Miss Ruki

"A classic of Japanese manga, Miss Ruki is a warm and vivid portrait of the lives of two young women in Tokyo during Japan's 1980s bubble economy. The titular Miss Ruki spurns the fast-paced consumer culture of the era in favor of a lighthearted life dedicated to her hobbies, her books, and spending time with her anxious but far more pragmatic friend Ecchan"--

Publisher Marketing: Fumiko Takano is a Japanese manga artist. Influential among the "New Wave" manga artists in the late 70s and early 80s, Takano was one of the first women manga artists to publish in outlets not explicitly aimed at a female readership. She won the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2003, and in 2015 she was the second-ever manga artist to win the Iwaya Sazanami Literary Award. She lives in Tokyo. Alexa Frank is an editor and translator of Japanese. A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and the Fulbright program, she has translated over twenty volumes of manga, most recently Nazuna Saito's Offshore Lightning (nominated for the 2024 Ignatz Awards), Kyoko Okazaki's River's Edge (nominated for the 2024 Eisner Awards), and Shirakawa Gin's A Story of Seven Lives . She lives in New York. Review Quotes : "Ruki's gently funny adventures have the appeal of iyashikei ("healing") manga, but Takano's exceptional cartooning skills and attention to human detail elevate them to a category all their own. Like the café drinks that Ruki and Ecchan commiserate over, it's a small, perfect treat." -- Publishers Weekly " Miss Ruki is an unconventional manga by a master of the art less known outside of Japan . . . The refreshing simplicity of the storytelling makes for light, liberating reading . . . [ Miss Ruki ] is a treat for anyone interested in Japanese daily life or simply looking for a calm, relaxing read." --Ashley Hawkins, Booklist "Fumiko Takano is one of those artists who becomes everyone's little secret. You stumble across one of her gorgeous, hard-to-find manga. You share it with a close friend. Before you know it, you're both on the lookout for more . . . Now at last, the wait's over, the secret's out. Fumiko Takano, manga poet and pioneer, has reached our shores. One of her most daring, delightful manga, acclaimed in Japan and Europe, is here, thanks to Alexa Frank's sparkling translation of Miss Ruki. " --Daniel Meyerowitz, The Comics Journal Publisher Marketing : Chosen by the Washngton Post as one of the Best Comics of 2025 A young woman rejects the fast-paced consumer culture of 1980s Japan in favor of a slower, more carefree lifestyle in this tenderhearted, sweetly funny classic of slice-of-life manga. A classic of Japanese manga, Miss Ruki is a warm and vivid portrait of the lives of two young women in Tokyo during Japan's 1980s bubble economy. The titular Miss Ruki spurns the fast-paced consumer culture of the era in favor of a lighthearted life dedicated to her hobbies, her books, and spending time with her anxious but far more pragmatic friend, Ecchan. Takano's art moves with all the warmth, grace, and clarity of the everyday moments it depicts. Sweet and funny, these vignettes of a long-gone time still resonate today with readers and authors in Japan, with famed contemporary manga artist Keigo Shinzo noting, "To read it is to grasp something of the essence of Japan.... This is the kind of manga I want to draw." Miss Ruki is a vertical comic strip meant to be read right to left; each story begins in the top right panel and continues down the column before moving leftward. Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 09/08/2025 (EAN 9781681379401, Paperback) Shelf Awareness 09/20/2025 (EAN 9781681379401, Paperback) Booklist 10/01/2025 (EAN 9781681379401, Paperback)

Format: Paperback | Pages: 128 | Publication Date: 2025-09-16