Heartbroken Angels

Heartbroken Angels
Cover of the first volume of the series
傷だらけの天使たち
(Kizudarake no Tenshi-tachi)
GenreComedy, yonkoma
Created byMasahiko Kikuni [ja]
Manga
Written byMasahiko Kikuni
Published byShogakukan
English publisher
ImprintYS Comics
MagazineWeekly Young Sunday
English magazine
DemographicSeinen
Original run1988 – 1991
Volumes3 (List of volumes)

Heartbroken Angels (Japanese: 傷だらけの天使たち, Hepburn: Kizudarake no Tenshi-tachi, lit. "Scarred Angels") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masahiko Kikuni [ja]. It is a yonkoma (four-panel comic) series originally published in the manga magazine Weekly Young Sunday. An English-language translation of the first two volumes of Heartbroken Angels was published by Viz Media, which also serialized the series in its manga magazine Pulp.

Synopsis

Heartbroken Angels is a yonkoma (four-panel comic) series that focuses on vulgar and self-depreciative humor. The series covers a range of subjects using satire and toilet humour, including manga narrative conventions and genre tropes, otaku culture, yakuza, and lolita complexes.[1]

Publication

Heartbroken Angels was originally serialized in the manga magazine Weekly Young Sunday from 1988 to 1991. During its initial serialization, the magazine ran contests where wordless yonkoma were run, and the best dialogue submitted by readers would be published in the magazine.[2]

In Japan, the series was collected into three tankōbon volumes published by Shogakukan. In North America, an English-language translation of the first two volumes of the series were published by Viz Media, which also serialized the series in its manga magazine Pulp.[1]

Volume list

No. Original release date Original ISBN English release date English ISBN
1 November 1, 1988[3]978-4091780782January 5, 2001[4]978-1569314371
2 January 22, 1990[5]978-4091780799May 25, 2001[6]978-1569316276
3 September 27, 1991[7]978-4091780805——

Reception and impact

Christopher Kinsey of Anime Outsider assessed the series as possessing "a penchant for dick jokes before dick jokes became one of the internet's most depreciated currencies," and praised its satirization of traditional manga narratives.[2] During its initial serialization in Pulp, Warren Ellis cited Heartbroken Angels as "amongst the best things currently being published in the English language".[8]

The series is noted for containing the first instance of the term "fap" as onomatopoeia for masturbation, in a story in which God masturbates while looking up a woman's skirt.[9] The use of "fap" in the English-language translation of Heartbroken Angels directly inspired the term's use in the 1999 webcomic The Thin H Line, which subsequently gained popularity as an internet meme.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b "Viz Graphic Novels". Anime News Network. 11 January 2001. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  2. ^ a b Kinsey, Christopher. "The Best Anime Magazine You Never Read: PULP". Anime Outsiders. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  3. ^ 喜国雅彦 (1 November 1988). 傷だらけの天使たち (ヤングサンデーコミックス) [Heartbroken Angels (Young Sunday Comics)] (in Japanese). 小学館. ISBN 978-4091780782.
  4. ^ Heartbroken Angels. Vol. 1. VIZ Media LLC. 5 January 2001. ISBN 978-1569314371.
  5. ^ 喜国雅彦 (1990). 傷だらけの天使たち [Heartbroken Angels] (in Japanese). Vol. 2. 小学館. ISBN 978-4091780799.
  6. ^ "Viz PR for May '01". Anime News Network. 21 January 2001. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  7. ^ 喜国雅彦 (1991). 傷だらけの天使たち (in Japanese). Vol. 3. 小学館. ISBN 978-4091780805.
  8. ^ "Pulp Hype". Pulp. Archived from the original on 20 November 2000. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  9. ^ a b Dean, Sam. "Where Did 'Fap' Come From?". Mel Magazine. Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2020.