I was going great guns--a 長岡良子 in an hour or so, a 神谷悠 that left me blinking in '04 but which was at least coherent now, the fourth volume of an obscure something about multiple personalities in Bakumatsu. So in the flush of hubris I had another stab at この貧しき地上に (On this impoverished earth). And I finished it, but it took three evenings of steady plod and I don't know why. Am relieved to see wikipedia believes "Satō's works are considered more literary and thought-provoking than most mainstream manga" but I'm not sure it's just that.
And alas, there are two more on the shelf, waiting for me to bang my forehead on them. To say nothing of fifteen volumes of Sanbanchou Hagiwara-ya no Bijin, a work that I find an unending plod. As between Satou and Nishi Keiko, in fact, I think I'll take Satou. My work at least has some reward.
