The Book of Human Insects

The Book of Human Insects by Osamu Tezuka
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Toshiko Tomura is many things: actress, designer, writer, wife, chameleon, and murderer!

Osamu Tezuka is known as the Godfather of Manga but this is only the third work of his I've read. I'm solidly a fan now.

The Book of Human Insects is about a sociopath named Toshiko Tomura, although even her name is stolen. Hers is a life of theft, both of identity and of work, I guess you'd say. She stole a manuscript and passed it off as her own, as well as other similar works. The story is about the men pulled into her orbit and destroyed. That's all I'll give away from the plot.

After Astro Boy and Dororo, I didn't think Tezuka's cutesy style would work for this but it worked very well, He uses a lot of hatching and textures in his background, which makes his cartoony figures stand out even more.

This was a very captivating book. As Toshiko went from victim to victim, I was appalled but just kept turning pages. It was a gripping read and kind of a train wreck for all parties concerned. It reminded me of any number of psychosexual thrillers in books or on the screen that came later.

The Book of Human Insects is a noir thriller in a somewhat cutesy wrapper. Four out of five wrecked lives.

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