Ayako

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Japanese: 奇子

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 2

Chapters: 19

Status: Finished

Published: Jan 10, 1972 to Jun 9, 1973

Genre: Drama

Themes: Historical, Psychological

Demographic: Seinen

Serialization: Big Comic

Authors: Tezuka, Osamu (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 7.68¹ (scored by 3,813 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #1878²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #2147

Members: 10,052

Favorites: 172

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Kodansha USA

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7.68

Ranked #1878Popularity #2147Members 10,052

MangaBig ComicTezuka, Osamu (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /2

Chapters: /19

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Synopsis

Jirou Tenge, the second son of what used to be an influential Japanese family, returns home after being a POW in an American camp during the Second World War. He finds his family corrupted by the terrible social aftereffects of the war.

His elder brother, determined to keep what remains of the family patrimony after the Government's forced land reallocation, has prostituted his wife to his father to secure his blessing, while other members of Jiro's family have been drawn into similar corruption, and he himself is being forced to spy for the Americans after being broken as a POW. Now the family's youngest daughter Ayako will have to bear the brunt of the family's sins.

(Source: ANN)

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Background

Ayako was published in English by Vertical Inc. in a complete omnibus volume on November 30, 2010. It was also released in Brazilian Portuguese by Editora Veneta as a complete omnibus volume in February 2018.

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Related Entries

More characters
Characters

Tenge, Ayako

Main

Tenge, Jirou

Main

Tenge, Sue

Main

O-Ryou

Supporting

Tenge, Shiro

Supporting

Tenge, Ichirou

Supporting

Tenge, Sakuemon

Supporting

Reviews

Nov 29, 2024

Mara2463

Recommended

Ayako – Spoiler Free – Recommended

TLDR
Story – 7,5/10 – 7,5 x 0.275 = 2,0625
Art – 8/10 – 8 x 0.2 = 1,6
Characters – 6/10 – 6 x 0.225 = 1,35
Enjoyment – 7/10 – 7 x 0.3 = 2,1
Total: 7,1125 -> 7

Story – 7,5/10
... Ayako’s story is special in Tezuka’s repertoire, as it is probably one of his most cruel works.
Ayako’s story follows the fate of the Tenge family in post-war Japan: a rich countryside and a big landowner family in decline due to the agrarian reforms imposed by the occupying forces. Meanwhile, one of the family members, who was a POW (prisoner of war), returns as a spy for the Americans. Between the struggle for power within the family, the narrative gets developed, and we slowly uncover the family's darkest secrets as they stop at nothing to reach their objectives.
The story opens with a long prologue, before focusing on Ayako, as the story will later focus on Ayako, the family's youngest daughter. There won’t be any spoilers here, but what follows next is probably one of the cruellest torture methods conceivable, although in the manga it was seen as a necessary measure to save the family’s skin and face. The prologue is entertaining and introduces us successfully to the characters and the world of Ayako, as well as giving context to what will happen next.
After the prologue, the other family members become secondary to the narrative for plot reasons, as Ayako's Dantesque livelihood becomes central.
This story positions family honour – but also cynicism – above all else, even common humanitarian rights. It quickly resorts to torture, murder, and betrayal to fulfil the characters’ wicked objectives, no matter the consequences. It also deals with guilt and remorse. Many are the characters that embody this spirit – such as Pa or Jirou –, as they also will take advantage of little Ayako for their twisted purposes, condemning her to a life of misery and ignorance. The story also mentions sexual abuse, rape, and homicide.
Ayako embodies ignorance and, even more than that, impotence and innocence in the face of a world that takes advantage of people quite easily. This is seen in multiple scenes, where Ayako is nothing but a victim of the world she lives in – such as the abusers in her family.
As such, the story is thought-provoking and a joy to read through, as it grips the reader from the get-go, although the second half of the manga – after the prologue – is better than the first half.
The ending is somewhat satisfying.

Art – 8/10
Ayako bolsters a typical Osamu Tezuka art style: beautiful landscapes, a very functional art style with personality, good page flow, panel cadence (which makes this story easy to read), and character design with expressive tones. The page composition was also good – and very Tezukaesque in that regard.

Characters – 6/10
The characters in Ayako are mostly archetypes and placeholders for the action to happen. In this regard, most just represent certain aspects of humanity – such as lust (Pa), greed (Jirou), and innocence (Ayako), although characters are complex enough for them to have more than just one of these aspects. Ayako, for instance, mainly represents innocence, ignorance, and impotence. It is also a grim reminder that humanity is cruel and malevolent – this is probably the manga's most vital message.

Enjoyment – 7/10
Ayako is, by all standards, a great manga with a great story and with good enjoyment. Although it is one of Tezuka’s darkest mangas, it certainly deserves a recommendation for everything it has.

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Mar 14, 2022

jpxavowwgamer

Recommended

Ayako
The GOAT Osamu Tezuka really knew how to make a good manga and a good story!

Story 9/10 - The story is not only about a girl and the bad way she was treat, is a story about humanity, politic and mental health. Ayako is a drama story that follows the girl who gave the name of the manga, Ayako... and also follows the Tenge Family and their horrible way to treat people and their sick realationship between them. The humanity way of the story is because we can see how the persons was after the WW2 end and how Japan was rebuilding themselves and, of ...

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May 1, 2016

MangaGreat

Mixed Feelings

I was fortunate. Fortunate in that I had a learned individual informed me of the background in which ‘Ayako’ was created which allowed me to understand the reasoning behind many of the plot points and the overall theme.

Because the story would have looked awful without the understanding of that background.

The reason being that much of it isn’t presented well, and it ends up looking silly and vapid without the proper presentation. Eventually, the story does get around to leading readers in the right direction of understanding, but that is well over 50% into the story and it is still fairly easy to lose sight of.

Thing ...

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Poll: Ayako Chapter 19 Discussion DonKangolJones - Feb 16, 2011	6 replies	by UnknownGhost5 »» Feb 5, 1:23 AM
Poll: Ayako Chapter 18 Discussion UnknownGhost5 - Feb 5	0 replies	by UnknownGhost5 »» Feb 5, 12:48 AM
Poll: Ayako Chapter 17 Discussion UnknownGhost5 - Feb 5	0 replies	by UnknownGhost5 »» Feb 5, 12:01 AM
Poll: Ayako Chapter 16 Discussion eymaelpresidente - Oct 20, 2022	2 replies	by UnknownGhost5 »» Dec 29, 2024 9:04 AM
Poll: Ayako Chapter 15 Discussion UnknownGhost5 - Dec 28, 2024	0 replies	by UnknownGhost5 »» Dec 28, 2024 4:40 PM

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