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2008-03-30

Air Meal (1994) - Miyazaki Watercolor Comic

Air Meal, from 1994 - a short Miyazaki comic that comically shares his love of airplanes and that hallowed flight ritual, the in-flight meal. Painted in full watercolors, it looks absolutely wonderful - fans of the art of Miyazaki will complain loudly of another "lost" classic, hidden away from prying Western eyes. I'm surprised at the number of these smaller comics and short stories, which appeared in magazines and such. It seems there will always be another Miyazaki sketch or painting lurking around somewhere.

My favorite bit in Air Meal - apart from that wonderfully funny cover - is Miyazaki's idea of a traditional Japanese restaurant on the plane, complete with mats and pillows. And did you notice his traveling companion? Yep, it's none other than Dr. Watson from Sherlock Hound. At least, that's who the dog looks like to me. Miyazaki portrays himself as he very often does in his comics - as a pig. What can I say? He just really likes pigs.

If you click on the pages, you'll go to a much larger size, where you can read the fan-translated text and admire the artwork more fully. Enjoy and share!





5 comments:

Cory Gross said...

Hah! This is a charming little book. Thanks for posting it too!

Anonymous said...

Wow! Thank you, that was the only Miyazaki comic I'd never seen before.

Could you please tell me who translated it? Looks like it might have been done by someone I know, Kanta.

Shan said...

Thanks your Miyazaki comic;-)
Happy New Year*;-)

Anonymous said...

If you share Miyazaki's fascination of flying and old planes I highly recommend the autobiographical works of Antoine De Saint-Exupery, who is most famous for his children's book "The Little Prince". However, this hardly gives you an idea of the poetic power of his more realistic writing. I came to reading some of it (Wind, Sand and Stars) and I felt reminded of the most pleasant moments in some of Miyazaki's movies. When you google it, you might also find a cue that Antoine De Saint-Exupery was one of the main reasons for Miyazaki's fascination with this subject to begin with. Or perhaps you already knew...

Unknown said...

THE LITTLE PRINCE is wonderful. i am a miyazaki lover and also love that book. my bf read it to me last week, im 20 and still find it wonderful, passionate,mysterious,lovely, and majical. READ IT <3

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