Book Review: Eva, Kopi and Matcha

My friend Evangeline Neo, aka Eva, has a new book out and it's called Eva, Kopi and Matcha. It's fill with funny cartoons that compare the culture of Singapore and Japan.

Eva is a Singaporean who has just returned from Japan last year from her studies. She has always wanted to be a cartoonist or manga artist since young. Actually I've been following her blog Eva Comics and Facebook page when she was still in Japan. Back then, she was talking about the struggles of being a cartoonist and foreign student in Japan. I followed her blog to see how her situation would pan out. Fast forward to present day, I'm really surprised and proud of her success. Actually, I only meet her for the first time last week during her talk.

Her cartoons seem to strike a chord with readers which is why she's so popular today. Don't be tricked by how simple her drawings look -- by the way, she has learnt classic drawing before. Today, she has more than 50,000 Facebook Likes on her page, more than 5 times mine, and continues to grow. It goes to show how powerful cartoons can be when the idea is strong.

Back to the book...

Eva plays herself in the cartoon and is accompanied by (imaginary) pet dog Kopi and Matcha. The jokes are very stereotypical which is why they are so funny. The book is catered for readers who understand or at least have basic knowledge of culture in Singapore and Japanese. Also included in the later pages are short comics that Eva has drawn in 2008 depicting her various adventures.

Most of the work in this book can be found, if you want to search through the archives, on https://evacomics.blogspot.com and https://www.facebook.com/evacomics

You can support her by getting a copy. The book is out at bookstores in Singapore, priced at SGD $19.90 (around US $16), or online at the publishers web store.

International buyers, visit https://www.eva.sg/EN/comics.html for more details.