Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for my arc in exchange for my unbiased review.

"Turning Japanese" by MariNaomi is a fragmented graphic novel memoir of their experience being a hapa in the Bay Area of California as well as their experience living in Japan for a few months. The art is expressive and fun and I really enjoyed reading this one. Having grown up doing trips to the Bay Area because of the amount of Asian American communities, it was nice to see that part from back home, I also really identified with Mari's struggle with their mom about learning Japanese. It reminded me a lot of my mom's response for why she never taught my sister and I Tagalog.

I saw a lot of myself in Mari's representation of themselves and so it made reading their memoir kind of therapeutic. I also like that Mari touched on some of the more problematic issues with Japan as well as issues with dating someone who doesn't necessarily fetishize you but it's still pretty creepy and uncomfortable. It made me happy that they revealed that they broke up because that boyfriend was such a massive manchild expecting Mari to change for them with the children stuff.

I really enjoyed this one. Thank you!

I really enjoyed the artwork and the anecdotes within this graphic novel, as I always enjoy biographical comics, and I enjoyed how self-reflective and at times humourous MariNaomi was. However I didn't really connect with Mari, as the stories were so disconnected at times, and I feel like the book ended abruptly. Enjoyable enough while I read it, but it probably won't stick with me as much as other graphic novels have.

I really liked this exploration of Mari's Japanese experience, both as half-Japanese American in the US, but also her 3 month experience in Japan and with her side of the family there. I also liked the illustration style.

MariNaomi's Turning Japanese is a raw and honest memoir about the cartoonist's experiences in the United States and Japan as a mixed Japanese person. Turning Japanese didn't shy away from portraying the less-than-glamorous parts of navigating early adulthood and the often ugly feelings that accompany them. Turning Japanese isn't so much of a linear narrative as it is a somewhat fragmented recollection of memories that eventually lead to the present day (as seen in both the original and updated epilogue). This isn't a feel-good story about how reconnecting with one's heritage can make you stronger. It's an honest expression about how curiosity has consequences—good ones, bad ones, and ones that fall somewhere inbetween.

This is a new edition of the graphic novel with an added epilogue.

A story about identity, cultural belonging, language and family, Turning Japanese is a window into a life that's split between the United States and Japan.

The illustrations are so beautiful, and the story is compelling. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and following Mari on her trip to Japan.



Thank you NetGalley and Oni Press for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I first delved into the world of hostess bars thanks to Mieko Kawakami’s fascinating Breasts & Eggs.
Marinaomi adds a new layer of meaning to the concept, introducing its hostesses, managers and patrons. I would have loved to get a whole book about her experiences there as she first intended - maybe because their trip to Japan with their boyfriend lacked depth that the book initially promised. Overall, a good read and made me want to read more Marinaomi.

Being half-Japanese myself, I can relate to wanting to connect with relatives over there but also having the language barrier in place. Still, there's not much to MariNaomi's Turning Japanese that did much more than agreeing with that sentiment. The hostess job part was dull and it never really seemed like the author was that driven to actually learn the language. Worse, it's insultingly clear she hasn't even tried learning kana properly as most of the Japanese language is depicted as a series of shaky lines that barely resembles hiragana/katakana. The rest of the book follows the unlikeable author take a rather ordinary trip across the country where her rotten personality alienated her from her family and boyfriend at the time. But hey, some of the language stuck, years later. Woohoo... Yeah, I don't get why anyone would like this book. Really vague, unimpressive story where nothing much happens and very ordinary art. Turning Japanese is a poor comic about nothing much in particular and instantly forgettable for that.

I'm not big on autobiographies, but I liked this one quite a bit. Documenting their effort to immerse themselves in Japanese language and culture and thus get closer to their roots, MariNaomi gives us a glimpse into what their journey meant and how it affected them.
The art style is very simple, but works well. There were a few cool subtle details, like some of the Japanese stuff being written incorrectly in the beginning (e.g., こんにちわ instead of こんにちは, which is a mistake new learners would make) to reflect how disconnected they were from the language. I also loved the overall tone of the writing; MariNaomi really managed to maintain a lot of the fun and craziness of everyday life, especially if you try to navigate it in a less familiar culture. Moreover, I was surprised how much I could relate to the language learning aspects; I study Japanese and desperately want to get a better grasp on the language, so these parts of the story were very relatable for me.

Turning Japanese is a collection of different smaller stories rather than one continuous one, which still works because MariNaomi managed to pick the most relevant bits and pieces to show how they evolved over time. Even so, I sometimes felt that because of this, I couldn't completely immerse myself in the journey and thus the emotions. I would guess that it's meant as a more lighthearted read, so that's fine, but some interesting topics fell a little short (e.g., her troubles with her grandparents).

That being said, I personally liked Turning Japanese and thought it was an entertaining glimpse into MariNaomi's journey. Would definitely recommend if you're looking for something lighthearted and easy-to-read!.

This is an autobiography of Mari, the author. They narrate their quest to learn Japanese as a half Japanese-half American 20-something living in California. It is an interesting glimpse into how it felt for them growing up "yellow outside and white inside" in America, with a mother that didn't speak Japanese at home and almost no chance to learn her language growing up. At 22, Mari enters a new relationship and starts a new job as a hostess at a bar for Japanese expats: they hope working there will help them learn the language, and it will be a way for them to connect with the culture. After a while they decide to go to Japan for three months with their boyfriend, as a chance to meet with the rest of their family and find ways to become "more" Japanese.

