In this manga review of Record Journey Volume 1, a collections of stories highlight the connection and intersections of music and everyday life.
Record Journey Vol 1
Writer: Ryoichiro Kezuka
Art: Ryoichiro Kezuka
Cover : Ryoichiro Kezuka
Page Count: 256 pages
Release Date: May 26, 2026
This review contains spoilers
“Tons of records pass my hands as I’m dealing in them,” says Miyama in the first story of Record Journey “And I’ve always wished I could know their histories.”
This seems to have been the inspiration for Ryoichiro Kezuka’s anthology, with stories that span decades, from the distant past to the far future, but each with one thing in common: the love of music.
The first story introduces Miyama, a record store owner in modern-day Japan who, when purchasing a client’s inherited record collection, ends up helping the client, Mayana, to discover more about their grandfather’s history and find closure with his passing. This being the titular “record journey”, the two new friends end up learning more about another culture’s language and traditional music as they try to solve the “mystery” of a strangely labeled record in Mayana’s grandfather’s collection.
After that point, we jump from contraband record stores in the Soviet Eastern Bloc to a British Invasion era band doing an impromptu rooftop jam session to a Pirate Radio ship smuggling airwaves from international waters. A music buff will immediately appreciate the significance of these settings, but those less familiar with music, history, or music history will be able to appreciate the conflict, the tension, and the arc for each character that is clearly laid out by the narrative.
There are record shops, jukeboxes, and all manner of analog audio, but the stories are centered around the music. The people creating it. The people inspired by it. The people who are so passionate about music that they would break the law to have it and share it. And ultimately, it’s about how the music connects these people to each other. The girl in the Eastern Bloc is listening to the broadcast from the pirate radio station, who are playing a record by the band from the rooftop jam, and a bootleg from the rooftop jam somehow ends up in the record shop from the first story. Across time and across space, the music connects them all.
Kezuka’s art is beautiful-incredibly detailed depictions of each era, beautiful landscapes and even a sky full of stars over the open ocean. It’s the kind of story you can go back to again and again, noticing new things each time, and still appreciating the emotional beats of each chapter, which don’t lose their punch on the first or second reread.
Final Thoughts
Although there are a couple of tense and emotional moments, Record Journey is a gentle, lovely reading experience that I would recommend to any music lover.
