Why You Should Be Reading Auto-Biographical Manga

In recent years, manga publishers have tapped into licensing, translating, and releasing more manga in the auto-biographical genre.  From the success and honest longevity of Nagata Kabi’s work (My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness, My Alcoholic Escape from Reality, and more) to autobiographical titles and series of manga creators and their journeys of appreciating art and work like of Akiko Higashimura and Junji Ito, auto-bio manga continues to make waves and is here to stay!  Here is what I hope is an explorative piece elaborating on an underrated genre of manga that in recent years has emphasized spreading awareness on mental health and social issues as well as being a genre that allows female and gender expansive, & LGBTQIA+ voices to shine! Note: There’s some older manga titles that I considered including yet as I always do in my manga write ups and editorials try not to include too many out of print and series that will run you your coin or force you to grumble on what’s not super accessible to read today. (In recent years, there has been new life and printing runs thanks to digital licenses and new found interest in certain titles and mangaka’s work. That doesn’t apply to every book or series, sadly) Could Even A Monkey Can Draw Manga (Sweet Jesus, what a title) by Koji Aihara and Kentaro Takekuma possibly find a place here in this editorial, theme wise? I haven’t read it but, possibly yes. Am I sending you to the bad rainforest store (talking about Amazo…