Offshore Lightning

Nazuna Saito is a Japanese comic artist who began making comics in her forties and continued to work through the 1990s. She returned to teaching in her sixties and was inspired by her talented students. Her works focus on aging and death, such as Captivity (2012) and Solitary Death Building (2015). Offshore Lightning collects her early work and two recent graphic novellas. Stories like "Buy Dog Food and Go Home" and "Offshore Lightning" focus on middle-aged men caught in a cycle of self-pity and self-reflection, while In Captivity follows three siblings visiting their ailing mother who is succumbing to dementia. Solitary Death Building documents an eccentric cast of elderly gossips as death descends upon the housing complex where they all live.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 384 pages
Publication date: 11 July 2023
Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly

Anxiety and longing permeate the poignant portrayals of postwar Japan. Nazuna Saito embarked on her comic-making journey later in life. At the age of forty, she submitted a story to a prominent Japanese publishing house, which resulted in an award for newcomers. Saito continued to create comics until the 1990s, when she decided to take a break from drawing to care for her elderly parents. In her sixties, she took on a teaching position at Kyoto Seika University, where her talented students inspired her. Upon her return to teaching, Saito's storytelling interests shifted. Before experiencing a stroke, she drew works such as Captivity (2012) and Solitary Death Building (2015), both of which focused on aging and death. Offshore Lightning serves as a compilation of Saito's early work, as well as these two recent graphic novellas.
Stories like "Buy Dog Food and Go Home" and "Offshore Lightning" delve into the lives of middle-aged men caught in a cycle of self-pity and introspection. Saito adeptly employs humor to gently mock their anguish and self-involvement, while simultaneously capturing the pathos of these men as they revisit childhood friendships and lost loves. In contrast, Captivity follows three siblings who visit their ailing mother, who is succumbing to dementia and experiencing resentment over her loss of agency. During their visit, the siblings embark on a drive as they navigate the delicate balance between honoring their mother's painful legacy and attempting to provide her with the respect she deserves at the end of her life.
Solitary Death Building chronicles the eccentric cast of elderly gossips residing in a housing complex as death casts its shadow upon their community. Through their conversations and interactions, Saito offers a poignant portrayal of the human condition, exploring themes of mortality, loneliness, and the enduring power of human connection.

Dimension: 213 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781770465053