Mujirushi

As a longtime fan of Naoki Urasawa, Mujirushi was a manga that I greatly anticipated being able to read in English, and all I can say is that it was well worth the wait! Urasawa's storytelling continues to amaze, and is only complimented by his gorgeous art style. The way he makes us care for and feel like we know our protagonists from the very first chapter is wonderful, and helps make up for the relatively short length (or maybe I'm just spoiled by so many of his manga being long-running series). I'd also like to add that I thought the Director was such a funny character, and seeing Kasumi point out all the little holes in his stories was very, very fun. It's hard not to give too much away as this is a short read, but there is a lot of entertainment packed into this one book! And don't worry about not being an Urasawa fan -- on top of being pretty much accessible for anyone, I think fans of the Osomatsu series will find great joy in picking this up! For sure a must read!

As for Viz Media's efforts, the lettering (which I'm certain is by Stephen Paul) is very good, with the dialogue all stacked very naturally and with fonts that compliment Urasawa's artwork very beautifully. This is one of those cases where all the SFX outside of bubbles is left intact, with the translations in a glossary at the end of the book, so don't expect any crazy good SFX retouch or anything. However, I don't think that detracts from the presentation at all, as Urasawa's SFX have a very distinct look that I understand would be incredibly difficult to replicate, so in the end leaving them as-is is definitely the way to go. As for the translation, it all ready very smoothly and wonderfully, and not once did I think to myself "Hm, I wonder what that line was in Japanese," which is a definite sign of a top tier translation! The characters all have their own distinct voice in the text, and just felt so natural. A fantastic job from all the people handling the localization!

An engaging story of down on his luck father and daughter, who meet a strange man, interested in France. He convinces them to go to Paris with an interesting not-quite-a-crime in mind. I don't want to give out the plot, but this is a fun and sweet humorous tale for all ages. And it's done in one volume!