A Distant Neighborhood #1

Jiro Taniguchi's quietly affecting manga series arrives in English with this first volume from Fanfare, and the cover sets the mood beautifully — a young man in a dark school uniform stands alone on a sunlit traditional Japanese street, a small canal running beside aged wooden buildings that stretch into the distance behind him. There's something deeply atmospheric about the way Taniguchi renders that tranquil neighborhood scene, balancing architectural detail with a sense of solitude and contemplation. With a graphic adaptation by Frédéric Boilet, this is an inviting entry point into one of manga's most introspective and warmly human storytellers.