Dérives

The latest album by Alexis Bacci (Lastman Stories: Soir de Match, Captain Death, Tengu Diaries). A fat graphic novel set in a remote Japanese seaside village and a community of ama, female divers. From the publisher: Supernatural tragedies between two waters. Tokyo, 2001. Takeshi Noda, a journalist in the midst of an existential crisis, is hired to do a report in Wagu, in Ago Bay, a remote countryside of Japan. He goes to meet a community of ama, fisherwomen who dive in long descents with only rudimentary equipment. Despite their advanced age, these women do not use any mechanical assistance for their work. And their exploits do not protect them from other dangers: whether it was the yakuza in the past, or now from a world making their millennial way of life obsolete. Listening to them, Takeshi discovers that their work has often placed them at the center of other stories: from treasure hunts to bloody rivalries, from romantic jealousies to fantastical dramas ... Captivated by their stories, Takeshi does his own introspection. He comes out of his lethargy in this remote place, frozen in a past where the supernatural seems to dominate... In this intimate graphic novel tinged with fantasy, Alexis Bacci immerses us in the daily life and history of Japanese ama, these fascinating divers whose tradition is disappearing. Over 200+ pages, he recounts their dramas and colors them with dreamlike scenes, sometimes nightmarish, with expressionist reflections.