Kafka

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Have you heard of Franz Kafka? No? Well, actually, I expected that answer. Kafka was a peculiar philosopher, due to his disturbing works and texts and, at the same time, which combined existentialism and self-reflection. The author has not been properly recognized, even today, which is a pity, since many of his contents have a very high lyrical richness. Here we are and a couple of brothers decide to pay homage to this "silent icon", bringing a manga adaptation of one of the most interesting individuals in philosophy, for me. After finishing the title, I admit, the Nishioka Brothers did an incredible job on the ... author.

Starting from an investigation into symbolism, Kafka (manga) compiles some of Kafka's most interesting texts. The most famous is "Metamorphosis" (not to be confused with 177013, please), where Gregor Samsa isolates himself in his room upon realizing that he has become a monstrous creature. In addition to "Metamorphosis", it is worth mentioning "Jackals and Arabs" and "A Hunger Artist", where varied interpretations of the characters and their desires and instincts are fun to be debated. This is not to say that the rest of its 9 chapters are not good. In fact, each chapter is a different moment, an absorbed culture and a different way to enter Kafka's literature.

The Nishioka Brothers not only conveyed their feelings very well, they also brought an iconic way of making a manga. It is really amazing to follow the art and the chapters, since exclusivity and simplicity practically dance within the pages. Who knew that geometric features with rich details would be more beautiful than a masterpiece from a French museum. The manga is an art exhibition and a landmark for small and short works. There are rarely stories with very few chapters that are really good, but Kafka totally changed my thoughts. With less than 10 pages, I was already fascinated to want to discover what the invasive personification called "Odradek" really is, even though reflecting on it did not lead me to a conclusion. The poetic and even theatrical style also intensified the emotions of the pages. The shows of each story are precious, where it is always possible to collect a message, whether positive or tragic. It is interesting to see that it does not take much dialogue to understand all of this. With a simple observation in the manga's setting, it is possible to explore the ideas of the honored author.

And it's not just art and interpretation that Kafka is good at. Social issues and even a portion of the author's own internal can be extracted here. Who knew that we would have religion, murder, dictatorship and such good metaphors. The moment I highlight most is in the last chapter, "In the Penal Colony", where there is a subversion of oppressive and oppressed society, at the same time that cruelty and justice seem to be the same thing. Seeing a monster being punished, like an innocent civilian, is something that many cherish to happen, especially after 75 years of the period of Fascism and Nazism, two amazing political aspects. "In the Penal Colony" manages to cause discomfort with its pages without repetitive but purposeful texts and images, in view of its grotesque use of art. It is clear that the real author did not have this perception and this idea, in fact, he died even before the Second World War. But this reinterpretation has been more accurate than ever. A recycling? No. Honestly, it is a more than current topic, since the whole world is fighting for diplomacy and sides, as if it were a market for convincing and alienating.

Finally, Kafka should be happy to know that they paid such a great tribute in less than 200 pages. I even wonder who I really should credit for reading such good content. Nishioka brothers? Franz Kafka? I think that the harmony of the three individuals was what culminated in this beautiful example of adapting foreign content. It is really a pity to see that the Nishioka are not as well known, as is Kafka himself. But this is not a problem, as it is sometimes an honor to study and appreciate content in its greatest silence and calm. It didn't take a crowd to make me read these art chapters, and that's an honor for me. Imagine having La Gioconda in your room, just for you. It is exactly the same feeling that I feel reading the Nishioka manga. It is no different with Kafka. One more reading show, one more pleasing to the hearts of the little more than one hundred users who completed this treasure hidden in the depths of popularity. Read, not for me, but for yourself! It will be a unique experience!

I'll be quite straightforward with my review, since this manga doesn't have much apparent to analysis, any great plot device with which I may convince you to read this. All I can say is: go there, only one volume, enjoy the experience.

Kafka is a well knowng writter, but many times we forget that it has done anything apart from The Metamorphosis (No, not Henshin Emergence, the other one). The thing is that Kafka had some recurrent creative themes about bureaucracy, hunger and loneliness, with which he struggled during his life. And the Nishioka Brothers have the abitily to not only understand this themes in Kafka's ... work, but also give them a personal shape with their unique art style and take the immersion experience to a whole other level.

