Halfway There – A Graphic Memoir of Self-Discovery

by Saily Marrero

Content advisory: self-harm, the crisis Lifeline phone number in the U.S. and Canada is 988, in the U.K. it’s 999; and for elsewhere go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines.

Christine Mari’s graphic memoir, Halfway There, grapples with her Japanese American identity. In the hopes of finding herself and perhaps an escape from being seen as half Japanese or half American, she goes to Tokyo, Japan to study Japanese, a language she’s lost over the years in living in the United States. However, this journey of self-discovery goes awry when she instead finds herself struggling with depression.

Mari’s graphic memoir begins with struggles as a child of mixed parentage; a Japanese mother and an American father. She often talks about not feeling fully American or Japanese and how she was treated differently at school – at first as a novelty, then criticized for being too Japanese or too American, until eventually blending in the background, something she dislikes too. On page, 18-19 she explains people (including an healthcare provider) are unable to simply accept that she’s just American and can’t look past the shape of her eyes. Being bombarded by how others perceive her in the U.S. prevented her from finding her own identity. Her trip to Japan and learning Japanese was her attempt to find the answer to the question “Who are you?” (27).

We begin to see the start of her depression on New Years Eve when Mari visualizes herself drowning in water confessing, “For the first time, the future frightens me. What if there’s nothing left for me to look forward to?” (121). The thoughts continue into the following pages as she’s falling through a night sky, a metaphor of her spiraling negative thoughts. By pages 126-127 Mari’s world is melting completely before our eyes demonstrating the despair she is feeling. Throughout that Winter, Mari’s imagery features her dark room, melting speech balloons, and her tired eyes. She begins to isolate herself, eat the same thing every day, lose interest in school, lash out at her parents, and eventually she is unable to get out of bed. All of which are signs of her depression according to the National Institute of Mental Health (2025).

Eventually, realizing she cannot continue living like this, she asks for her grandmother’s help despite their language barrier (188). At the insistence of her parents, Mari goes to see a therapist who diagnoses her with depression (205) and helps her navigate her depression and self-harm. The latter only alluded to in one single panel where she shows off her bare arm with multiple bandages. With no medicine and just talk therapy, Mari’s depression and self-image as a mixed-race person begins to improve. In this way, the memoir reminds me of Everything is Okay by Debbie Tung who navigates depression and anxiety with the help of a therapist.

I think for people who are currently going through something similar or have struggled with depression in the past might benefit from reading this book. It can serve as proof that they are not alone in this experience even it is different for everyone.

Editor’s note: At age 15, Mari published a travel journal (Diary of a Tokyo Teen – Japanese Girl Travels to the Land of Trendy Fashion, High-Tech Toilets, & Maid Cafes; Tuttle Publishing, 2016).

REFERENCES

National Institute of Mental Health. (2025). Depression. Retrieved July 15, 2025 from https://medlineplus.gov/depression.html

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Saily Marrero, M.S.I. is the Nursing & Health Studies, Psychology, and Biology Librarian at the University of Miami. In her free time, she enjoys reading graphic novels and practicing yoga.