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Cecile Brun and Olivier Pichard are French comic book artists known collectively as Atelier Sento. Through traditional techniques using watercolours and coloured pencils, their work conveys an unusual side of Japan;of small villages in the mountains, colourful matsuri festivals and forgotten spirits of an ancient world. Marie Velde is a freelance photographer and translator in Santa Monica, CA. She is the translator of Tokyo on Foot, My First Book of Chinese Calligraphy and other books.
Welcoming locals, mysterious strangers, toothsome meals, and spooky legends all lead the intrepid duo through otherworldly adventures in this fantasy travelogue...Aided by Velde's smooth, succinct translation, the duo 'share a Japan that's uncommon' in panels rich with cultural details and sensitive representation, with just enough chill-factor to ensure entertainment along the way. -Booklist Basing their adventure on real people and places in Japan, [Brun and Prichard] create a spooky yet intriguing spirit world overlaid on our reality. Using a combination of watercolor and colored pencil, the illustrations are done in a beautiful traditional Japanese style...A must for anyone intrigued by the hidden spirit world and how it crosses over into ours. -Kirkus As a charming and offbeat guide to some of the lesser-known parts of Japan and their sometimes strange but typically generous human inhabitants, Onibi is charming and effective. -Foreword Magazine Like a love letter to traditional Japan, this graphic novel takes readers off the beaten path to explore the mountains, coast, and small towns of Niigata prefecture alongside a pair of adventure-seeking French tourists...brimming with charm, this stunning volume will enchant ghost story enthusiasts and those interested in Japan. -School Library Journal Brun and Pichard deploy watercolors in soft hues that often bleed into one another-a perfect visual metaphor for a story about the blurry separation between natural and supernatural. -Publishers Weekly Onibi: Diary of a Yokai Ghost Hunter is a gorgeous book, its pages full of lovingly rendered food, vistas, and people. Atelier Sento use traditional materials, and these are some of the loveliest watercolors I've seen in a comic to date. -SequentialState.com The creative team's pencils and watercolors give great expressiveness to faces, colors, and light, and make every page a pleasure to read and reread. -LibraryComic.com The story is a wonderful combination of today's life with the history of Japanese folklore. The story is engaging and interesting. And, the graphic artwork is fantastic with loads of detail. -In Our Spare Time blog