So, if you enjoy your Kafka (or your Camus, I find their style quite similar), or if you only want to get immersed in some twisted imagination with odd art and a whole lot of subtext, this is for you. If you want to enjoy your time in a Saturday evening, then Kafka is quite the wrong read; I mean, c'mon, it doesn't even have characters technically.

PS: If you can convince your friend and read the manga simultaneously, it will be good for discussing and sharing perspectives.
And another thing: reading this while listening to some Tool albums is freaking insane

Going into this as an attempted Nishioka completionist with mixed expectations, I got mixed results, but it's still solidly above average and one of the better adaptations I've seen of Franz Kafka's stories, especially in the anthology format. It uses the child-like, ornate, and geometrical art style the siblings have always been known for to great effect, but the nature of some of these stories is perhaps not as amenable to comic format as the artist would like, and sometimes I even feel that being beholden to render faithful adaptations of another's work is hampering much of the beauty that stems from their unique style. ...

In the first place, the Nishioka siblings use a sparser amount of dialogue in most of their work, but they've taken the route here of using quite a few passages from Kafka, sometimes out of necessity, but certain segments, Metamorphosis in particular, are swimming in lengthy paragraphs. I felt like I was rereading the whole story, just with the idiosyncratic Nishioka art. Sometimes I feel the words or the art are at odds to a mild degree, and that the art may as well have metamorphized into a new story altogether, but, like the author, I've also never been too keen on this particular story, but I'll admit, the grotesque beauty of their art lends it a quality beyond my memories of the prose. Whereas some of these stories fall flat next to my memories, the corridors of the home are suffused with a gothic intensity that elevate it above all of the blah blah blah whining of the narrator.

Cares of a Family Man, the story with the strange creature Odradek was always one that left me with an odd feeling, and it was very interesting to see this one adapted, as I didn't always have the easiest time imagining it, and it seemed almost as if it were meant to exist beyond imagining—you could imagine it, but the imaginings would never be fixed. Plenty of prose exists in that fashion, where it's meant to get your imagination jogging, in fantastical or nightmarish ways. To fix the unusualness of these scenes in the Nishioka style, well, their interpretation of everything is interesting, but it adds to and takes away from the story. The layouts and sense of geometry in this one are great—especially the opening pages.

I can't remember the Bucket Rider very well from when I read all of these stories, but it's like a fairytale of childish tragic nonsense: "Please fill my bucket with coal, or I'll lose my bucket, and if I lose my bucket, I won't be able to get coal anymore, because the buckets at the store are too expensive. My bucket is going to fly away into outer space, so I have to sit on it, and, well, I guess I'll see you in hell, where it will be warm enough that I won't need your coal." Silliness married with a hint of the anxiety-based nightmare is what a lot of these stories thrived on. Other stories, like A Fratricide, are just as flat as I remember them being. Of course, as one serial killer seems to crawl around every Nishioka book, they were, I'm sure, eager to adapt this absurdity, which in some ways seems the most mundane of Kafka's works.

My favorites were always A Country Doctor, A Hunger Artist, and In the Penal Colony. The first of these is not as visually striking as I would have hoped, and in terms of composition and design, it even looks a bit plain compared to a few others. It gets all of the high points right, but I was always distracted by the weird character design of the doctor. In the first frame, I actually thought it was a young man with his back turned to the audience, bending over backwards, so he can stare at us. I kept thinking this every time I saw the doctor, who is in most of the panels, so this had a touch of unintentional comedy. A Hunger Artist is another that has quite impressive layouts, and I imagine it was a challenge to portray such a simple story. In the Penal Colony was also among the finest, but I think it suffers a little bit from the same problems I felt with the Odradek story, where a big part of the strangeness is lost because this peculiar thing is being translated by your mind; the Nishioka siblings fixed it to paper instead, and it loses some of the magic, but this one had strong surrealist imagery that made it work quite well; however, the story was probably truncated the most of any of them, and it felt a bit too brief as a closer.

Most of the other shorts were largely an improvement, and probably even A Fratricide was elevated above the original. Sometimes I think it might be the Kafka stories themselves that I have mixed feelings about. Even The Trial was left unfinished, and his stories often have a fragmentary nature. I'm not even sure they lend themselves that well to direct adaptation. Kafka is probably best left to either being an influence, or his works might even benefit from a kind of loose adaptation. There are many fascinating ideas, but these ideas can easily be spun in new ways.