Kondo Akino is a magical realist. Since receiving the AX New Author Award in 2000, her works have consistently been first-person narratives of young female characters whose everyday life of school, friendship, or personal upkeep is visited by the ghostly, fairlandish, and netherworldly. Her work is a patchwork of influences from the history of alternative manga. That of classical Garo is quite strong, most of all the tonal and patterning sensibilities of Hayashi Seiichi. Early in her career, Kondo's line was under the sadistic sway of illustrator Saeki Toshio, though today she draws with a limpidity of the likes of Takano Fumiko. As a painter and animator, her work has been included in shows across the world, from Shanghai to Jakarta, from Brussels to New York, and of course Japan. 443p49