1-frame cartoon a brain-teaser

By Shimbo Minami

Judge

Amid the current boom in manga culture, the single-frame cartoon genre is not particularly popular. This is perhaps because such cartoons require readers to use their brains to work out the meaning of the drawing and brief caption.

In rakugo comic storytelling, there is an approach called kangae-ochi that requires the audience to think carefully about a joke. Audience members cannot appreciate the punch line unless they have been paying close attention to the buildup to it. But when they get it, they will burst into sidesplitting laughter.

Single-frame cartoons have a similar feel. The pleasure derived from them is similar to that gained from eating "slow food," which has been drawing attention these days in contrast to fast food.

Thoroughly appreciating single-frame cartoons may be a fun way to spend the New Year holidays once the appeal of the many comedy shows on TV has worn thin.

The contest's Grand Prize-winning "Shatta-dori" (Street of Shuttered Shops), by Shinji Iwamoto, appears at first glance to be a clever trick of the eye, but then the stark message of its realism hits home.

Joruju Piroshiki's "Kitsuen Seki" (Smoking Seats), which won the Kondo Hidezo Prize, draws laughter just for the vacant expressions of the characters, before the plausibility of the scene generates further mirth.

The beauty of "Mina-san, Shokugo no Hamigaki desu yo ne" (Guys, You're Brushing Your Teeth After Eating, Right?), by Ichiro Suzuki, which won the Gold Prize in the General Division's Theme Section, lies in its cute depiction of what is actually an unnerving situation.

Masaaki Otsuka's "Aa, Chikyu Samitto" (Ah, Earth Summit), the Gold Prize-winner in the General Division's Free Section, has a caption bearing an exclamation of grief in contrast to the overly relaxed deportment of its cleverly depicted figures.

The charm of these works lies not so much in the advocacy of their messages, but in the way the cartoons diverge from them.

Manga culture will grow richer if young prodigies, such as Maiko Ikesaka and Misa Kumagai, who won the top prizes in the Junior Division, continue to love and enjoy single-frame cartoons and create new examples in the genre after they become adults.

Minami is a illustrator.