INDEX
The Brilliant 11th Chapter: This Is It!
…And the exhibition doesn’t stop here; it continues with Chapter 11. This final chapter features a collaboration with the late Fujio Akatsuka (manga artist). Honestly, I initially thought it might be some sort of promotional project, but that wasn’t the case at all. Keiichi Tanaami, who greatly admired Akatsuka, was able to realize this intense collaboration through his heartfelt tribute after Akatsuka’s passing. Tanaami, having received approval to invite his favorite characters like Iyami and Akko-chan into his own world, was like a fish back in water. Each piece in this chapter showcases an extraordinary sharpness.
One of my favorites is the work titled “Shaped Charge Rain”—a title that’s painfully evocative. Underneath a fighter plane, the scene is filled with the onomatopoeic sounds characteristic of Akatsuka’s manga, such as “Waa,” “Doga-chin,” and “Boka.” In the center, Iyami seems to be struggling, but is he drowning in American coffee or a sea of blood? By using characters from a beloved gag manga and onomatopoeia, the piece becomes a work steeped in layers of irony, far beyond just a pinch of sugar.
