Viz Media Puts a New Spin on Art Therapy in Manga Series Genkaku Picasso

Comics News
Viz Media Puts a New Spin on Art Therapy in Manga Series Genkaku Picasso
By The Editor
November 4, 2010 - 08:29

Viz Media

Viz Media, LLC (Viz Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, brings the artistic styling of creator Usamaru Furuya's manga (graphic novel) series, GENKAKU PICASSO, available to domestic readers now. The new property will be published in North America under the Shonen Jump imprint, is rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens, and will carry an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN.

Hikaru “Picasso” Hamura, a grouchy teenager with a talent for drawing, dies in a freak accident. The gods decide to revive him, but only on the condition that he use his artistic gift for the good of humanity. Picasso discovers that sketching a person's aura yields a surreal portrait of their psyche. Stranger still, Picasso can dive into these dreamscapes and help people by exploring their deepest emotions, memories and perceptions.

“GENKAKU PICASSO blends mind-bending artwork with the teenage drama of a talented adolescent who gets a second chance at Life,” says Daniel Gillespie, Editor, Shonen Jump. “Using his artistic skill, Picasso is able to draw a picture symbolizing a person's subconscious, and then enter that portrait and manipulate the symbols in order to help them recover from past traumas. The series' unique plot and multi-faceted characters are sure to engage readers on many levels. We recommend GENKAKU PICASSO to any fan of M.C Escher!”

Creator Usamaru Furuya made a splash with his 1994 manga debut in the legendary “underground” manga magazine Garo with his innovative four-panel series Palepoli. He also created a gag series called ShortCuts for Young Sunday magazine, which was later serialized in the English-language manga magazine Pulp and published as a graphic novel by Viz Media (rated ‘M’ for Mature). His other works include Jisatsu Circle, a manga adaptation of the film, Suicide Club, The Chronicles of the Clueless Age, a collaboration with the writer Otsuichi, and Happiness, a series of shorts that ran in IKKI magazine. GENKAKU PICASSO is Furuya's first series for Jump SQ.

For more information on this title, and other Shonen Jump titles, please visit http://www.ShonenJump.com.