Gunji Paperback – Illustrated, March 2, 2014

Excellent illustrations and story line. I wish more of his books were available through Amazon.

Gunji contains two of Gengoroh Tagame's stories from the early 2000s, the title work in 4 chapters, and The Ballad of Ôeyama, a single chapter one-shot heavily reworked for this edition. Like Endless Game, released late last year, this high quality paperback features fold-out covers with a selection of exquisitely rendered color artworks from the artist, and includes extensive background information and commentary on the stories.The story of Gunji is a dark and violent tale of obsession and misguided revenge, a sick sort of love played out Tagame-style: explicitly detailed sexual domination, pain and humiliation. The characters' sad desperation and lack of communication make for harsh reading, yet the compelling story has its tender moments too.The Ballad of Ôeyama, riffing on an ancient Japanese legend, is a bittersweet meditation on persecution, prejudice, and hearts/minds opened by new experiences. Again, with beautifully drawn, explicit sex scenes. Tagame explains in the notes that he updated the artwork in this story so extensively, he was tempted to add "Redux, 2013" to the title.Overall, Bruno Gmünder Verlag's edition is a treat and I sincerely hope they bring us more of Tagame's works in english. I'm sure I'm not alone in wishing that the multi-volume "Kimi yo Shiru ya Minami no Goku" or "Shirogane no Hana," for example, were available in english. My only complaint with their releases so far is the handling of sfx. English text is superimposed on existing sfx, semi-obscuring the artfully rendered japanese characters with mostly meaningless literal english translations. The work deserves a more respectful and less distracting treatment of sfx.

Amazing story - erotic, violent, shocking.

It's a short read, but it was a good story. Not sure if it was worth the cost of the book.

A great story about love and loss. Tagame drawing are intense and gorgeous as always. I can not waitbto collect more of his stories.

another super sexy Gengoroh Tagame book! these are straight up hardcore and would make lil kim blush. i'm in love with his choice of words to indicate sound effects. SIP ! SIP! PLIP. RUK ! i can't wait for more.

I recommend it!

Incredibly hot and sexy. Well drawn.