Danica Davidson
November 12, 2021 
A Life Turned Upside Down: My Dad’s an Alcoholic is an autobiographical manga (also known as an essay manga) that is honest and sometimes gut-wrenching. Mariko details her father’s abuse of alcohol since she was a little girl. The book is told completely from her perspective, so we don’t know why the father turned to alcohol to the degree he did, or the struggles he went through. We see a girl who doesn’t understand why her father is acting like this, and those feelings of hopelessness and frustration continue as we watch her grow over the years and turn into an adult.
Another big trauma during her childhood is her mother’s suicide, which left Mariko and her younger sister alone with their father. Their father was mostly not purposefully abusive (the one example when he becomes physically abusive is in the book), but he often hurts his daughters through his neglect. While still keeping a job, he’s drunk so much off work that the girls have to take care of him instead of the opposite.
The author talks about the hateful feelings she’s had for her father, and how she’s disappointed by him again and again. But she also shows the times when he’s a good father, and how complicated her feelings are. There are times when she, out of anger, lashes out at her father, and you see the cycle continue when she’s cruel to him. The cruel cycle is also clear when Mariko becomes an adult and gets into an abusive relationship with a man who drinks and hits her regularly. She comes to realize that he’s even worse than her father, because her father wouldn’t try to hurt her like that.
A Life Turned Upside Down: My Dad’s an Alcoholic doesn’t give easy answers. It does end with some hope after a lot of sadness. The art is relatively simplistic and straightforward, as can be seen from the cover. But simplistic is not a criticism, as it’s clear that Kikuchi is a skilled artist; this is just the style she’s using here. It fits with the narrative. This manga started as a web series that went viral, and has been turned into a movie in Japan. Its realism could be cathartic for people going through similar experiences.
Story & Art: Mariko Kikuchi
Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, and its sequel, Manga Art for Intermediates, with professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
