The Book of Human Insects by Osamu Tezuka

The Insects book, newly translated into English, despite its promising name, is okay but not more. Yes, like most Tezuka’s adult novels, it has abundant violence, sex, murders – this one, even a hostile takeover shareholder meeting (vow, this is 16 years before Gekko!) – and most people are not nice at all – yet it lacks strong and gripping storyline Tezuka’s most prominent books like Adolf, Kirihito or Ayako can surely boast. I guess, sometimes, when you serialize a novel, like Jap manga usually goes out, it can hurt your story.

Written in the 70s, it is a tale of a sick and wicked girl – but other than that, little to add. I wonder whether Swallowing the Earth I backed on kickstarter.com will be of similar disappointment, ’cause for my $75-worth, I will get 10 non-Tezuka books on top of it.