manga. Not only do the "dramatic pictures" more closely resemble the style of modern manga, but also the way the stories are told. Especially Golgo 13, in my opinion, which continues to be serialized to this day.

I thought Abandon the Old in Tokyo and Cigarette Girl were particularly interesting, because they  both were kind of slice of life, but discussed serious day to day topics. I feel like the characters are also drawn to reflect this--many of them look very similar, and I feel like that reflects the everyday person, that these things could happen to anyone. The stories aren't necessarily concluded by the end, but they are common themes. The titular "Abandon the Old in Tokyo" is especially an interesting one to me, as Asians have to deal with familial piety a lot and it is interesting to see the view of the resentment that could build from it as well as the regret that occurs.

However, even with that said, I think one of my favorite stories from the works read was "The Taste of Coffee" from Cigarette Girl simply for its lighter tone and positive story.

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