PopMatters features The Sky is Blue with a Single Cloud on its Best Fiction of 2020 list

Kuniko Tsurita, born in Japan in 1947, grew up in the aftermath of World War II and the early years of manga's tenacious spread. Despite the male-dominated nature of early manga magazines, she devoted herself to the craft and was already submitting work to contests and magazines before the age of 15. She and a friend skipped their high school graduation ceremony to catch a train to Tokyo, both determined to make it as manga artists in the big city. Tsurita was among the early 'intellectual' manga artists, integrating concepts drawn from high literature and philosophy into their manga in both content and style.

Unlike many of her colleagues, who privately derided the lofty intellectualism they injected into their work, Tsurita seems to have taken it more seriously, drawing on influences as varied as the Marquis de Sade, Lovecraft, Nietzsche, Russian anarchism, Christian eschatology, Audrey Beardsley, and more. The Sky Is Blue with a Single Cloud is a superb and beautiful collection, one worth repeated readings for pleasure and reflection alike.

The Anglophone world owes thanks to those involved in its production that English speaking audiences will finally get to encounter Tsurita's powerfully innovative and provocative work, which resonates with meaning for manga historians and contemporary audiences alike. -- Rhea Rollmann