Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist's Journey
Japanese manga series
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Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist's Journey, known in Japan as Kakukaku Shikajika (Japanese: かくかくしかじか; "So-and-so, Such-and-such"[1]), is an autobiographical josei manga series written and illustrated by Akiko Higashimura. It was serialized in Shueisha's monthly manga magazine Cocohana from 2011 to 2015 and collected in five tankōbon volumes. The series is licensed in English by Seven Seas Entertainment.[2]
| Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist's Journey | |
 Cover art for the first volume, featuring the main character, Akiko Hayashi | |
| かくかくしかじか (Kakukaku Shikajika) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Autobiography, slice of life |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Akiko Higashimura |
| Published by | Shueisha |
| English publisher | |
| Magazine | Cocohana |
| Original run | November 28, 2011 – January 28, 2015 |
| Volumes | 5 |
| Live-action film | |
| Directed by | Kazuaki Seki |
| Written by |
|
| Music by | Yuki Munakata |
| Studio | Warner Bros. Japan |
| Released | May 16, 2025 |
Characters
- Akiko Hayashi (林明子, Hayashi Akiko)
- Portrayed by: Mei Nagano[3]
- Kenzō Hidaka (日高健三, Hidaka Kenzō)
- Portrayed by: Yo Oizumi[3]
Media
Manga
The individual chapters, referred to as "canvases", were serialized in Cocohana magazine between the inaugural January 2012 issue (sold on November 28, 2011) and the March 2015 issue (sold on January 28, 2015).[4][5][6] They were later published by Shueisha in five tankōbon volumes. The third, fourth, and fifth volumes also included bonus "sketchbook" chapters.
| No. | Original release date | Original ISBN | English release date | English ISBN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | July 25, 2012[7] | 978-4-08-782457-5 | March 21, 2019[8] | 978-1-642750-69-0 | ||
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| 2 | May 24, 2013[9] | 978-4-08-782653-1 | August 27, 2019[10] | 978-1-642750-70-6 | ||
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| 3 | January 24, 2014[11] | 978-4-08-782746-0 | November 19, 2019[12] | 978-1-642750-71-3 | ||
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| 4 | July 25, 2014[13] | 978-4-08-782797-2 | March 31, 2020[14] | 978-1-642750-72-0 | ||
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| 5 | March 25, 2015[15] | 978-4-08-792004-8 | June 30, 2020[16] | 978-1-642750-73-7 | ||
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Live-action film
A live-action film adaptation was announced on December 17, 2024. The film is produced by Warner Bros. Japan and directed by Kazuaki Seki, with the screenplay written by Higashimura and Date-san, and music composed by Yuki Munakata. It premiered in Japanese theaters on May 16, 2025.[3]
Reception
The series was number five on the 2013 and 2014 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Top 20 Manga for Female Readers surveys and number seven on the 2015 survey.[17][18][19] It was number four in the 2013 Comic Natalie Grand Prize.[20] In 2015, it won the eighth Manga Taishō Award,[21] and was awarded the grand prize in the manga division by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs at the 19th Japan Media Arts Festival.[1]
Volume 2 sold 49,232 copies as of June 2013[22] and volume 3 sold 47,446 copies as of February 2014.[23]