TOKYOPOP delivers an emotional new manga that ponders motherhood and the unshakeable love of a parent for their child with the release on September 24th of A SMART AND COURAGEOUS CHILD.
Created by Miki Yamamoto, A SMART AND COURAGEOUS CHILD was the winner of the 24th Manga Division Excellence Award at the 2020 Japan Media Arts Festival. The single-volume, full-color edition will be published in-print and digitally under TOKYOPOP’s “Comics That Matter” initiative that utilizes the graphic novel medium to raise awareness about important causes and social issues. The print edition will be published in a slightly larger 5.8 x 8.2-inch format.
The manga poignantly examines how a first-time mother works through her fears of bringing a child into a dangerous and uncertain world, and learns to evaluate her worries, process her fears, and ultimately choose positivity over uncertainty and paranoia.
A Smart and Courageous Child
Miki Yamamoto
Every young couple has high hopes for their unborn child, and Sara and Kouta Takano are no different. But only days away from giving birth, Sara learns about the tragedy of the attempted assassination of Pakastani female rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai’s by the Taliban, and her pure and innocent belief in the future is shaken. If such a smart and courageous child can be hurt so badly by the world, how can she keep her own baby safe? With Sara now in a state of shock, will the young couple be able to bridge the widening gap between them, or will it tear their family apart?
The reality of this world, as seen through the eyes of an author that has spent years illustrating the women and their lives.
Kazuko Kawahara, member of the Executive Committee of the Japan Media Arts Festival, says of A SMART AND COURAGEOUS CHILD, “This book brilliantly captures the anxieties held by people of today. Sara embodies the joyful anticipation of a mother-to-be, until an international story breaks and expands her list of hopes and fears in the information-flooded world. A modern audience can relate to her distrust in the times, and Sara’s anguish is universal in its resonance. The work devotes numerous techniques to express its intentions but remains accessible. Colored pencils bring the story to life, at different times injecting turbulence and warmth. Through a small but striking backlist, the artist has secured a singular presence in the industry. What does it mean to be wise and brave? How do we resist and reverse the cruelties of the world? The artist plumbs this fathomless question and offers a powerful response.”
Miki Yamamoto is a manga artist and assistant professor at Tsukuba University, Faculty of Art and Design. She debuted in 2011 with Bakudan to Ribon (A Ribbon and a Bomb) (Sansai Books). In 2012, she released Sunny Sunny Ann! (Kodansha) and won the 17th Osamu Tezuka Cultural prize New Face Award. The title was published in French in 2018 and was also an official selection for the 2019 Angoulême International Comics Festival.
Kazuko Kawahara, member of the Executive Committee of the Japan Media Arts Festival, says of A SMART AND COURAGEOUS CHILD, “This book brilliantly captures the anxieties held by people of today. Sara embodies the joyful anticipation of a mother-to-be, until an international story breaks and expands her list of hopes and fears in the information-flooded world. A modern audience can relate to her distrust in the times, and Sara’s anguish is universal in its resonance. The work devotes numerous techniques to express its intentions but remains accessible. Colored pencils bring the story to life, at different times injecting turbulence and warmth. Through a small but striking backlist, the artist has secured a singular presence in the industry. What does it mean to be wise and brave? How do we resist and reverse the cruelties of the world? The artist plumbs this fathomless question and offers a powerful response.”
Miki Yamamoto is a manga artist and assistant professor at Tsukuba University, Faculty of Art and Design. She debuted in 2011 with Bakudan to Ribon (A Ribbon and a Bomb) (Sansai Books). In 2012, she released Sunny Sunny Ann! (Kodansha) and won the 17th Osamu Tezuka Cultural prize New Face Award. The title was published in French in 2018 and was also an official selection for the 2019 Angoulême International Comics Festival.
Source: Press Release
