Key points
- Fujimoto's Goodbye, Eri showcases his cinematic approach, emphasizing character-driven narratives.
- Goodbye, Eri blurs the line between manga and film, using sequential panels to emulate cinematic shots.
- Fujimoto's passion for cinema is evident in Goodbye, Eri, creating an intimate and unique narrative experience.
Author Tatsuki Fujimoto got a head start on his career with manga Fire FistBut The chainsaw man made him famous all over the world. Thanks to Studio MAPPA's incredible manga and stellar adaptation, Denji's dark story has become a huge success. However, Fujimoto is also celebrated for his lesser-known and shorter stories The chainsaw man and Fire Fist. Look back was recently adapted into a film, but shortly before the second part of Chainsaw Man, Fujimoto left Goodbye, Eri. This tale is a masterclass different from the usual manga creation, taking a more cinematic and less conventional approach.
Fujimoto first showed this style with Look Back and, to some extent, in Fire Punch and Chainsaw Man, but it was with Goodbye, Eri that he really took it to the next level. Here's why you should read Goodbye, Eri by Tatsuki Fujimoto.
A story about imperfect humans
The people are broken, the art is perfect
The manga follows Yuta Ito, a high school student who is given a smartphone for his birthday. After his mother becomes terminally ill, she tasks him with documenting her final moments in a documentary. Yuta then premieres the film at his school. He is bullied and ridiculed for the film, causing him to attempt to jump off the school building. There he meets Eri, a girl who tells him she loved the film and asks him to film her. The story then follows Yuta's time with Eri in the making of the film.
In his previous works, Fujimoto had already shown his innate talent for character writing. Although his two main works belong to the Shōnen category, his approach to storytelling is much closer to Seinen. Fujimoto creates incredibly human and explicit characters. He's not shy about making his characters extremely flawed and, at times, difficult to watch. The narrative core of his works is the human element. Beyond all the fighting and superpowers, his stories are more about how humans relate to each other and the difficulties of intimacy and achieving oneself. Fujimoto, more than a great artist or creator, is a master of character-based narrative.
Goodbye, Eri is the best example of this. There is no fighting or superpowers, there is no good and evil. It's about the small-scale people in history. This is not a story you read to get excited by watching epic battles or trying to decipher complex plots and developments. Goodbye, Eri is a character drama in manga form. Rather than a standard manga, readers are treated to a more intimate and cinematic style.
Film made manga
Fujimoto's love for cinema
Fans of Chainsaw Man may know that author Tatsuki Fujimoto is a huge movie fan. The first theme song of the series is full of references to famous films. This is on full display with Goodbye, Eri. Here Fujimoto moves away from the usual dynamic panels seen in manga. Instead, use sequential rectangular panels to portray scenes. This is his art that emulates the cinematic shots seen in live-action films. The reader follows the story through sequential panels just like a film.
The dialogue and images are all presented in a subtle, sequential style. This is to present the story as if it were a film due to Fujimoto's passion for the medium but also because much of the story is Yuta's film about his mother and then Eri. The reader sees the story through Yuta's film. Fujimoto puts the reader in the place of the audience watching Yuta's film.
Goodbye, Eri is a manga like no other. It blurs the line between graphic novels and films. Its approach to storytelling and manga creation sets it apart from most series you'll find in the medium. If you love The chainsaw manyou should take a look at Fujimoto's masterpiece, Goodbye, Eri.
