A man with no musical skills drops everything in his life to become a professional musician. Competitive eaters muster the strength from their deepest wounds to get through a fermented-fish pizza eating competition. A young boy aspires to become a world-famous comedian, but barks up the wrong tree with martial arts training. A middle-aged woman running a comic book rental shop while pursuing her dream of becoming a manga artist. A football player recalls his childhood joy of playing football, as he is about to strike the free kick that would bring Thailand into the World Cup.

Sa-ard’s debut comic book and winner of Japan’s 5th International Manga Award, The Man Who Travels To Find His Own Voice comprises five charming stories about each character’s reckless attempts to make their dreams come true while living their everyday lives. Through Sa-ard’s storytelling, these seemingly individual journeys overlap through coincidences and convergences of fate, hinting at the influences we may have on each other but are generally unaware of while we doggedly pursue our own paths. This collection comes with an appendix that reveals Sa-ard’s thought-process behind his first comic book, as well as depicting himself as the 6th character — a comic artist struggling to make his dreams come true with a career that barely feeds — and the hard work that tested his true grit and passion.

Published by Let’s comic and Kai3 publishing.