ファンタジーワールドジュン

JUN: SHOTARO NO FANTASY WORLD

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
2
RELEASE
September 20, 1971
CHAPTERS
34

DESCRIPTION

A experimental manga series about a boy named Jun and his surreal voyages. The character is a alter-ego of Ishinomori himself.

CAST

CHAPTERS

RELATED TO JUN: SHOTARO NO FANTASY WORLD

Cover Art for Kawaru Machi, Kawareru Machi, Ishinomaki feat. Jun

ONA DramaKawaru Machi, Kawareru Machi, Ishinomaki feat. Jun

MANGA AdventureMahou Sekai no Jun

REVIEWS

nephilimk
97/100
Welcome to Ishinomori's World
Shotaro Ishinomori is a mangaka known to few, but whose influence on manga and other forms of media is undeniable. Starting his career as an assistant of Tezuka, fans of the latter would see his influence in Ishinomori’s works, especially in character designs and panelling. Having said this, it isn’t my intention to undermine Ishinomori in any way, but rather highlight the rather close bond the two shared throughout their lives.

As for the man of the hour himself, with iconic series such as Cyborg 009, a series that I remember from my nascent days as an anime fan back in 2004 to the Super Sentai and Kamen Rider series which have had tremendous impact over popular culture, he is without a doubt, one of the pillars of the medium. Given his reputation and the seemingly high praise I received of his works, I was eager to find a ‘Buddha’, aka the work which would enable me to understand his mastery of the craft personally. This was a search which went on for a few years until a good friend of mine brought this work to my attention. And that’s how I decided to pick this up.

Jun: Shoutarou no Fantasy World was a manga published in COM, between 1967 to 1971. COM, for more information was a magazine started by Tezuka as a response to Garo, a gekiga magazine. The magazine was created with the sole purpose of pushing the boundaries of manga to its absolute extremes. Being aware of this, I was fully expecting to be taken on a similar journey.

I sure was not disappointed. The series follows the main character, Jun over several surreal escapades. Written as standalone stories for most part, these experiences challenge our main character’s beliefs or simply shows the outcome of his actions. There is no sense of time and space and we are at the mercy of Ishinomori as he does his utmost to elevate his craft to immortality. And in this it closely resembles Strange Beings, a tale from phoenix, where sensation of time and space is completely distorted and we are at the mercy of the creators.

Jun, as a character is rather simply written. He has his fears and aspirations like any other individual. But in the hands of Ishinomori, he also as the anchor for the reader as they drift in the sea of imagination created by Ishinomori. Jun could potentially be the mangaka himself serving as Virgil, or a Phoenix for the manga fans, guiding us through his world, in order to avoid getting lost in the ideas thrown around. Other characters flow in and out of the story, but ultimately only serve to present the ideas and themes that Ishinomori wishes to present to the reader. People familiar with his works would recognise several characters from other works, blending fiction with reality.

My favourite story from this would be the one where Ishinomori refers to the wheel of life and death, a reference to the concept of Samsara, one of the fundamental beliefs of the Dharmic faiths. And thereby goes onto further point out the impermanence and cyclicity of life. It was at this moment that my respect transformed to admiration.

The art itself is quite dated, given how far back in time it was written. But fans of Tezuka would find it easy to understand given how close their art was. Some of the panel work is simply mindboggling and does a phenomenal job in conveying the themes of the work. It is quite clear that Ishinomori had a great sense of perspective and control over his craft, being able to create quite detailed landscapes and very minimalistic imagery, with the least effort applied. He truly did a terrific job in highlighting the strength of the medium.

Onto potential criticisms the work might receive. To start off, the work is not a single story per se, but rather a collection of ideas which is held together by the presence of the main character. While this might lead to a case where we are potentially lost in the great sea of ideas, Ishinomori does a great job in ensuring that the ideas are concise and thoroughly explored before moving onto the next one in the following chapter.

