Let's go back among the pages of BAO Publishing's Aiken series with a new manga by Hisae Iwaoka, author of Fiori di Biscotto and Dosei Mansion
White Clouds (“Shiroi Kumo” し ろ い く も) is the first work of Hisae Iwaoka and consists of a collection of short stories, for a total of 14 chapters, born within a matter that can only be defined as dreamlike. In fact, some of these stories contain elements of children's dreams or nightmares, others refer to experiences that each of us could be called to face in the course of his life: the disappearance of a schoolmate, the evolution of a relationship marital or the death of a loved one. Together with these glimpses of life, very particular events also take shape that tell of mole-men and personifications of flowers that, more often than not, leave a freedom of interpretation that is not always commensurate with the reader's abilities. What remains is a sense of wonder which, however, cannot be said to be entirely positive precisely because of the symbolism, which turns out to be really too cryptic. Furthermore, it is sometimes difficult for the reader to identify the fine line between dream and reality.
For the review of this work, unlike the others, we do not summarize any of the stories narrated because we would only end up badly summarizing the particular stories. We would like to preliminarily emphasize that the work you will approach is not simple and is anything but suitable for a young audience or novice with the world of Japanese comics, so much so that some of the stories need a rereading (or more of one) to be appreciated.
The style of the mangaka was already unmistakable in the "distant" 2004 (the year of publication of the work by the Shogakukan publishing house), with very round-headed characters immersed in large white spaces where backgrounds are often a minor outline. It is interesting how the use of nets is practically non-existent, apart from sometimes for some items of clothing. Furthermore, having already read Dosei Mansion, it is pleasantly noted that there has not been a change in style over the years, but only a refinement that only made it better.
