About the book
Set in Kyoto, Japan’s ancient capital, this love story incorporates elements of the classic Japanese ukiyo-e art style, while concealing all kinds of detailed references to the local culture in its brightly-colored backdrops. These thoughtful choices only serve to make the book feel even more warm and accessible to its readers.
By a twist of fate, a young woman comes across a puppet in a Kyoto storefront, and plants a cherry blossom branch inside his empty heart. She does not yet know that this carefree gesture will inadvertently bring the puppet to life – and just like his new vitality, the puppet’s attachment to her only grows stronger and stronger. At the same time, however, the girl is falling in love with a mysterious boy who calls himself Poison… When a chance meeting becomes a destined encounter, will the girl’s love go to the silently blooming flower of hope, or the brilliant sun who already burned her once before?
Love and death, youth and obsession, fantasies and gentle breezes…When love this pure happens in a place as romantic as the old capital of Kyoto, it’s as if to say, ‘There once was a love like this, flowering like the cherry blossoms; there once was person like this, who loved you more than life itself...’
About the Author
NIE Jun attended the China Academy of Art, and studied abroad in Kyoto, Japan before graduating. This rigorous fine arts education and literary training had a profound impact on Nie’s work, and at the age of 19 he began publishing his comics in magazines. Over the years, he has created works like My Beijing, My Street, Diu Diu, Sunflower Boy, and Sakura Boy, among the others. My Beijing has been translated into English, French, Italian & Persian. Many of his works have French editions.
Nie’s work is characterized by its unique narratives, as well as an unabashed willingness to explore many diverse art styles. His stories blend humble portrayals of everyday life with fairy-tale elements to create a warm realism that is often deeply entwined with the cultures in which his narratives take place – and the resulting comics have received unanimous acclaim from readers, in and out of China. In terms of artwork, Nie’s style is clearly influenced by Chinese comics (Lianhuanhua), while simultaneously echoing the work of Japanese artists Akira Toriyama and Otomo Katsuhiro, and the French artist Moebius (Jean Giraud).
His book Sunflower Boy received Chinese Culture and Art Government Award for Comics and Animation, and a Golden Dragon Award. Additionally, My Beijing won the Golden Horizon Prize at the Youth China Excellent Children’s Work Awards, was chosen as one of 25 books included in the New York Times’ “Standout New Picture Books”, and is the only Chinese work to have been nominated for America’s Eisner Award.