Welcome to Litsy!

God, you ever read something and just feel things?

Not Simple comes crashing into you in the first chapter and never truly stops hitting you with the emotion train.

This piece takes you to places where you don't wanna go. Where you don't want to feel and makes you realize what family can mean and how much you want to find your family.

If you were to read the description at the back of the book, Not Simple seemed like a sweet story of a young man reconnecting with his family. But in reality the narrative is much more haunted. Trigger warning for anyone sensitive to issues of sexual assault or rape. Both are mentioned in the book and alluded to. Ono handles both topics well, creating tragic, complicating events that deeply touch the lives of the victims.

I'm not usually a graphics novel or comics book person, but the cover drew me in. I have complicated (ha!) feelings about this book- hauntingly beautiful illustrations, but the story feels confusing, disjointed and incomplete. Maybe something was lost in translation? 🤔#japanese #graphicnovel