Even English is not just one singular language but a multitude, articulated in the different accents and dialects of the various characters. Many scenes are rendered in multiple languages. The visual depiction of spoken language is also masterfully handled, conveying both the struggles of codeswitching and the increasing mastery the characters experience through immersion.Īlthough the through-line of the graphic novel is in English, Himawari House is a story as multilingual the characters who inhabit it, incorporating Japanese and Korean. Becker employs grey scale art that adapts to the seriousness of the scene, becoming more cartoonish or exaggerated in funny moments, or when the characters are overwhelmed by their emotions and resort to humour. The sensibility mixes Japanese manga style with the Western graphic novel tradition.

The story takes place over the course of a year, and is a series of slice-of-life chapters capturing different seasons and experiences. Nao’s cultural background reflects Becker’s, and she also studied abroad in Korea, adding a depth of realism to her fictional take on these experiences. Himawari House is her solo graphic novel debut. Harmony Becker is the artist of the Eisner Award-winning graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy, by actor George Takei. Together they navigate life in a foreign country, taking their first steps into adulthood cast free of the expectations they left behind at home. For Nao, Japan was once home, but now she feels just as cast adrift there as Tina and Hyejung, an adult with the language skills of a young child. She moves into Himawari House, where she meets Tina and Hyejung, who have come to study in Japan, and Masaki and Shinichi, two Japanese brothers who also live there. Recently graduated from high school, she decides to spend a gap year in Japan, trying to regain the mother tongue that has largely slipped away from her growing up in America, and feeling the pressure to assimilate. Nao’s family left Japan for California when she was young, but in many ways her heart remained behind. Every new word I learn lifts the fog around me a little more, revealing the colors and shapes of the world around me.” “The storefronts and signs, once faceless strangers, now greet me like new friends.

Himawari House by Harmony Becker