There is also no character development or a cast whom you can follow outside the main character. The lead character, Jun, does not have a profound epiphany over the course of the work. Instead, his job is to do his utmost to flesh out the ideas and guide us through those turbulent waters. And his performs this job rather capably, only going to show the degree of control Ishinomori had when writing this work.

To conclude, this work might have been the perfect way for me to start my introduction into his world and I eagerly anticipate to experience them in the near future. It showed me the reasons why I love this medium a lot. As for others, this is a work where you would see the potential of manga being manifested when handled under someone who cares about their craft. Highly recommended
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DrFlapJack
100/100
The spirit of Creativity and the space between us all
I think there isn't all that big a difference between good art and bad art. It's more a question of personal preference that influences how one perceives a piece of art, rather than any sort of definitive rules. I thought about this the other day, and it brought a new question to my mind. What is it exactly that I personally value in art? What sort of subliminal, unfulfilled desires drive my quest for new stories? To find my answer would be no easy task, so I took a journey of discovery. I wandered the rotting Megastructures of a never ending City, and walked on the banks of the Light Vein as a one eyed man warned me away from its painful brilliance. I drifted through the flooded Halls of a House with barnacle encrusted Statues as its only occupants, and trekked across the continent sized corpses of tremendous Titans. I searched and searched all over Creation, and then I went and searched beyond that, and now I think I've finally found my answer. I believe that what I truly seek is art that inspires a sense of wonder. Now, wonder is a sensation that's very hard to pin down, and is often rather conflicting. It is an uncanny and uncomfortable, yet humbling and awe-inspiring feeling. It is the feeling of being both extremely small and insignificant, and yet at the same time unimaginably important and unique. You've probably felt it before, the dizzying, terrifying awe of trying to wrap your head around the abyssal expanses and celestial bodies of outer space. We are infinitesimally small beings living in a world where trillions and trillions of other lifeforms, from the smallest Archaeabacteria to the biggest of the Titanosaurs, have already lived and died long before you were even born. Each one was just as crucial and expendable as you are now. Just the thought of it is enough to make you quiver. But I digress, where was I? Ah yes, wonder. I wonder when this introduction will end.

Wonder is the best word to describe Jun: Shotaro no Fantasy World. It's weaved into every panel, every fantastic and bizarre image. The series starts out fairly abstract, but still with a recognizable, followable concept. Struggling young mangaka Jun fights for inspiration, as a mysterious girl leads him deeper and deeper into his own mind. With the focus on a mangaka desperate to prove himself and avoid the inevitable loss of his youthful imagination, it comes off as a very personal story, at least at first. It's just as much a celebration of the mundane as it is of the magical. As Jun delves deeper into the depths of his imagination the imagery becomes more feverish, more incomprehensible, until it transforms into a grand symphony of visual poems. The vignettes flow and shift easily, much more than manga usually does, which is due to Ishinomori's distinctive panel arrangements. This flow makes it so that I can follow every movement and hear every single sound as crisp and clear as if it were happening right in front of me. As such, Jun: Shotarou no Fantasy World is heavily tied to the comic medium and would most likely not work as anything else.

As the father of sentai, Ishinomori is one of the most important pioneers of Japanese entertainment. Mention of his name would most likely bring to mind insect-like cyborgs battling nebulous organizations, unwilling test subjects breaking away from their masters to fight against evil, and surprisingly mature commentary on the nature of warfare during the age of increasingly advanced technology. With his help, the manga industry reached amazing new heights, and the art of comics was inching closer and closer to being perfect. Yet, as Ishinomori looked on the manga empire he created, he realized something: perfection is awfully boring!

