OUSA REVIEW: Haruki Murakami Manga Stories 3 : Scheherezade; Sleep

by Brianna Fox-Priest
January 29, 2025

Haruki Murakami is a household name among literary enthusiasts, but whether you’ve read any of his collection of novels, essays, short stories, or not, you likely have heard of his work.

Being translated into over 50 languages and selling millions of copies worldwide, Murakami is considered one of Japan’s most influential authors. Now his work can be enjoyed in manga form.

Tuttle Publishing is behind the Haruki Murakami Manga Stories series, and it will release the third collection, Haruki Murakami Manga Stories 3, on April 1st. This volume will include manga adaptations of Scheherezade and Sleep, two stories that blend fantasy and realism with the themes of connection and remorse.

Adapted by Jc Deveney and illustrated by PMGL, the adaptation makes this collection of manga a must-read for long-time fans and for newcomers seeking an introduction to Murakami’s work.

Opening with an illustration of a bedroom underwater, this gives way to a feeling of drowning, an apt metaphor for the main characters’ emotional states in both Scheherazade and Sleep.

Scheherezade is a short story from the “Men Without Women” collection. It draws inspiration from the character Scheherezade from One Thousand and One Nights, also known as Arabian Nights, who told new stories to her bloodthirsty husband for a thousand and one nights until he professed his love and restored peace to the kingdom.

In Murakami’s version of Scheherezade, Habara, a homebound man (for unknown reasons) never steps outside, but rather has a “support liaison” bring him necessities, books to read, and has sex with him a few times a week. After every time she sleeps with him, she will start a story from her eventful life, which often sounds too wild to be true. Habara begins to grow attached to her stories and company, anxiously awaiting her next visit.

It’s an interesting love affair that never quite shares its true intentions, but as a manga we can better visualize the characters’ feelings and try to wrap our heads around Murakami’s often confusing relationships in his writing.

Sleep—a short story from The Elephant Vanishes, Murakami’s first collection of short stories—also does a good job of providing deeper context in an easy-to-digest format. The main character, a housewife, is given a newfound freedom from her housewife and motherly expectations after not sleeping for 17 days. However, as she gains a new excitement over her secret life at night, her insomnia leads her into danger.

Haruki Murakami Manga Stories 3: Scheherezade; Sleep is a good way to enter the world of Haruki Murakami. Whether you stay is up to you. Unlike standard Japanese manga, the illustrations are less beautifully curated and more chaotic and grotesque with rigid and messy lines. It’s not the kawaii type, but provides a unique take on manga adaptations that may not be to everyone’s tastes—much like Murakami’s stories themselves.

This unconventional, anything-but-ordinary manga is a perfect match for its source material.

Note: The manga will be shrink-wrapped and recommended for readers ages 18+ due to mature themes and graphic content.