Saturday, March 2, 2013

Tokyo Days, Bangkok Nights / Jonathan Vankin / 189 pgs.

This graphic novel is two short to stories and is suppose to be about American tourists visiting Tokyo and Bangkok and the eccentricites they find in these countries.

Part one is set in Tokyo, where American Steve has been living and working there for 6 months.  He meets and starts dating a 16 year old local Japanese girl (the age difference would be illegal here, I don't know about Japan's laws) named Maki,.  Maki loves Anime and Cosplay and is obsessed with a local band, and would do just about anything to meet the Lead Singer, Hike.  Maki's older brother is involved with the Yakuza (the Japanese Mafia) and he has been given the job to find and beat up Hike for not paying back his debts.  The story is a wild and bizarre ride, with over-the-top antics and situations that would never happen in real life.  I hope no one reads this story and thinks this book represents Japan, just like I would not want anyone watching "Jersey Shore" or "The Sopranos" and think that is a "real" representation of America.

The second story, even though it has its funny moments, is much more serious and sobering as it deals with the topic of underage prostitution and sexual slavery.  Even the artwork is less cartoony and darker adding to the seriousness of the topic.  In the story, a young American couple is pulled into a scheme to help smuggle a 17 year old prostitute out of Bangkok so she can live with her MUCH older American customer.  The couple decides to try to "save" the girl and her sister, which really sheds light on the corruption and unfairness of the system that places girls in this type of slavery in the first place.  

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