Synopses & Reviews
The setting: A boys’ boarding school in Germany, sometime in the latter 20th Century. Fourteen year-old Thomas Werner falls from a lonely pedestrian overpass to his death immediately after sending a single, brief letter to a schoolmate:
To Juli, one last time
This is my love
This is the sound of my heart
Surely you must understand
Thus begins the legendary and enigmatic Heart of Thomas, by Moto Hagio. Inspired by Jean Delannoy’s 1964 film, Les Amitiés Particulières, The Heart of Thomas was nearly cancelled early in its serialization, in 1974, until Hagio’s first trade paperback, The Poe Clan, Volume 1, sold out in a single day, giving her new series a new lease on life. The result was a story more complex, less accessible, and yet so compelling it can be found near or at the top of any list of classic shōjo manga. Translated by manga scholar Matt Thorn and packaged with the same loving attention to detail as Hagio’s Eisner Award nominated A Drunken Dream, The Heart of Thomas is already the most eagerly anticipated manga translation of the new decade.
Review
"Once the folks at Fantagraphics decided to dip their toes in the manga pool, they didn't mess around. Hagio's stories are infused with dark emotions -- longing, jealousy, remorse -- that are instantly identifiable and, hence, often uncomfortable to confront." School Library Journal
Review
"Moto Hagio is a genius and leader in the style of shojo manga (comics for women readers). [...] The stories aren't about make-up and kitties, though. They're actually deep, complicated, and often deal with family relationships." Giant Robot
Review
"Hagio Moto remains one of the most criminally undertranslated mangaka to have barely made an impression on the English-language manga market. It is criminal because of the profundity of her impact on the art form in Japan as it hit a crucial development phase in the 1970s. is... a down payment on the exploration of that legacy as it collects a number of short pieces that hint at the span and depth of her work..." World Literature Today
Review
" works in several different themes, many revolving around the concept of love. It asks the questions, what does it mean to love or be loved? What will we do to be loved or to help the one we love? Is it okay to accept another's love? While asking all these questions, Hagio doesn't put any conditions on them... The feelings are portrayed so genuinely that gender becomes meaningless, and just seeing the characters happy [is] all that's important in the end." Lori Henderson
Synopsis
To Juli, one last time This is my lov This is the sound of my hear Surely you must understan Thus begins the legendary and enigmaticHeart of Thomas, by Moto Hagio. Inspired by Jean Delannoy s 1964 film, Les Amities Particulieres, The Heart of Thomas was nearly cancelled early in its serialization, in 1974, until Hagio s first trade paperback, The Poe Clan, Volume 1, sold out in a single day, giving her new series a new lease on life. The result was a story more complex, less accessible, and yet so compelling it can be found near or at the top of any list of classic shojo manga. Translated by manga scholar Matt Thorn and packaged with the same loving attention to detail as Hagio s Eisner Award nominated A Drunken Dream, The Heart of Thomas is already the most eagerly anticipated manga translation of the new decade. "
Synopsis
The legendary and enigmatic Heart of Thomas, by Moto Hagio, was inspired by Jean Delannoy's 1964 film, Les Amities Particulieres. Set in an early 20th century German boarding school, thirteen-year-old Thomas commits suicide, leaving behind a note professing his love for his fourteen-year-old male classmate Juli. Thomas double appears at the school, and Juli must decipher feelings.
Synopsis
To Juli, one last time
This is my love
This is the sound of my heart
Surely you must understand
Thus begins the legendary and enigmatic Heart of Thomas, by Moto Hagio. Inspired by Jean Delannoy's 1964 film, Les Amiti s Particulieres, The Heart of Thomas was nearly cancelled early in its serialization, in 1974, until Hagio's first trade paperback, The Poe Clan, Volume 1, sold out in a single day, giving her new series a new lease on life. The result was a story more complex, less accessible, and yet so compelling it can be found near or at the top of any list of classic shojo manga. Translated by manga scholar Matt Thorn and packaged with the same loving attention to detail as Hagio's Eisner Award nominated A Drunken Dream, The Heart of Thomas is already the most eagerly anticipated manga translation of the new decade.
Synopsis
A shōjo classic in english for the first time.
Synopsis
The setting: A boys' boarding school in Germany, sometime in the latter 20th Century. Fourteen year-old Thomas Werner falls from a lonely pedestrian overpass to his death immediately after sending a single, brief letter to a schoolmate: Thus begins the legendary and enigmatic , by Moto Hagio. Inspired by Jean Delannoy's 1964 film, , was nearly cancelled early in its serialization, in 1974, until Hagio's first trade paperback, , Volume 1, sold out in a single day, giving her new series a new lease on life. The result was a story more complex, less accessible, and yet so compelling it can be found near or at the top of any list of classic shojo manga. Translated by manga scholar Matt Thorn and packaged with the same loving attention to detail as Hagio's Eisner Award nominated , is already the most eagerly anticipated manga translation of the new decade.
About the Author
Moto Hagio was born in 1949 and lives in Japan. She is widely considered the most beloved shōjo manga artist of all time. Her graphic novel A Drunken Dream was nominated for an Eisner Award in 2011.