Abstract
This chapter introduces Tanaka Keiichi’s multicolor, single-volume graphic memoir, Utsunuke: Utsu tonneru wo nuketa, published by KADOKAWA in which his and other characters are drawn to resemble the style of Tezuka Osamu. Utsunuke depicts Tanaka’s experience of depression and comorbid conditions such as panic attacks narrated through his use of catchy phrases such as utsu tonneru (the depression tunnel) and creative expressions such as Utsu-kun, a personification of depression. The chapter first provides contextual information about the manga such as its target readership and the author’s background and then analyzes his artistic styles, and storytelling characteristics, drawing on an interview with him and sample panels from his manga.
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Notes
- 1.
The actual text that appears in Utsunuke is “Utsu no tonneru no naka de imamo kurushindeiru anata e. Detekitahito ga iru toiukoto—sore wa deguchi ga aru toiu tashikana shōko desu” (To those still struggling inside the depression tunnel, this report of people who came out the other side proves that the end exists in the tunnel).
- 2.
Tanaka explained that the title Gurazeni evokes a famous quote of the manager of the Nankai Hawks: “Guraundo niwa zeni ga ochitteiru … Zeni ga hoshikerya renshūsee (The money is on the ground. If you want money, come to the ground and practice).” The authors, Moritaka Yuji and Adachi Keiji, used an abbreviation for the title to hook baseball fans. Partially thanks to the “hook title,” more than three million copies of the manga have been sold, and it was adapted into an anime in 2018. Tanaka added that the four-letter word works well with a long title if fans can easily abbreviate it like Hosokawa’s Tsure utsu (from Tsure ga utsu ni narimashite).
- 3.
According to Sugiura (2017), approximately 300 million people are diagnosed with depression worldwide compared to about one million patients in Japan (1–2% of Japan’s population of 125 million people). For example, within the year 2014, approximately 1,120,000 patients are said to have utilized psychiatric services for depression or bipolar disorder. However, because Japan has 25,000–30,000 suicide deaths every year, she suspects that there are many more depression sufferers who are undiagnosed.
- 4.
Azuma Hideo, another gag mangaka, also expressed a similar desire (“I shall use this experience as my manga’s material” [kore wo neta ni shiyou]) in the epilogue of his 2005 manga, Shissoˉ Nikki (Disappearance Diary). Although Tanaka did not mention it, he later told me in the interview that he was influenced by Azuma’s visual representation of depression. Azuma Hideo’s Shissoˉ Nikki also became a bestseller with approximately 300,000 copies sold.
- 5.
The term parody manga contains the word “parody,” which means “to make fun of or recreate what was previously created, as in “spoof.”’ When used in the contemporary comic industry of Japan, the term refers to a type of comic or anime that imitates the artistic characteristics of a classic manga artist (e.g., Tezuka Osamu, Matsumoto Reiji, Takahashi Rumiko) or a parodied version of the artist’s work. It is a form of reverse engineering. Examples of the latter type are Attack on Titan: Junior High (Singeki! Kyojin chūgakkō) and Spoof on Titan (Sungeki no kyojin), created as parodied versions of the famous anime, Attack on Titan (Shingeki no kyojin).
- 6.
The genre of gag manga seems to be a pressure cooker of the manga industry, according to Azuma Hideo, a household name in the field. In a postscript interview, “Ura-Shissoˉ Nikki” (2005) (Backstory of Disappearance Diary, pp. 200–206), at the end of Azuma’s award-winning manga, Shissō Nikki 1, he confided to his interviewer, “To remain popular, gag mangaka are constantly under pressure to make new gags. That pressure can take a toll on our mental health, little by little. Especially if you take that demand too seriously, you’ll be driven to extreme” (p. 204). Azuma also describes the desire most commonly shared among gag manga artists: to please all readers with gags. However, we need to be careful not to jump to the conclusion that the pressure of the genre “caused” Takana’s depression, as this illness has a combination of interacting factors that lead a person to the condition. Tanaka himself also stated in an interview (Hobonichi Techō 2018), “Manga is the profession where my raison d’etre [jibun no sonzaikachi] is authenticated. I can say that, without it, my depression could have been aggravated.”
- 7.
The Japanese term “black kigyō (corporate)” refers to a company that treats its employees like slaves under an exploitative working condition.
- 8.
SSRIs are antidepressants, medicines designed to ease symptoms of depression by increasing the level of serotonin in the brain.
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Okuyama, Y. (2022). Tanaka Keiichi’s Utsunuke (2017): An Ode to Depression Tōjisha. In: Tōjisha Manga. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-00840-5_7
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