Yoshie tries to cope with the sadness from the death of her father, the anger following  the circumstances surrounding his death and the urge to navigate through the world independently from her mother. All emotions and desires are crashing at the same time, making it difficult for her to go about life normally.

Moshi Moshi is a beautiful book.  Banana’s writing is delightful. The character development  is flawless. The Yoshie’s  struggle is authentic. We can easily relate to her as we all have experienced some of her experiences, such as the loss of a loved one. We go inside Yoshie’s head and skin through her internal dialogue, which highlights her dilemma. Banana brought substance to her characters with their unique aspects of childhood, adolescent, past events and background; it’s believably detailed. The suicide of Yoshi’s father shaped her personality and brings about conflicting desires. The dynamic of her family was well elaborated as each member has distinct aspirations, perspectives, motives, qualities and characteristic defects.  I like the fact that as Yoshie sets out on a self-discovery journey she also discovers other unknown sides of her parents.  I enjoy the complexity of their intertwined relationship.

I would like you to take a look at the wonderful artwork in the hardcover and illustrations. It was designed by the talented Keely Winton and illustrated by Mai Ohno. A round of applause for the translator Asa Yoneda, who I believe did a good job at capturing and reproducing  the author’s writing style as best as possible.

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