A Gourmet Travel Writer Meets a Giantess Artist
Juntarō Aoki (青木潤太朗), the writer behind the cult-favorite chaos-cuisine travelogue Nabe ni Dangan wo Ukenagara (鍋に弾丸を受けながら), has a new series with a different hook. His latest collaboration pairs him with LAB, an Italian artist whose artistic obsession is gigantessa, giant women. The result is Vista da Gigantessa (ビスタ・ダ・ギガンテッサ), a Japan travel essay manga that launched in the digital edition of Big Comic Superior issue 13 on June 12.
The premise is delightfully strange. Aoki's self-described quirk is that he perceives everyone he meets, regardless of gender, as a bishōjo, a beautiful girl. LAB, meanwhile, draws women at impossible, building-dwarfing proportions. Put those two sensibilities together on a trip through Japan, and every person they encounter becomes a gorgeous giant. The first chapter has Aoki walking readers through how this unlikely collaboration came together in the first place.
For readers unfamiliar with Aoki's previous work, Nabe ni Dangan wo Ukenagara is a nonfiction manga about eating local food in conflict zones and dangerous regions around the world. It's serialized on Kadokawa's Comic Newtype with art by Shin Moriyama and has run for at least five volumes. Vista da Gigantessa trades warzones for Japanese sightseeing, but keeps Aoki's first-person essay format.
LAB's First Major Japanese Serialization
LAB (pen name for the artist behind LabbaART) is an Italian creator and mathematics graduate student who works primarily in traditional pencil and ink. He has been active in the international giantess art community and self-published a manga called Half Inch High, set in a world where normal-sized and half-inch-tall people coexist. Vista da Gigantessa marks his first serialization in a major Japanese manga magazine. It's a notable crossover for an artist who built his following online, outside the Japanese publishing system.
Big Comic Superior, published by Shogakukan, is a long-running seinen magazine that sits alongside Big Comic, Big Comic Original, and Big Comic Spirits in Shogakukan's lineup. It releases twice monthly.
Also in This Issue: Junana Masumura's Wartime Manga Wraps Up
The same issue of Superior sees the conclusion of Junana Masumura's (増村十七) Susume! Shirahana Susumu (進め！白鼻進), a concentrated serialization set in 1933 about a struggling manga artist whose military-dog parody unexpectedly becomes a hit as Japan slides toward wartime nationalism. The collected volume releases June 30. The issue also features a published conversation between Masumura and comedian Ikuhiro Ōshima (大島育宙) to mark the book's release.
Masumura is known for Baku-chan, which won the Agency for Cultural Affairs Media Arts Festival's New Artist Prize, and Hana Yodan to Issho, which ranked in the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2023 women's edition.
Looking Ahead
Vista da Gigantessa is currently available only in the digital edition of Big Comic Superior. No English-language release or translation has been announced. Readers outside Japan can purchase the digital issue through platforms that carry Shogakukan magazines. Given the niche premise and the creators' international following, whether a publisher picks it up for English release will likely depend on early reader reception in Japan.