Travel

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Travel is a 200-page silent manga depicting the train ride of a group of 3 people. Yokoyama is widely known for his experimental manga that focus more on the weird and unique art over the plot and characters, but this is the one story in which the stranger-ness of the characters is an advantage.

The story starts with our tritagonists entering the train station then boarding the train. Moving along through the rows of chairs, the gangway connections, politely making their way through various people. It provides a full immersion experience as you can sense the same uncertain tension when among many strangers. Shady eyes ... as those sitting look at the new people entering and walking around. Cautiously observing your whereabouts and hyper-focusing on any strange objects people are carrying. And the same way our tritagonists were observed, they in return project the same beady eyes at others entering the train after them. The train ride is long, taking them through the city and outskirts of town. Highways, trees, mountains, and apartment buildings. Each setting providing a unique perspective on how the train is viewed.

What Yokoyama illustrates masterfully in this work is his use of perspective. Specifically the perspective of the various characters. One scene in which the train is moving through a dense forest, the bright sun casts large shadows via the trees into the train. With the train moving, so do the shadows, making the shadows dance on all of the passengers' faces. In another scene, one of our protagonists is calmly looking through the window. The window provides a bit of a reflection in which our protagonist is actually staring at a passenger in the other aisle. Observing closely as the passenger reaches into his jacket only to pull out a book. A suspenseful fake out. But the passenger was not ignorant of his being watched and glanced right back at reflection in the window alerting our protagonist. Yokoyama also provides multiple angles of the same shot creating a vivid narrative. In a different scene the train passes under a bridge, the bridge itself has a different train on top. The angle switches and we can see someone on the top train staring down making quick eye contact with a different protagonist before it leaves.

All of this combined with Yokoyama's unique style of bold shapes and lines creates a masterful story in the art of wordless narratives. It's fair to say you don't read Travel, rather you experience Travel, as one would experience travel in real life. This is by far Yokoyama's best story to date published in English.

From what has been published in the US, it is hard to get a grasp on the Japanese art comic scene due to the very small amount. Hell, it so small that I’m not even sure whether there is anyone else beside Yuichi Yokoyama in it. There probably are more people in it, but its just that he raises the bar so high that the others are often not associated with him because their work is inferior.

For those that do not know what art comics are, the name is mostly self-explanatory. The focus of them is mainly on the art style or the usage ... of that style in the radical/experimental storytelling/literary techniques in comics. So much is one or two aspects emphasized that the other neglected parts are completely negligible and almost never even surface in the reader’s mind. For those looking for a great story or characters, then don’t even bother with this genre because those are the two most neglected parts.

Unlike New Engineering, Travel is one “story”—if it even really has one. There is no real plot to it. Just three guys getting on train and taking a journey somewhere, where they get off. Practically once when they get off, it goes for 5 more pages and then stops. The plot is one of the negligible aspects of the book since it doesn’t matter where they are going or even why. The reader’s view of the characters never change throughout the entire story and it completely lacks character development—another aspect that doesn’t matter. For the majority of the story, all they do is sit and look out the window or smoke. Probably one of the main reasons why the characters don’t matter is the utter lack of words and, unlike Eisner, the alienating character designs (which is basically a black and white version of the faces on the cover seen above). All of the faces have the same look on them, with the variation kept to the external appearances such as hair, clothes, glasses, you get the idea.

Despite the lack of the story elements mentioned above, Travel is still a highly enjoyable read. What makes it so fun is how highly unique the art is. Dan Nadel, one of the editors are PictureBox Inc. (the North American publisher), describes his style much better then I ever could:

“Yuichi Yokoyama is a designer and cartoonist whose style and concerns represent a break with tradition in his emphasis on geometrical forms and immersive, fantastical geographies and characters [concerning their design rather then their personalities]. His two favorite artists are William Blake and Sol LeWitt.” (Dan Nadel, The Ganzfeld 5: Japanada! pg. 86)

On of the most notable things that must be mentioned is the lack of subjection motion (blurring of the background so the reader can focus on the character/object and create an speed up the illusion of time by breaking off a point of reference). Instead Travel takes up the American technique of motion lines that streak across the page. What is most impressive is that it is still able to maintain the fast pacing of the manga that uses subjective motion while able to keep the background static. There still are streaks across the pages that cover up some of the landscape, it reverses what moves and accurately depicts what it feels like to be in a train. You don’t move, the scenery does. Being a fan of art comics, I still haven’t come across anything this radical in motion. Though what is also very interesting is the depiction of time during the first part when the three guys are trying to find seats. In order to keep the same fast pace throughout the entire book, practically every couple of steps they take is shown, as is everything they see. Of what they see, close ups of people they pass are used to cover up the inconsistencies of time (that means the speed of which the guys are moving at (in the reader’s perspective) is inconsistent with the position they are at when they are in focus again, hope that is a good explanation).

