Week 3: Gekiga

   After reading the first volume of Golgo 13, as well as Cigarette Girl, I started noticing a similarity between them. They both encompass an incredible contrast between their stories and art styles. Golgo 13 is drawn in a very dramatic and detailed matter- something that takes longer to digest and go through visually, while the story is that of an assassin for hire. Not exactly complex or new at all. Cigarette girl has the same contrast but in reverse. The style is very cartoon-ish. Very simple and appealing characters and backgrounds- very easy to understand visually from a quick glance, however the stories in Cigarette Girl are much more "real life" and complex. They don't have standard and easy to understand problems and solutions. In fact most of  cigarette girl doesn't have any solutions at all. The stakes are never exaggerated and stay more to real life, while this character's simple  goals remain constantly out of reach. This creates a much more relatable character but also a melancholic tone as things don't seem to have clear beginnings, endings, or any kind of conclusive satisfaction.