Osamu Tezuka

For our first reading, we read Ayako by Osamu Tezuka. The story follows the Tenge clan and their downfall over a span of twenty-three years. Filled with dark secrets, murder, and so much more, this manga is one of the most twisted stories I've ever read. There was this underlying issue with patriarchy and the traditional expectations of respect that came with it. As we discussed in class, this seems to be the root of why this family is so dysfunctional.

First of all, let me start by saying this: every single goddamn person in this story is awful with a capital A. The entire Tenge clan is fucked. The story starts out with Jiro Tenge returning home after being held POW by Americans. It's revealed that while he was imprisoned, he became a double agent for the Americans and betrayed his country for survival. After returning home, he is still employed by the Americans and it made to kill and dispose of corpses by the "GHQ" – which is American run. Shortly after his return, he learns of a new addition to the family, Ayako. Ayako is a four-year-old little girl whom he first believes to be his niece. Wrong. Basically, Jiro's father, Sakuemon, enjoys indulging in his daughter-in-law, Su'e's, body. Su'e is the wife of Ichiro, Jiro's older brother, who traded his wife's body in exchange for becoming the sole inheritor of the family's farmlands. And since he is the man and she is the woman, she must oblige to her husband's demands, no questions asked. So Su'e gets preggers with Ayako and Pa is the daddy. But here's the best part! Ichiro then has the AUDACITY to get mad and hate the poor child, whom he beats often. But that seems more to be about him than Ayako. I got the impression that the root of the hatred stems from his own shame. The shame of giving away his wife's body that resulted in a child that wasn't his.

When the police begin to close in on Jiro for several murders, the family fears that the townspeople will find out whose child Ayako is and decide to hide her in the cellar and fake her death. Having no clue what was going on, four-year-old Ayako returns home from a walk and is shoved into the cellar. After the meeting, the window of the cellar is painted over, leaving the poor child in complete darkness. Believing she had done something wrong, she begs to be let out and promises to behave. Absolutely heartbreaking. A question that I kept asking myself while reading this was why not just pretend that Ayako was Ichiro's child instead of saying she is Pa and Ma's youngest. Because it seems that most of this family's awful decisions revolved around keeping Ayako's true sire a secret. Having voiced that question in class, I learned that it a cultural difference and going with my suggestive just wasn't the way the social system was done.

Anyways, Jiro flees prosecution and spends the next 23 years building a criminal empire and becomes an infamous mob boss under an alias. Over the years, Ayako is trapped in the cellar and slowly grows into a woman and learns of the outside world through magazines and novels. Because she was never socialized, she has a warped sense of love when it comes to men. She believes that to love a man, whether it is family or not, it means to have sex with them. Because she was never taught the difference, at the age of fifteen, she seduces her brother, Shiro, who at first is against it but eventually gives in and begins sneaking into the cellar at night to have sex with his sister. Disgusting. The best part about this is that Shiro acts as if he is the superior male of the Tenge clan because he hasn't beaten or killed anyone. Um... dude, you took advantage of your baby sister's nativity and violated her. Repeatedly. Just because you didn't murder anyone doesn't make you any better than them.

When Pa finally passes after suffering from a stroke and being comatose for like 20 years, it's revealed that S'ue is actually the benefactor of Pa's entire estate, which enrages Ichiro. When he confronts her and tells her to sign a form that would transfer all the inheritance to himself, S'ue tells him she plans to divorce him. As she says goodbye to Ayako and begins to leave, Ichiro strangles her from behind, killing her and making him the sole benefactor of Pa's land.

When the storehouse, where the cellar was, is destroyed and Ayako runs away. After spending some time in Tokoyo, Ayako returns to her hometown in hopes to coax Jiro into turning himself in to the police. But then tragedy strikes and the male population of the Tenge clan is trapped in a manhole with Ayako. As they fight to survive, they're unable to escape and after two weeks they are found with Ayako as the only survivor.

This manga was twisted, disgusting, and fascinating all at the same time. I binge-read it because although I was disturbed, I had to know how it ended. I have never read a story with so many self-righteous, self-serving, despicable people who have a plethora of reasons to excuse their disgusting behavior. There was not a single person I was rooting for. I mean, there was Ayako but she wasn't even in the comic as much as the rest of the Tenge clan. This comic was just a wild ride of me cringing at some of the criminal acts to begging God to make this character suffer. The ending wasn't as satisfying as I would've liked, I was hoping we'd see more of Ayako and see if she did have a happy ending. But overall, it was a pretty good story. They say, "if an author can make you hate a character, then he is truly an amazing writer."