Wanted: Cheap Manga

Human Clock - By Tokunan Seiichirō

I was introduced to Tokunan by the book Manga Zombie, being translated at Comipress. He is considered an outsider artist in the manga world. Most of his stories were incoherent pieces of garbage, but there are two works (Human Clock, and The Cat’s Mourning Suit) that are lauded as masterpieces. These were published in the early 60’s, but weren’t noted at all. In the late 90’s, both of these stories were re-printed in a single volume. Here is a description from Manga Zombie about Human Clock:

When I talk about ‘warped manga from a warping mind’, I’m thinking about this kind of incoherent story. ‘The Human Clock’ is a lot simpler to explain. The hero is Yubi Chizuo again. He’s a student like before, but this time round he’s a dropout. He stays in his house, which is a family shop selling watches and clocks. He gazes and gazes at the clocks. Little by little, he turns into a clock. That is the entire story. It reminds me of Kafka’s Metamorphosis.

I’m very, very proud to be able to bring this manga to an english speaking audience. It’s really an amazing piece of work. It doesn’t resemble any other manga I’ve ever read, and it’s seriously deranged. I’ll continue posting the rest of the story periodically, and then move onto The Cat’s Mourning Suit.

Enjoy!

Download first chapter here. (5.6mb)