Title : Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist’s Journey
Written by : Akiko Higashimura
Published by : Shueisha
Magazine : Cocohana
Original run : 2011 – 2015
Volumes : 5
Everyone struggles day by day, but still lives on.
Synopsis
Akiko grew up in the countryside and dreamed of becoming a girls’ manga artist, believing that she was a genius at drawing. As a high school student, she made a plan to “enter an art college and make her debut as a manga artist while still in school,” and entered the art college preparatory course at Hidaka Painting School in her third year of high school. This manga depicts her encounter with her strict but kind teacher, Mr. Hidaka, her entrance examinations, university life, employment, and her life as a manga artist.
Review
This manga is the autobiography of popular manga artist Akiko Higashimura. The story basically progresses from her school days to the present, but every once in a while the present interrupts the story as if she were looking back on her past. The style in which the present self reveals her feelings toward her past self is very nostalgic and deeply moving. Because it is a true story and not a fantasy, the words, thoughts, scenery, and people in the story have weight. It is a masterpiece that allows us to fully feel the preciousness of our human nature, which is never perfect.
