Recommended: Magician A by Natsuko Ishitsuyo
Growing up as a woman means that you rarely see your own sexual awakening explored through a lens you can relate to. Natsuko Ishitsuyo upends those low-expectations with Magician A, a black and white, 240 page tome dedicated to the spectrum of female sexuality and all the pain, awkwardness, and heartbreak that goes with it. There’s no shame or ridicule to be found here, just a blunt reality driven home by Ishitsuyo’s stark linework.
Those lines paint a weird, sparse, and wonderful world that is as haunting as it is empowering. It offers a strange kind of freedom that allows you to live through the fear, pleasure, and loss without any tangible threat or even having to leave your sofa. Sex shop love affairs, older men who can’t see your worth, magicians with grand designs on the universe. There are all kinds of desires here and none of them are judged or questioned. Ishitsuyo’s book is a blessing for anyone who wants to delve into the often dark realities of youth, sex, and love.
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