Second Hand Love is a collection of manga by Murasaki Yamada,[a] translated into English by Ryan Holmberg and published in North America in 2024 by Drawn and Quarterly.
The Drawn and Quarterly volume has two manga,[1] both from the 1980s.[2]
Plots
A Blue Flame is about Emi, a woman in an affair with a married man. Initially she continues the affair despite others telling her to stop, but she realizes that she feels disrespected by being in the affair.[3]
Second Hand Love follows Yuko, who recalled how her father cheated on her mother and how this affects her own relationships with other men.[3] At the time of the plot, Yuko’s mother is dead, and Yuko’s father wishes he had not cheated on her.[2]
Publication
A Shimmering Pale Color was first published in Comic Morning from 1983 to 1984,[1] and was serialized in book form by Kodansha. In 1986 it was adapted into a film titled Bed In (ベッド・イン).[5][1] The comic Second Hand Love was first published in Comic Baku, from 1986 to 1987.[1]
A Shimmering Pale Color was later published by Shogakukan,[1] in a volume, titled A Shimmering Pale Color, that also included the manga Second Hand Love.[4]
The English version has an interview with Yamada that occurred in 1985. It also has images from A Loving Family (恋する家族), written by Masahiro Mita.[3]
Reception
Terry Hong of Booklist argued that, in 2024, the insights into women’s issues “remains relevantly evergreen across cultures and decades.”[2]
Publishers Weekly gave a starred review and stated that the collection is “exquisite” and “a perfect introduction to Murasaki’s heady feminist dramas.”[3]
See also
- Talk to My Back, another manga by Yamada