Comics are for moms too!

Posted By Flori on Apr 5, 2007 | 3 comments

I love reading sexy mom‘s blog. The net is already too full of whiny blogs about “how the world is so unjust and unfair blah, blah, blah…” written by “emo” teenagers, that reading about the funny, sweet (and sometimes tart), and poignant stories from a mother’s point of view is definitely refreshing!

The same thing can be said about Japanese comics that are overrun by the usual shoujo/shounen stuff. Hey, I love getting lost in the fantasies created by talented manga-kas like any other fan. But like sexy mom’s blog in an emo-filled web, Reiko Saibara‘s all-too-real comics on being a mother, wife, daughter, and a woman in Japanese society is as moving as any CLAMP manga out there.

Image taken from: The Japan Times Online

Ms. Saibara’s comics, “Mainichi Kaasan” is a popular strip on the daily Mainichi Shimbun. Through her comics, Ms. Saibara is able to share her daily experiences as a mother. But what makes her special is that she has a way of presenting such mundane activities in a manner that is cynically funny, yet powerful, disturbing, and poetic at the same time.

Gulp, gulp. Bah

Well, on rainy days or windy days,

Even when with high fever from influenza, I really really must drink at the end of a day, and I have never missed that habit a single day. (gulp, gulp)

When I became a mother though, I obviously had to give up drinking during the day (“I need fuel!” “What’s wrong, mama?” in front of a drink stand)

Drinks with evening meals also became difficult. After I drank with my meal, I almost fainted when I took my children in bath.

AND, my kids never sleep if I don’t go in bed with them (“We’ll wait until 2 or 3 a.m. until you come.”)

When in bed, they are not satisfied until I read them some picture books. (“Read us this and this.” “We want a lot.” “I’m not gonna read you dictionaries, ok?”)

But mom wants to get drunk. So, as a result,

The bed, picture book, and sake came together. And as I can drink quite a bit and also drink it straight, (Gulp gulp. “And Suho’s white horse..”)

The cake of Guri and Gura (Japanese picture book) turns into the smell of a distilled potato spirit, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar gets buried under the choking smell of sake. (“Delicious cake is ready!”, Bah.)

My kids’ bed with crispy clean linen and their favorite stuffed animals, tonight again smells like a cheap Japanese pub with squid legs mom took to nibble with the liquor.

Cartoons as seen on Japan Times Online, courtesy of Reiko Saibara and Mainichi Shimbun.

For more of Reiko Saibara and her works, please read the following articles on The Japan Times Online.

“Rebel” cartoonist Rieko Saibara

RIEKO SAIBARA
Drawing on experience