Hokusai is a biographical manga about the life of the famous Japanese artist.
The story is told in a non chronological order. Chapters jump from the artists young age to his last year's, back to his beginnings, and so forth. I found this a bit confusing at the beginning but got used to it pretty quickly. The extraordinary quality of the art helped me to immerse into each chapter's setting and follow the story. However I still don't understand the reasons why Ishinomori chose to tell the story this way.
Hokusai was man devoted to his art. Worked tirelessly to create a style of his own. Interested not much in the money but in the art per se. About growing as an artist. However there was also another side to his personality, in love with every woman he saw, he found happiness at moments but also lived a solitary life in others. Not that he cared much because he always had his art with him. Great biography with a good balance of personal and professional views on the artist as well as historical context to enrich the story. Oh I loved short inserts of humour which made the experience more enjoyable.
I would like to praise the quality of the art, particularly the way Hokusai was depicted at different ages. From early adulthood to his last moments I could tell the illustrations were of the same man without having to read the text. Also at various points during the story Ishinomori inserted replicas of Hokusai's art, including 2 or 3 images of "36 Views of Mount Fuji" which I loved.
My edition is a beautiful hardback published by Panini Manga, in spanish. It has 589 pages.
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