When it comes to examining art and the emotions the artist tries to evoke in its reader, I think the medium of comics/manga (Japanese comics) is great. One of my favorite artists, and creators in general, is Tatsuki Fujimoto.

(the only picture you can find of him)

If you’re unfamiliar with manga in general, he is known for creating works that are absurd and cynical, while also having a lot of heart and conveying human emotion very well. His most well-known and popular work is “Chainsaw Man”, which is one of my favorite comics ever. It’s about a young man named Denji, who dreams of obtaining a normal life, while also being part demon. What I love about Denji — and pretty much all of the characters in the series — is that, while they live in such a savage and unforgiving world, they react to this the way normal people would. This is shown especially well through Fujimoto’s paneling.

Take this panel for example. (Slight spoilers) In this scene, Aki, who fights demons, loses his partner doing a battle. However, through flashbacks, we are shown that his partner had always cared about him, wanting both of them to get out of this line of work. However, Aki refused, being blinded by his desire to avenge the loss of his family to demons. Once Aki loses his partner, an avid smoker, the only memento he has of her are her cigarettes. Here, we see Aki in the hospital, struggling to light a cigarette; the lighter is having a hard time igniting. I love the use of buildup in this page, as three small panels shows the lighter flickering until it finally lights up.

We’re shown a page of Aki putting the cigarette in his mouth but hesitating. The next few panels show his hands slowly losing grip of the cigarette. He eventually breaks down in tears, head buried in his arms. Fujimoto is great at crafting this type of visual storytelling. He puts us into the mind of someone who is realizing that he should have spent more time with the one person who tried to show him how to enjoy life, something Aki was never able to do.

Seeing this scene for the first time was powerful because typically a small action such as lighting a cigarette would take maybe one or two panels. Fujimoto used 3 full pages until Aki begins to cry for emotional buildup. I love how he takes advantage of the comic medium to create scenes that really stick with the reader and allow you to connect with the character. There are dozens of other examples of this in “Chainsaw Man”, and his other works. If you’re a fan of anime/manga, or like Tarantino-style action and humor, I highly recommend checking them out, as they are some of my favorite media experiences in recent memory.