Yakuza Moon: True Story of a Gangster's Daughter (The Manga Edition) [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Sean Michael Wilson did not write the English version of this, but claims credit for it. The English was taken from Louise Heal Kawai's translation of the original memoir: http://www.amazon.com/Yakuza-Moon-Memoirs-Gangsters-Daughter/dp/477003086X/. He simply claims credit for picking out phrases from Heal Kawai's translation and editing them down to fit them into bubbles. He clearly has no shame.

In 2009, Shoko Tendo's memoir "Yakuza Moon" was translated to English and released by Kodansha International and what people had to read was the shocking and heartbreaking life that Shoko endured since childhood. And now, "Yakuza Moon" receives its manga version courtesy of Sean Michael Wilson (who worked on "Hagakure: The Code of the Samurai" with illustrations by Michiru Morikawa.

With a visual manga version of Shoko Tendo's memoir, readers can feel the emotions that Shoko had gone through as a youngster up to an adult when she tries to make something of her life.

In "Yakuza Moon", we learn how Shoko was the daughter of a yakuza boss. Her father lived a good life, had a good business but also known to be with women, while her mother lived to be there for the family. But there were times that Shoko's father was drunk and abusive and while she had this life at home, her life as a youngster were not kind as well because she was a daughter of a yakuza boss.

Many people thought of her as stupid and for young Shoko, when she heard her own teacher talking bad about her to other adults (not knowing she overheard everything), she learned how people can be so cruel.

But yet, she took everything that was handed to her, all the bad, all the bullying and also the problems that came with being a yakuza daughter.

From when her father was sentenced prison time, she and her sister Maki would live a dangerous lifestyle with other young yakuza children as they lied and got into clubs and lived the fast life. But while her father was in prison, one of the yakuza from her father's group tried to rape her and for Maki, this led to problems trusting men. In fact, you get to learn how badly her judgment of men will take her on a dangerous journey of sniffing thinner to experimenting with dangerous drugs.

And like many addicts, the longer you sink into that hole, the darker things get and the worse things become and for Shoko, this was her life. She was confused, she was depressed, she was bitter but one thing that she knew from these men that she was with, was that drugs made the pain go away, or so she would have thought.

The situations that you see Shoko go through, throughout this manga is shocking. From men using her as a sex toy as blackmail in order for her to protect her parents was very sad but it was the only way she could protect her family who was heavily in debt. She was beaten, forced to do things against her will and she was a woman who lived in her own personal hell and she knew no way back.

And each time she would meet a man who would seem to be her saviour from the darkness, they turn out to be much worse than she ever expected as she became a victim of abuse.

And while "Yakuza Moon" is not the happiest memoir and while the storyline is quite dark and real, the purpose of this memoir is to show that one can emerge from the darkness, may come out of it bit scarred but are able to say they lived through it and were able to make something of themselves.

But Shoko's story is that life in Japan that you don't hear or read about in Japanese newspapers or publications. While there are stories of yakuza and their wives, we don't hear about the emotional and physical turmoil that exists for the children. While every person is different, the fact is that Shoko paints a realistic portrait of how one's life can be changed for the worst when the people you most trust, turn against you. Your teachers, your family and the people who you think cares about you.

For Shoko, her life could have been your everyday drug addict tragedy or the woman who was beaten by her boyfriend that you would often read in Japanese newspapers but I do feel that this memoir was therapeutic for Shoko Tendo and also giving people an idea of how life for the children of yakuza is not ideal and in her case, life can be very screwed up.

"Yakuza Moon" is a wonderful manga adaptation by Sean Michael Wilson. I personally haven't read Shoko's book but Michiru Morikawa's manga illustrations really do make you feel the emotions that she has gone through. Because we get to see Shoko's sexual past of pleasure and pain, nudity and all, plus drug use, it's the reason why this manga has received a "Mature Content" rating.

I don't think I have ever seen a story like this, in manga, anime, drama or film from Japan. And to follow Japanese culture for so long and read something that was even surprising for me is quite rare. I've watched many dark stories from Japan and situations that were very screwed up, but it's one thing if it's made for entertainment but to read one that is actually based on a person's real life. It was quite surprising and it makes you wonder how many other Shoko Tendo's are there? How many are suffering today? And how many were not able to crawl out of the darkness and survive like Shoko was able to?

Unfortunately, this story is not just limited to Shoko and people in Japan but it happens to many children all over the world. But not many live that long to talk about it, nor do many write about it. So, I really did appreciate reading Shoko Tendo's memoir and to see how through all that pain that she has gone through, that she was able to survive from it and to eventually write a bestselling book and also to have a few documentaries under her belt. I'm also grateful that Sean Michael Wilson and Michiru Morikawa chose Tendo's "Yakuza Moon" for a manga adaptation, it really gave us a visual look, and feeling that impact from Shoko Tendo's memoir.

Overall, If you want a manga that is based on a true story, with a surprisingly dark but real storyline that you just don't really hear about in Japan, I highly recommend "Yakuza Moon: The Manga Edition".

Some reviews I've noticed for this book:

"While I found the core plot of the book to be very interesting, I haven't discussed the remarkable job that Sean Michael Wilson and Michiru Morikawa do in adapting this story. I was struck by the intimacy I felt for Shoko and how effectively Wilson and Morikawa brought the character to life... Morikawa does a really effective job of telling Shoko's story in a way that completely makes sense for her style. She does a really wonderful job of showing the details of Shoko's world, especially the story of her inner life. I really enjoyed the way that Morikawa gave Shoko an interesting inner life, and appropriately enough an inner life that reflects her youth and naiveté about the world.

As Zack points out, manga is not a genre. Manga is simply a word that applies to stories presented in comic form. This book reminds me of that adage. It's pretty damn terrific, no matter what country it comes from."
- Jason Sacks, Comics Bulletin

"Kodansha did a really nice job with this release, releasing the book in a larger size than Viz' Signature books and giving the cover a dust jacket. It's also flipped, something that I find curious. Maybe they're trying to reach a larger audience than just the manga crowd? It's probably a good plan, since I think Shoko's story has wide appeal. Yakuza Moon isn't the prettiest manga art or plot wise, but it's still an interesting read."
-The anime zone.com