Weeaboo

by Alissa M. Sallah

Overview

"Weeaboo is a graphic novel snapshot of growing up, by turns playful and serious, and a celebration of friendship and fandom, imperfections and all." — Foreword Reviews

Perfect for fans of American Born Chinese, Peepo Choo and Sacred Heart, WEEABOO is a celebration and dissection of anime fandom, small towns, and internet culture from debut artist, Alissa M. Sallah.

It’s their senior year of high school and three friends are preparing for the big anime convention happening after graduation! Even though they’ve known each other for years, they’re finding out that reality isn’t like a cartoon, and that people grow up and sometimes apart. This is a story about appropriation, identity, and what it means to change.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620109397
Publisher:	Oni Press
Publication date:	11/16/2021
Pages:	280
Sales rank:	1,093,930
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

ALISSA SALLAH is a cartoonist (and cosplayer) from small town Ohio. She edits and contributes to the Bonfire Yearly Anthology (STRATOS, TOPIA, SILK & METAL), has been featured in the BITCH PLANET Triple Feature, the YAKUZA 6 SONG OF LIFE artbook and was the colorist on the Image comic series SLEEPLESS. Her work can be found at alissasallah.com.

Editorial Reviews

"Weeaboo is a graphic novel snapshot of growing up, by turns playful and serious, and a celebration of friendship and fandom, imperfections and all."

Foreword Reviews

2021-09-29
At a crossroads in their lives, three friends are bound together by their love of Japanese anime and manga.

Although their interest varies by degrees, all three use their fandom for escapism. Danielle Mitchell, who goes by Dan, is a young White person who balks at traditional gender roles and enjoys playing the prince. James Shibata is a biracial (Japanese and White) teen who is socially awkward, struggling in school, and looking for direction. Maya Thompson, who most closely lives up to the obsessive connotations of the term weeaboo, is a Black teen maintaining an online persona that is at odds with her reality. She is also a source of some unintentional microaggressions about Asians which James struggles with, while also facing anti-Blackness in her fandom community. As they finish out their senior year of high school and prepare for an anime convention, their relationships and futures are tested. The art style is reminiscent of 1970s manga, and though at times the character designs may be inconsistent, the penciling and watercolors deftly embody the fantasy scenes and intensity of characters’ facial expressions. An interwoven fictional storyline perhaps meant to mirror the real-world plot is just as dramatic as the reality.

Japanese pop culture buoys young people striving to fulfill their dreams. (book creation process, cover and character designs) (Graphic fiction. 13-17)

Kirkus Reviews