Anyway. I've noticed how wonderful libraries are, I went to one a couple of days ago and picked up a Manga that didn't really seem the type I'd normally pick up, ironically. But the blurb caught my attention as it had some relevence to a project i'm currently researching for. Then I read it. WOW! It's called 'Real' and drawn by the renouned mangaka Takehiko Inoue (Inoue Takehiko is the proper way to say it though) who has also created 'Slam Dunk' and 'Vagabond'.
The plot revolves around three individual characters with very different personalities, one of them is a high school drop out and shunned as 'useless' by society's standards, another is a man who'se leg was amputated as a result of Bone cancer, and the third is a high school student who got hit by a truck as he stole a bicycle. Through each of their hardships they are united by a common goal: to play basketball. The ending of this line might sound a little climatic, but Inoue himself has rather an obsession with the sport and has utilised this thoroughly in his current and previous works. The main issues Inoue has addressed in 'Real' is the overcoming of society's restrictions and the power of capability in a human that is equal between the disabled and able; that no man is any less human whether able-bodied of disabled.
Even though I've only read the first 2 volumes, I have been very impressed by the use of graphic imagery and symbolism Inoue has used to describe the sensations his characters are feeling. For example, in Chapter 5, when the student who stole the bicycle and subsequently gets hit by a truck wakes up in hopital, he is actually shocked to find his legs barbed with wire, symblosing the cruel and painful imprisonment of his legs away from the rest of his body. This was later accompanied by the inability of the boy to actually reach his legs with his arms, the drawing itself had a very desperate air about it, and the description of 'not being able to feel my legs' was very impacting to me.
I look forward to reading the rest :)
