Die, Die My Darling! On Rumiko Takahashi’s The Laughing Target
Die, Die My Darling! On Rumiko Takahashi’s The Laughing Target, by Kayleigh Hearn
"The Laughing Target has stuck with me for twenty years, Azusa’s maniacal cry still echoes in my head when other voices – other comics, other manga – have retreated into silence. How can I describe its power over me, this minor, early work by a generation-defining creator who has published over 200 volumes of original work that have sold over 200 million copies worldwide?
With a career spanning over forty years, – a pen in every genre from boarding house melodrama (Maison Ikkoku) to martial arts slapstick (Ranma ½) – Rumiko Takahashi is an artist of rare vitality and stamina (her most recent series, Mao, began serialization in 2019). As sprawling as her work is — Inuyasha, her longest series, ran 40 volumes – I find myself drawn to her shorter titles, like the macabre Mermaid Saga or the one-shot (ha) The Laughing Target. Their sheer brevity gives them extra power, a sunburst of raw creativity that never overstays its welcome or crumples under oversized expectations."
Read the full article here: Die, Die My Darling! On Rumiko Takahashi’s The Laughing Target – Shelfdust