Bunyukaba:"Bikkomi" releases first volume of popular comic: A deaf girl runs through wartime

The first volume of the comic "Fumiyukaba," a manga by Rika Nishihara that is currently being serialized on Shogakukan's online manga site "Bikcomi," was released on February 12th. The story follows a deaf girl who struggles through wartime.

Set in 1944, on the brink of defeat in Japan, a deaf girl named Ayane loses her family in an air raid and moves from one relative's house to another before finally ending up at the Natsume household. At first, the second son, Isao, is confused by the way she interacts with him, but the two eventually become closer through sign language.

In August 2023, Nishihara published a two-part one-shot story, "Hinatata no Te no Hira," which centers on a deaf woman living during wartime. Following a huge response, an updated version of the one-shot, "Fumiyukaba," began serialization in August 2025.

◇Recommendation comment (titles omitted)

"How did Fumie, a deaf 16-year-old who lost both her parents and her home in the war, survive alone among others during that brutal wartime? I was deeply moved by the hardships of deaf people, which I had never known before, as well as their intelligence and sincerity." Kazuko Koizumi (Director of the Showa Life Museum)

"They survived the rough seas of war without denying sign language or themselves. The difficulty and beauty of this reminded me of deaf people in the past, and it made my heart ache. As a fellow deaf person, I want to watch over and support their lives as if praying for them." - Nasu Eri (Sign language entertainer/actor)

"Even in the harsh times of war, sign language was certainly a living language. Reading this as a deaf person, I felt that sign language is a language that connects people across time. Communication is not something to be taken for granted. This book quietly brings that fact home." - Yamada Maki (Deaflympics Athletics Gold Medalist)