I know there's an answer. I know now but I have to find it by myself

In recent years, manga have been progressing rapidly. Well, I should say that they're, as a natural consequence of the current things, coming closer to perfection. However, perfection stops progress. For this very motive, you need to experiment now. - Shoutarou Ishinomori

Attaining perfection is a bit like losing one's soul. Once you've done it, you're basically stuck sitting at the pinnacle of human achievement, with nothing left to strive for. Jun and it's surrealism was Ishinomori's way of shedding his creative skin, and rebelling against the status quo he helped to create. However, he wasn't just trying to challenge himself, he was trying to challenge his audience. He wanted to ignite their imaginations, encourage them to read between the lines, and perhaps even create their own unique manga. The next generation of readers would eventually take up his mantle and build on what he had made, so he might as well leave them with the best foundation possible.

"I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence. I much prefer history – true or feigned– with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse applicability with allegory, but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author." - J. R. Tolkien

Today's kids - meaning you - compared to the kids of the past - meaning us....aren't they (you) lacking power of imagination? If we write something a little difficult (in truth it's not difficult at all) you say "Ah, it's no good at all". Before saying that, why don't you try to think about it one more time? Then, thinking from that point, why don't you try to search for the answers in your own special way? - Shotarou Ishinomori

J. R. Tolkien and Shotaro Ishinomori are two very different writers, but both of them had basically the same idea. Tolkien's work, just as Ishinomori's, was inspired by his own life experiences. However, both of these author's deny any sort of set-in-stone higher meaning in their stories. Their art was meant to have applicability, so that readers could take their own life experiences and use them to find their own unique meaning. Jun contains elements that are clearly derived from his own experiences, but Ishinomori refused to impose any sort of meaning on the reader, therefore it is not an allegory. He delibrately wrote it to be as cryptic as possible so as to encourage interpretation. The definitive meaning of the manga is that it has no definitive meaning, and this paradoxical fact gives it endless potential. What it means to me could be completely different from what you think it means, and both of us would still be completely correct.

I believe this point is best illustrated by Roland Barthes's death of the author. The concept of death of the author states that an artist's interpretation of his own work should have no impact on the way the consumer views that piece of art. I think this is true to a certain extent. After all, if someone else has a completely different interpretation of a story than I do, that doesn't invalidate my feelings, even if that someone is the author. People draw on their own beliefs and experiences to interpret both fiction and reality, and these things vary greatly from person to person. Therefore, is inevitable that artist and audience will not see eye to eye, which is why art and its meaning must be flexible. However, as with all things, moderation and balance is key. Death of the author isn't completely true, as an author's viewpoints and background often provides context that can potentially change the viewer's understanding of their art. Such is the case with Jun, as Ishinomori's denial of deeper meaning helps to create applicability rather than allegory. It's just something to keep in mind as you read the manga.

Try to realise it's all within yourself, no one else can make you change

If I were to rip apart Jun: Shotaro no Fantasy World, tear it open and search its innards to find its true meaning, then I would be completely missing the point that Ishinomori is really trying to make. The real meaning lies beyond its pages, within Ishinomori's vivid imagination, and the stirrings of the reader's heart. Because this manga is not meant to be understood, it's meant to be felt. If you want to garner any meaning from it, then all you must do is gaze upon it's pages and look inward, and think about what it means to you. Does it still your breath with wonder at the beauty of the universe? Does it make you tremble in fear at your own fragility in the face of the unrelenting passage of time? It is here where you will find your own unique answer.

When a writer is not writing, then he is a reader just like any of us, with no more power over the art then we as the audience do. Ishinomori understood that art is not a monument to some absolute truth, but simply a catalyst for human emotion and understanding. He restored the power of interpretation to the audience in an attempt to spur them to action. If the meaning won't come to them, then they will have to put in the work and seek it out. Jun: Shotaro no Fantasy World is a series that will frustrate some readers. However, those that are patient and put in the work to understand will be rewarded richly. The way you perceive the world is a precious gift unique to you, so make sure to put it to good use.

Barthes, R., 1967. "The Death Of The Author." Aspen, no. 5-6, pp.142-148.

Tolkien, J., 1954. The Fellowship Of The Ring. 2nd ed. George Allen and Unwin.
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