Before I read this story, I've read other works from different mangaka where the art style doesn't go by the conventions of the usual modern Japanese manga. One example of this is Mohican-zoku no Saigo, a 1953 manga adaptation of an old French novel.

With Mohican-zoku no Saigo being a product of its time, the art style is crude in most places, and a bit of an eyesore in others. It was mostly due to there not being much conventions of what manga looked like to begin with, because I can assure you it was not due to the artist's capabilities. It was apparent that in some places, such as certain characters that expressed more of a DC hero-styled art style, that the influential mangaka at the time had genuine talent. What that manga taught me was that despite a book's questionable art style, it shouldn't deter from what could be an thoughtful, inspiring work.

Then I read Travel. And while I turn the pages of this book, constantly reminding myself of the lesson I learnt and genuinely trying to enjoy the book unfolding, I come to an important realization. That being that, while the manga I had previously read relied more on its story, this relied more on its imagery. This is a manga about travelling, about riding different modes of transportation, about observing the scenery and the people around you, about the experiences you go through like buying food and cigarettes on the go. Nobody in this manga says anything, so their actions and body language had to do the characterization for them, and what was happening had to be interpreted by the reader since no one talks about what's going on.

I'll say it again, the single point of this manga is solely to simulate what travelling is like. So with the very little story this book provides, it's safe to assume the art style alone is your only aid to visualize what the book wants you to visualize. And what of the art style itself?

Well, I can say the mangaka's drawings of architecture and animals aren't half bad. Not any level I would consider professional but I was okay with the views outside the windows of the various modes of transport I witnessed. Unfortunately, this is where my praise turns to utter disgust.

I genuinely cannot find a term to describe just how horribly ugly everyone looks. Aliens? Monsters? Abominations? No, cause using those terms would be offensive to all three of those groups. It'd feel like I'd be saying the alien/monster/abomination equivalent of the n-word. My little cousins who only know how to color can draw better eyes than whatever the heck this artist decided to deem human eyeballs. Everyone has the same face, and I found myself constantly flipping back pages cause I was lost to which character did which action. I'd previously praised the architecture but in some shots it also looks badly thought out, and even the good shots were overshadowed by the creatures this manga calls people. I thought the Fresco Of Jesus restoration was a mistake, what made the artist decide to pick it up as an art style?!

Artistic choice? Miss me with that. I may not be Picasso and I always feel bad when I criticize art that tries to do something new, but for the love of Miyazaki, this is not a painting or a mural, it's a freaking manga! A bad painting with this art style you're only supposed to see once and interpret what you see, you don't have to stick around and see these ugly shmucks almost every damn panel.

I can't imagine the delusion someone may have that this unconventional art style could be considered good. For a book that relies entirely on its art, you're sure bombarded with shots of crudely drawn freaks. Never think that unconventional always means passable, cause this is definitely not one of those cases.