©IWAOKA Hisae / The Asahi Shimbun Company

14th Manga Division Jury Selections

Hoshigahara Aomanjuu no Mori

Story manga [Japan]

IWAOKA Hisae

Outline

Hoshigahara Aomanjuu no Mori (Ao-manjuu Forest in Hoshigahara). There used to be a breezy forest, which kids called “a ghost forest,” in Hoshigahara. A house stood there, with various cute fairies and a young man named Soichi enjoying a serene life. Several souls with bitter feelings huddle together in a mysterious forest. A story is unfolded in the intersect on between loss and revitalization and between sorrow and tenderness.