A Distant Neighborhood

A Distant Neighborhood
By Jiro Tanaguchi

Hiroshi is an exhausted, hungover businessman who boards what he thinks is a homebound train and falls fast asleep. He awakes to find himself on an express heading to the town where he grew up. The twin forces of nostalgia and regret beguile Hiroshi into a tour of his much-changed childhood haunts. At his mother’s grave, the businessman is mysteriously carried back in time to his 14-year-old life. But, Hiroshi retains his adult character and foreknowledge of all that is to come. As the story progresses, it becomes apparent that Hiroshi is not simply revisiting his youth, but is actually changing it with his adult memories and experiences! Author Jiro Taniguchi is a master of contemplative detail. We’ve all wished for the chance to correct the mistakes of the past. This haunting graphic novel makes the reader think long and hard about what it might mean if we could.