I don’t know where to start for the art. As Dan Nadel said, it concentrates on geometric forms rather then photo-realistic details. One of the most enjoyable things is looking at the patterns in the landscapes. I don’t really know how to describe the feeling and the subtly of the patterns. They are patterns, but not in the sense that immediately come to mind. Its not like Fibanocci’s sequence where things it is set, rather these “patterns” are the repetition of the same thing over and over in a linear manner; they do not add one by one to become something different but rather are many small parts exactly the same that only change as a collective whole (yeah I know that was confusing, but the technique is so subtle that it is almost indescribable). Due to the usage of geometry, it is a very cerebral read.

My only complaint would be the lack of any literary depth. Besides the techniques used, there is no depth at all to it. How his patterns work is proof that there is potential as are the character designs. Of the designs in particular, since all of them have a similar feel, all of them seem equal and there is no one that draws more attention then the others (compare them to the character designs of, lets say Death Note, where every one is unique and thus practically compete for the reader’s attention visually). When the designs are put into the patterns (using the city scens are the example), it can emphasize how insignificant a person is. But Yuichi Yokoyama doesn’t take this route, but there is potential to. Since I haven’t read New Engineering, I wouldn’t know if he ever attempts this or any other themes. Though if he does, it would be in a very unique way though the actual message would not be very original. But as Travel says, it isn’t about the destination but the journey.

Availability: It is highly doubtable that there are any scans accessible to non-Japanese speakers due to its extreme obscurity. There might be some on Japanese websites, but getting there is the problem. PictureBox Inc. published it recently, but they only printed so many in order to break even. Amazon is running low on copies, so now would be the best time to buy it. If you are checking bookstores, completely ignore the manga/graphic novel section and go straight to the art and/or design section(s). It is still doubtable that it would be there. Plus, the cover of the book below the slipcover is one of his drawings colored. Which to say is visually staggering, bold, and worth the money. You could stare at it all day and still be impressed.

On a completely different note, I actually had the chance to meet him in person, but due to the lack of a translator we couldn’t communicate very well. Like He signed my book by sketching a symbol. What surprised me most was how old he was since he had a son about my age.

Short List:
+: Groundbreaking techniques, highly abstract and unique art style; it isn’t about the destination, but the journey
— : Lack of a proper story and characters is a major turnoff for many, as are the alienating character designs and very cerebral art style

-Pierre Bezukhov
P.S.: Feedback is encouraged. This is only my third review and I am still trying to figure out how the reviews should be formatted and the relationship between enjoyment and art. Specifically if I’m going to analyze it as art, I’m still not sure whether I should score on an arithmetic way using predetermined aspects (such as art, story, characters, etc), concentrate on the aspects that actually matter, or focus on how it fulfills its potential.

One of the most boring things I've had the displeasure of reading. A friend obsessed with self-important pretentious manga and comics made me read this because I don't understand art apparently, and then he drops this on me. Like I said earlier I've never been more bored in my life, and thank god it has no dialogue because otherwise, I would never have finished.

All it is, is a showcase of the artistic rendering of a train ride, and the art isn't even that good, I hate how he draws people, I hate how he dresses them, and I hate how meaningless everything that he ... draws is. And that's one of the things I hate about self-important trash like this. I like art, a painting or other standalone piece is nice, but I hate long-form art like this where the art exists to be art and no meaningful merit or things to say. Things like it meticulously goes over every little detail in a normal day action just to show off detail, and then just have that detail stand on its own building up to nothing else but the next self-indulgent over detailing.

And then he draws trippy abstract stuff, I like that kind of stuff, but in long-form stuff like this, it bores me to tears, especially when its' not even that good. You can't have meaningless trippy art that's also just mediocre. The characters aren't tripping out on drugs, stuck in their minds self-actualizing, or going through a Cthulu-esque experience their minds can't comprehend. You could argue it's their minds are just wandering into nonsense because of the mind-numbing daily commute, but I could also argue that this isn't wasting my time with how it says nothing meaningful on that with boring art and story presentation.

Did I mention how I hate the character art? Yeah, I hate them, their stupid beady squinted eyes, even the irises are squinted, even Rick and Morty's eyes annoy me less, then you have their stupid hair like target head man, or all the balding men having the same exact perfect straight hairline. And their stupid baggy pants with their size twenty-five yeezies that are like one foot tall.

All in all, I hate this manga, I generally don't like this type of manga, but think it has the right to exist for the people who like it, but I cannot imagine why anyone would like this and would spit on any physical copy I saw as it has no value, even from the self-indulgent artsy perspective because the art sucks.