That quote, from Hakase Mizuki's novel Asian Beat, from the story titled Asian Beat, pretty much sums up all of her stories. And it's also why I love her stories.
Hakase Mizuki has many reoccurring themes in her manga. Demons, gods, and half breeds. Lonely, troubled, confused, and rebellious teenagers. Abusive and insane parents. People running from their enemies, their pasts, and people just trying to find happiness with those they love. There is an abundance of violence, melancholy, and tragedy. But among all the sadness and loneliness there is hope and a will to push forward and move on.
I find myself drawn to Mizuki's style of storytelling and her artwork. Her artwork is so unique to me. All of her characters have such fierce and sad faces. Their bodies are elongated and exaggerated. I feel its some of the most beautiful manga artwork I've seen. It just suits my tastes.
So if any of this sounds appealing to you, please read on about her different stories. Many are available in English from Tokyopop. You may have just found your new favorite mangaka.
Here is a list of Hakase Mizuki's run in Wings magazine:
Wings 1998-2006
United States Releases:
- Asian Beat - A collection of short stories, The Town Where Snow Falls and Asian Beat
- Baku - A collection of two stories, Baku and Mephisto
- Demon Flowers
- The Demon Ororon
Other Stories:
- The Monsters Collection
- Maybe Blue
- Monkey Magic (モンキー・マジック) - published in:
- Empire of Midnight (Mayonaka no Teikoku - 真夜中の帝国) - The sequel to The Demon Ororon
- Sugar (シュガー。) - published in:
- Paradise (Rakuen - 楽園) - published in:
Wings issue 6, 2003 (April 2003 - out of print)
Wings issue 7, 2003 (May 2003 - available)
Wings issue 8, 2003 (June 2003 - available)
Wings issue 7, 2002 (May 2002 - out of print)
Wings issue 8, 2002 (June 2002 - available)
Wings issue 6, 2005 (April 2005 - available)
Please Note: The information contained in the "Other Stories" pages is information I've dug up from a variety of sources, many of which are in Japanese. I do not know the Japanese language, I can only translate Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji with a Japanese dictionary, so some of my information is subject to error. I try to be as accurate as possible, but there very well may be mistakes.
information sources: Shinshokan Comics, Contents Project.