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Mariko Kikuchi's Manga Shows Impact of Her Father's Alcoholism

A new one-shot for Mariko Kikuchi's Yō to Bakemono ni Naru Chichi ga Tsurai (My Father Who Becomes a Monster When Drunk is Heart-Breaking) manga debuted in the November issue of Akita Shoten's Elegance Eve magazine on Tuesday. The manga focuses on Kikuchi's mother, who was exhausted by her father's alcoholism when Kikuchi was a child.

In the excerpt above, Kikuchi thinks about her parents when she is an elementary school student. She thinks that she likes both her father and her mother, but she wonders if her mother will get swept away by a man who doesn't drink and escape the situation. Kikuchi's mother is getting worn out from reacting to the drunk antics of Kikuchi's father. The young girl remarks that her father acts like he doesn't have a family.

Kikuchi launched Yō to Bakemono ni Naru Chichi ga Tsurai in Akita Shoten's Champion Cross magazine on April 18 and ended it with the 11th chapter on September 4. Akita Shoten released a compiled book volume on September 15.

The series is an autobiographical essay manga about Kikuchi's experiences with her parents. In the story, Kikuchi's father is an alcoholic, while her mother is obsessed with a new religion. Kikuchi finally finds a way to come to terms with the situation after becoming an adult.

Earlier this month, Twitter user Avogado 6 posted a similar manga-style image about alcoholic parents.

The image shows a small child reaching for a single pudding in a refrigerator full of a variety of alcoholic beverages, including beer and sake. The strawberry jam on the upper shelf, which appears to be the only other non-alcohol item inside the refrigerator, expired in 2014.

Many manga and anime show characters enjoying alcohol and even drinking in excess. However, far fewer detail the possible negative repercussions of alcoholic behaviors and the impact they have on other people.

Do you think more anime and manga could or should discuss the issues of alcoholism? Tell us in the forum.

Source: Comic Natalie (link 2) via Hachima Kikō