Keiko Tobe

The 6th volume of Keikp Tobe's With The Light sees Hikaru trying to fit in with a bigger world as he grows out of childhood, ready to begin puberty. His younger sister, Kanon, also starts elementary school and their parents Sachiko and Masato start to unwittingly draw comparisons about how Kanon is able to manager her life easily whereas Hikaru is still stumbling on. Sometimes it seems that even the littlest things can cause the biggest upsets, and with the onset of puberty looming just how much worse can things get?

Another moving chapter as Hikaru moves into sixth grade facing a whole new set of problems, including a new teacher and a new school.

These are brave and wonderful books that tackle the very difficult subject of autism and a caring and informative way. There is so much empathy with, not only Hikaru and his family, but also some of the other characters as they grow.

With The Light is the story of one families battle to understand their autistic sons life, and integrate him with the rest of the world. Once you get over the format of the manga graphic novel - all Japanese comics are read from back to front. (Starting from the top right of the page to bottom left)- it becomes very easy to read. The style of Japanese comics, in relation to its American or European counterparts, is far more expressive dealing as much with the characters inner world as it is the world around them. ..read more

Comics, to me, are an undervalued art-form - They are able to show characters thoughts; freeze time and expressions and allow readers to interact in a way that neither TV (which is completely passive) nor books (which is overly reliant on your own interpretation) can touch.

Comics, to me, are an undervalued art-form - They are able to show characters thoughts; freeze time and expressions and allow readers to interact in a way that neither TV (which is completely passive) nor books (which is overly reliant on your own interpretation) can touch.

This is used to its fullest potential in With The Light, the story of one families battle to understand their autistic sons life, and integrate him with the rest of the world.

Comics, to me, are an undervalued art-form that bridge the chasm between novels and film / tv. They are able to show characters thoughts; freeze time and expressions and allow reader interaction in a way that neither TV (which is completely passive) nor books (which is overly reliant on your own interpretation) can touch.

You know how it is, you hear the word Manga and the image that immediately springs to mind is either your dungeons and dragons type thing, or something from the cyber punk genre.I mean, if you look at the dvd titles that are available to us, you have the likes of Ninja Scrolls, Akira, Winds of Amnesia and the great Ghost in the Shell series. All great, and cover cyber punk and ancient Japan. That is what I personally think of when Manga is mentioned.