Hanami follows Marc and Julia, a civil engineer turned video game composer and an artist, as they try to navigate their new life in Japan. They attend classes to learn Japanese, do battle with the treacherous gauntlet of trash separation, and stumble through the anxieties of building a relationship inside a 200 square foot apartment.
This book was funny and relatable. Though living in Japan they didn’t have much money to travel so it mostly consists of their daily life. It read like diary entries, little moments from each day depicted in two to five pages. I loved the single pages titled The View From Our Window that separated some of the sections.
One of my favorite moments was the Lottery. It was two pages with no dialog that depicts a crowd anxiously waiting as lots are drawn for a prized melon. This moment only makes sense if you’re at least somewhat familiar with Japanese culture. Because of that I would mostly recommend it for people who have been interested in Japan and have some familiarity with anime and other forms of Japanese art.
The color palette and art style worked well for me and I think it suited the overall tone of the story. I could see a lot of care and attention to the composition of each frame. Strong use of the rule of thirds.
I’d recommend this for anyone who likes quieter slice of life stories, is interested in Japan, or is perhaps wanting to create their own episodic comic.
4.5/5 stars

A love letter to Japan and Japanese culture! Hanami is a graphic novel composed of several small "short stories", chronicling the time that Julia and Marc, who are from Spain, spend in a tiny apartment in Japan. They enroll in Japanese lessons, are shocked by grocery store prices, and struggle to understand the complex garbage-day schedule.

I really enjoyed the representation and reality that this book brought, despite being a fairly light read! This book mentions arthritis, coping with dietary restrictions in a new place, and struggling to find motivation. The art style is fairly simple and the entire graphic novel is told in shades of pink and purple, which added to the light feel of the book!

I would have appreciated a bit more context on some of the stories, as I occasionally felt that I was missing the point that the author was trying to convey. That being said, it was a quick, enjoyable read! 4/5.

This comic was very cute, and interesting. In saying that I found it wasn't necessarily the most amazing non-fiction I'd ever read. However I do still think I'd recommend giving it a read, it's a short and sweet read! In terms of art style I love that, the colours were bright and felt very homey, the sketchy almost pencil like feeling texture wise also added a certain warmness to it.

This was adorable! I really liked the mellow colour palette and the sketchy sort of vibe of the art. The stories and characters were very cute