Inio Asano is my favorite manga artist/writer. I am a huge fan of Otomo,Shirow, Mizuki and a few other living legends but the quieter, personal work of Asano really speaks to me. I only discovered his work about 2 years ago with Solanin. I have since read everything and have been incredibly moved and affected by everything he has done. Goodnight Pun Pun was soul crushingly dark and powerful and probably his most important work. As much as I loved Pun Pun, I still gravitate back to my first encounter and Solanin and so this is the book I decided to get the dedication in. Meeting Asano for me would be the equivalent of meeting Bill Sienkiewicz for the first time or Moebius. The level of reverence and respect I have for him fails words. I got to sit in during an hour long panel/interview he did which added some really interesting insights into is work. Although I missed the first signing of the day, I was fortunate to get a ticket for the second signing. I got to meet him, say domo arigato, shake his hand, get a photo and come away with a little dedication and sketch. If you have not discovered Asano for yourself, he is truly brilliant. I'd suggest starting with Solanin as Pun Pun is not an adventure to be entered into lightly.
Meeting Asano and Urasawa this year means I don't need to search out too many other manga artist as I have met the two best. I don't expect the opportunity to meet Shirow or Otomo but perhaps one day I'll have dedications by them in here too.
