Title : Sunny
Written by : Taiyo Matsumoto
Published by : Shogakukan
Magazine : Monthly Ikki (2010 – 2014), Monthly Big Comic Spirits (2015)
Original run : 2010 – 2015
Volumes : 6
Still they can only believe.
Synopsis
Hoshinoko Gakuen is a combination group home/orphanage facility. The foster children of Hoshinoko Gakuen struggle with both the everyday issues of growing up and those specific of being abandoned or orphaned children. Their only way out from their situation is the Sunny, a dilapidated old car in the front lawn of the home.
Review
This is a masterpiece that many people should read.
Each family has its own unique circumstances, but the children living at Hoshinoko Gakuen uniformly believe in their parents and look forward to the day when they will be picked up. They believe that their parents will come for them someday, but at the same time, they doubt that their parents may have abandoned them. “Sunny” depicts the sadness and pain unique to childhood, and the complex feelings of being between trusting and suspicious of adults.
“Sunny” is based on the author Taiyo Matsumoto’s own childhood experiences. Although he had the idea for this manga since his debut, he finally drew it more than 20 years later. This is because it took him that long to be able to look at his past experiences objectively. Although “Sunny” contains an unprecedented amount of dialogue in Matsumoto’s work, it does not present in words the emotions that are hidden deep within. It is not the words but the “pictures” themselves that speak of the feelings of the boys and girls. We, the readers, must look at them, imagine what we see in their eyes, and take in their feelings.
