Death of a City

Yoshihiro Tatsumi's graphic narratives are well known for strong post WWII influences and bold short story format. In Sky Burial, I argue that we are presented with a slightly more subtle tribute to the bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki by watching the decay of a city through the eyes of our protagonist, Nogawa. After being presented with the Tibetan tradition of a sky burial, in which the corpses are carried to mountain tops and vultures are signalled to begin recycling the remains, we flash forward to Nogawa's life. Having been followed by a vulture all day, he is clearly on edge, and the reactions from his friend and girlfriend further solidify the idea that Nogawa is decaying in some way. We then find out that the man in the apartment next to Nogawa's has died, explaining the smell and the presence of vultures. However, this is not the resolution. Tatsumi shows us how the apartment building and the neighborhood fall into disrepair, and nature slowly claims the structure as both plants and animals move in. The final panel shows vultures hovering, not over the neighbor's decaying corpse, but over the building itself, as if the city and/or its infrastructure is actually what has passed away, and the dying neighbor was merely the sign that the vultures (and by extension nature) needed to signify the city's passing. As an author with noted WWII influences, is this Tatsumi's way of saying good bye to the bombed cities? In a sense, by showing the decay of the apartment complex, he is giving the city its own sky burial.