Rohan at the Louvre

by Hirohiko Araki

Overview

By the bestselling author of JoJo's Bizare Adventure. Stunning illustrations depict an original fantasy story in this captivating graphic novel. As Rohan, a young Japanese manga artist, is drawing, he meets a mysterious, beautiful woman who tells him of a cursed 200-year-old painting. The painting was created using the blackest ink ever known, which came from a 1,000-year-old tree that the painter had cut down without the approval of the Emperor. The painter was executed for this, but the painting was saved from destruction by a curator of the Louvre. A decade later, Rohan visits Paris and asks the museum to unearth the painting from deep within its archives—but he is completely unprepared for the power of the curse he has unleashed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781561636150
Publisher:	N B M Publishing Company
Publication date:	04/01/2012
Series:	Louvre Collection
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	91,418
Product dimensions:	7.36(w) x 10.44(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Hirohiko Araki is a manga artist and the author of the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure series and the Steel Ball Run series, both of which have been serialized in the popular weekly magazine Shonen Jump.

Editorial Reviews

A departure from the typical shonen or shojo manga styles, this weird fantasy tale from the creator of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure tells of a young man’s encounter with a mysterious divorcée who moves into his grandmother’s boarding house and how that meeting returns to haunt him a decade later. During his teens, Rohan aspires to be a manga artist, and his fledgling efforts attract the attention of the beautiful, apparently emotionally disturbed boarder, who tells him of the darkest, most evil painting ever crafted. She violently destroys his first completed work, a story featuring her image as its female lead, and disappears, leaving behind several unanswered questions. Ten years later, Rohan visits the Louvre and discovers the mysterious evil painting is housed in one of the museum’s closed wings, after which Stygian horror ensues. Looking like the work of a Japanese P. Craig Russell, Araki’s art lends a wistful mood to the tale’s proceedings and arrests the eye with willowy figures and expressive faces. Previous volumes of this graphic novel series published by the Louvre itself have all been excellent, and this is no exception. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"Mischievous humor. A great find."  —Library Journal on the previous books in the series



"A great story of a hearing-impaired young man trying to find his way."  —Miami Herald on the previous books in the series


"It's a straightforward, beautifully drawn, and delicately colored tale, filled with emotional bursts, sudden death, and the scent of eternity. It's also a great deal of fun." —Foreword (June 2012)


"Wondrous insanity." —www.TCJ.com (The Comics Journal)


"A must read! With its attention to the artistic process and the almost INDIANA JONESesque mystery of an ancient relic, mixed with a little bit of Japanese fairy tale whimsy, Rohan at the Louvre is a truly unique reading experience." —www.AintItCool.com


"The previous . . . title in the Louvre's distinguished graphic novel series, The Sky Over the Louvre, set an even higher standard than the first three high quality titles, and Araki's gorgeous ghost story easily matches them all for plot, drawing chops and emotional gut-punch. This excellent volume is recommended for fans of extreme manga artishness and for horror otaku." —Library Journal (May 2012)


"Araki's book will be relished by readers who are fans of the manga format, especially those interested in art." —VOYA magazine


"Published in a large hardcover format this unique title should find an audience. Should be popular with manga fans." —School Library Journal (July 2012)

From the Publisher

Beguilingly odd manga artist Rohan Kishibe wears pen nibs as earrings, but his main eccentricity is his "Heaven's Door" ability: he can open up a person's face like a book and read his or her memories. Creepy? Yes, and it gets megacreepier in Araki's stunning, pastel art. Tracking a clue left by a mysterious and beautiful woman from his past, Rohan inveigles his way into the Louvre to see a hidden painting, its black pigment supposedly compounded from an accursed tree. The painting is indeed of the missing woman, but the other occupants of the locked compartment seem to be out to kill all intruders. Rohan is a sideline character from part IV of Araki's JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, not yet translated into English. VERDICT The previous, fourth title in the Louvre's distinguished graphic novel series, The Sky Over the Louvre, set an even higher standard than the first three high-quality titles, and Araki's gorgeous ghost story easily matches them all for plot, drawing chops, and emotional gut-punch. This excellent volume is recommended for fans of extreme manga artishness and for horror otaku.—M.C.

Library Journal

Gr 9 Up—Rohan, a young manga artist, tracks down a cursed painting at the Louvre and unleashes dangerous powers. Painted with the darkest ink known, the work of art attacks its viewers with the vicious ghosts of their ancestors. This melodramatic horror story should be popular with manga fans, especially with those who are also manga artists. While more detailed and realistic than most manga, the artwork has a stiff, amateurish quality that may actually endear it to beginning artists. The black-and-white drawings are bathed in pastel shades of pink, blue, and lavender, adding to the otherworldly tone of the story. Published in a large, hardcover format, this unique title should find an audience.—Lisa Goldstein, Brooklyn Public Library, NY

School Library Journal