The style is simple and clear, black and white with no shadings, something I enjoy. I found the story a bit slow, but kept reading for the interesting and new perspective portrayed in it. I also found the main character and the boyfriend a bit relatable but mostly annoying.

I found the art style quite enjoyable and the story easy to follow. It dove into interesting topics but never explored anything to its full potential. It felt more like a slice-of-life story than a full exploration, which makes sense with the background. I don't have a preference, but I think it skirted around and never really committed itself to anything. I am not opposed to that, but it felt disjointed in places. It moved from topic to topic pretty fast, and I was not a fan of that.

If you are the sort of person who enjoys laid-back graphic novels, then you probably will enjoy it. But keep in mind that it does have mentions of serious topics.

That’s a curious one. An interesting read, at best reminiscent of Persepolis, at worst putting me in mind of rambly fictionalised biographies — but I am not sure it stands scrutiny as a book and not a series of loose vignettes/strips. The author mentioned that the Japanese hostess culture was a huge point of interest, and they wanted to tell that story but it was not coming together without their personal life wound through - and I agree they do complement each other nicely; but it’s the ending/conclusion that seemed to dampen my appreciation for it. It kind of — fizzled out? As if the writer suddenly lost interest in a long anecdote towards the punchline, so that the punchline was delivered like an afterthought. OTOH I am willing to admit that part of my reaction comes from bewilderment that one can do abruptly stop trying to connect with a language after all the journey so far. Others may relate to it differently.

Thanks to #Netgalley for an advance copy of #TurningJapanese.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for this early copy of the book!

I definitely went into this book expecting something different and finished it feeling like I learned more. This graphic novel discusses the main character Mari as they struggle to connect with their identity. Going into the story, you read about those initial struggles and Mari's response to them. By the end, you are left feeling like you went on the journey with her and discovered a part of yourself along the way. I think authors who can convey their honest emotions in their work will always leave the audience with a sense of understanding. I finished this book feeling like I understood the author's decisions and wanted to root for them on their next journey. This book is highly recommended for me. I would recommend it to people who not only struggle with their identity but want to learn more about Japanese culture as well.

This graphic memoir was very easy to read, and the art style was simple, yet complex enough to convey a lot of Mari's inner feelings. As an Asian-American who speaks only English, I really empathized with her desire to learn Japanese. I only wish there was a bit of color in the art!

I absolutely devoured this!

Entertaining, atmospheric, immersive and so so special.

Mari takes us into the subculture of hostess bars and the idiosyncrasies that come with it. They journey to Japan determined to learn the language, not only to compliment their job, but to understand and converse with their family.

With the harmony of her adroit illustrations and bubbles of dialogue, I feel like I know these characters and could relate to Mari and Giuseppe’s frustrations in their relationship, whilst finding pockets of belonging - in places, people and language.

Turning Japanese is a (re)turning to who we have been despite who we think we are, and in spite of what we think we know.

I can’t wait to get my hands on everything else they’ve published. Graphic memoirs need more hype for sure!

This is a memoir, so I'm rating my reading experience and the storytelling more than the story itself. This talks about being mixed race and the experiences the author had. It delves into culture and heritage and reconnecting with them; family and personal struggles. I felt the story was a bit convoluted at times, I wasn't sure where it was going.

The art style is quite simple and easy to follow. It's not my favorite, but I still enjoyed it. While I think this had potential, I will say that I didn't fully connect with it. I don't think this is for me, but someone else might enjoy it more.

A reflective graphic novel memoir about the author's experiences in the mid-90s learning Japanese and discovering who they are after a nasty breakup. This memoir deals with themes of sexuality, mixed-race heritage, familial relations and illness/eating disorders. These serious themes juxtaposed against the cutesy (regretably, black-and-white) art style is really effective in communicating an engaging story. While I do wish the art style was as colorful as the book's cover, I still enjoyed reading about the author's struggles and experiences being half-Japanese and am looking forward to checking out more of their graphic novels in the future.

This was a super interesting way to tell the story and I really enjoyed reading about the author’s experiences. They told this well!
I liked when the author and their boyfriend made it to Japan, although I didn’t feel much chemistry between them, i loved reading about their adventures.

I loved the epilogue, where their Japanese flooded back to them, despite years of not thinking about it!

Es interesante ver como un yankee quiere tener una cultura que no sea propia. A ver, yo entiendo, queres conocer la cultura de tu familia, queres sentirte parte de una comunidad, queres aprender, pero el libro no me llegó porque la protagonísta esta queriendo ser alguien que no es.

My maternal grandmother was Japanese. I never met her and didn’t learn much about her family or my Japanese heritage. I throughly enjoyed this memoir about a half Japanese American woman embracing her culture, attempting to learn the language that was not taught to her as a child, and traveling to Japan. I don’t read many graphic novels, but I could appreciate the way the story was told, and found many of the illustrations to be funny and informative. I would like to learn more about these bars that she worked at. Overall I recommend reading this.

i really really loved the drawing style!!! even though the story is autobiographical, it's relatable in many ways. i guess all wasians face the same kind of experiences :,) overall quick and fun read! thank you netgalley for the early access.