Glacier Bay Books is best known for publishing manga from Japan. What you might not know, though, is that they sometimes publish comics from other countries as well. Not Ready for Real Life is their first book by Ding Pao-Yen, a Taiwanese artist. Ding has been recognized by the Angouleme comics residency as well as by the Made in Taiwan–Young Artist Discovery. His work has been translated into multiple languages including French, Italian, and Japanese. Yet, Not Ready for Real Life is his first work to become available in English.
Graduation & Salmon Roe
The first story in this collection, “Graduation & Salmon Roe,” encapsulates Ding’s style. At first, it appears to be a simple nostalgic story about graduating from high school. But then the main characters go on an archeological dig, and the school’s clutter and winding staircases are abruptly replaced by Jomon pottery and curvy, organic undersea architecture. Plot segues into dream, new characters are introduced without explanation, and the story ends leaving its key symbols (water, doubles, salmon roe) unresolved.
In an interview with Sloane Leong, Ding mentions being inspired by manga artist Kazuo Umezz. I can absolutely see Umezz’s influence in Ding’s hyper-detailed fantastical settings, as contrasted with his child-like and cartoony characters. Another reference point for me would be Natsujikei Miyazaki, whose comics also riff on genre tropes while introducing unexpected twists every few panels.
Vibes-first
Ding, though, is his own artist. While his environments suggest the horror of Umezz, he holds back from explaining them or escalating the level of threat for easy catharsis. Ding’s characters also lack the humanity of Miyazaki’s. They are vehicles for exploring dream worlds rather than coherent personalities.
Two of the stories (the aforementioned “Graduation” as well as “Monster in the Rain”) resist easy summary. The other two (“Part Time Job” and “The Last Meal”) are built on popular genre hooks, but end on jokes, rather than satisfying resolutions. Not Ready for Real Life, then, sits outside the story-first priorities of the traditional manga industry. You don’t read Ding’s work because you’re dying to find out what happens next, or because you are compelled by strong characters. You read Ding because you want to luxuriate in a feeling. These comics are vibes-first.
Stamped
Ding’s work is full of choices made for reasons other than efficiency, like the small fluffy dog that punctuates the final page of “Part Time Job,” yet has nothing to do with the story itself. Or how countless falling droplets contrast with scribbled shadows and clothing folds in “Monster in the Rain.”
The stories collected in Not Ready for Real Life feel whole to me even though they run on dream logic. Characters are drawn in such a way that they are consistent with backgrounds and surrounding objects. This stands in contrast to some manga series and webtoons I’ve read lately, where the artist clearly put all their effort into the character designs and left the setting as an afterthought. These works are shaped by punishing weekly schedules that necessitate shorthand. Every page of this book, by comparison, is stamped by Ding’s personality.
That personality also manifests itself in the book’s genre elements. The centipede creature in “Monster in the Rain” has long, spindly legs but also a body like a chain of Jenga blocks. The “giant robot” in “Part Time Job” looks like a kaiju, just as the invading “kaiju” looks like a robot (and is in fact piloted itself). Even the relatively conventional “The Last Meal” ends with the stunning image of a car interior transformed into a coffin surrounded by black curtains.
Verdict
Emuh Ruh, the head of Glacier Bay Books, sees themself as being as much in dialogue with independent comics publishers like Bulgilhan Press as they are with the manga industry. Not Ready for Real Life is much the same. If I was to name a more contemporary reference, it would be this month’s ShortBox Comics Fair, an annual October festival hosting over 100 digital comics by artists all over the world. I could easily imagine any one of the stories in this collection featuring in ShortBox.
As manga and anime becomes increasingly popular abroad, it’s worth being reminded that these mediums don’t have to just be one thing. Not Ready for Real Life is proof. You can’t stick a conventional genre label on the book like slice of life or horror. The great thing about comics is that the artist can draw whatever they want. Even though Ding Pao-Yen takes influence from other manga artists like Umezz, he’s doing his own thing, and that’s great. I’d love to see other Taiwanese artists who may (or may not!) be following his example.
Not Ready for Real Life is available to buy on the Glacier Bay Books website.
If you like Not Ready for Real Life, you might also like…
- And the Strange and Funky Happenings One Day by Natsujikei Miyazaki
- My Name is Shingo by Kazuo Umezz
- Night Bus by Zuo Ma
Credits
Story and Art by Ding Pao-Yen
Translation by Orion Martin & Xinmei Liu
Lettering by Lauren Eldon
Design & Editing by emuh ruh
Published in English by Glacier Bay Books
Thank you to Glacier Bay Books for providing an advance review copy of this manga. Receiving an advance copy had no impact on the reviewer’s opinions.
Article edited by: Anne Estrada
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