Sennen no Tsubasa, Hyakunen no Yume: les Gardiens du Louvre
Guardians of the Louvre

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This is not an "every-man's" manga. Even if you're a fan of alternative seinen manga, or manga by Jiro Taniguchi specifically, you still may not enjoy this one. If you are a fan of the Louvre Museum, art history, or peeking into the thought processes of famous artists, then this is a title that you will thoroughly enjoy--if not, this isn't the manga for you, as it has relatively little to do with plot or character development. Keep in mind that Jiro Taniguchi was commissioned by the Louvre to create this manga, so his writing and artistry will be reflective of that.

Lengthy disclaimer aside, if ... you have been to the Louvre, this manga will fascinate you, as Taniguchi managed to capture everything that makes the museum so special. At times I felt as if I were walking through the Louvre myself, and I remembered thinking, "That's exactly what it looked like!" many times throughout my reading. I wouldn't call myself an expert on art history or a tremendous fan of art outside of the world of comics, but I was still intrigued by the bits of history sprinkled in, especially during the bits about World War II and the lengths the workers had to go to to preserve and hide the Louvre's artwork from the Nazis.

The art is fantastic, and in full-color, and while the characters and story themselves were nothing particularly special, this is still a truly unique manga. It's bizarre for a manga artist to settle on a setting like Paris, France, and even more bizarre to zone in on the Louvre specifically, so I was very excited to read about something like that in something as Japanese as a manga. While I was enthralled by the artwork and pain-staking thought and detail that went into Guardians of the Louvre, I was not blown away, nor was I personally affected by its story. I'll have to settle on a 7/10. Not Taniguchi's best, but certainly not a bad title at all. It can be truly beautiful if you have a connection to it.

What I have to say about this comic is ART, the protagonist meets various characters taken from works exhibited in the Louvre, writers who in the East and West are known for having written about Western painting, and the painters themselves, in this sort of way between dream and reality where the protagonist enjoys the company of these characters who, in their own way, give their own version of art in general, dwelling on reflections and considerations that each character makes on a specific topic always inherent in the Louvre. I didn't know many of the things I read in the comics, also because I ... have an almost low foundation in art history by studying it for only three years; many Japanese have come to Italy to study painting with famous and non-famous painters, since the oriental style is very different from the western one. Jiro Taniguchi in this work gives shades of watercolor and pastel, as far as the drawing is concerned, his stroke is recognizable, more delicate than other works by the author, it goes well with the whole work, not to mention the format of Rizzoli Lizard, a little awkward to carry around but essential to fully enjoy all its nuances.
The beginning of the story is that simple, Much simpler than usual almost that the author is disinterested, much more interested in the dream journey and the conclusion.