Pandora

PANDORA, The Receding Sound of Footsteps is Hagiwara Rei’s masterpiece. Rei is a comic artist based in Japan who has self-published their work at Comita through the domestic indie manga scene since 2018. Born in 1993, Rei first become more widely known to English language readers Fall of 2020 through the Glacier Bay Books publication of their sparse and emotionally resonant debut Ripples. PANDORA expands on this with their second long form work, a lyrical, full color 264 page collection of five stories. Painted in delicate watercolors during 2020/2021 and the initial throes of the covid 19 pandemic, PANDORA simultaneously reflects on current events as well as the 10th anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

“Isolated, searching, Hagiwara’s characters grasp at ghosts on these water-soft pages, aching to dissipate into faded hue and lavish smudged ink.”
– Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal