Manga Digest: Dark, dark, dark

Theme 04: Dark, dark dark

~I’ve notived I have been saying ‘Cute!’ and ‘Sweet’ too much in my manga digest posts, so it’s time to reveal Hoshi’s dark side (that’s right; Hoshi’s got a dark side) ;D Let’s get into some disturbing, stomach twisting, horrific manga that’ll keep you from eating for days or, at least make you slightly depressed. It’s time to dwell into a dark realm of manga~.
(I could imagine that being said in a scary voice! Oh my, my dark side…)

Deadman Wonderland
Author: Kataoka Jinsei/ Artist: Kondou Kazuma
Genre(s): Action, Drama, Sci-fi, Shounen, Supernatural, Tragedy
Status: On-Going
Volume(s): (Currently) 8
Year: 2007
Summary: The Great Tokyo Earthquake. Ten years ago, it destroyed lives as it tore buildings asunder. Among those who lived through the disaster was Ganta Igarashi, now a middle school student finally getting a footing in his own life… that is, until the day the ‘Red Man’ appears at his school and turns his world upside down again. Ganta’s entire class is brutally murdered, and although innocent of the crime, Ganta is sentenced to death and sent to the bizarre prison known as ‘Deadman Wonderland.’ There, a brutal game of survival begins, where Ganta must discover the truth behind his classmates’ murder. Can Ganta break out of Deadman Wonderland… or will it break him first?

Thoughts: I was really disappointed at the fact that its anime won’t be coming out till the spring, though it is coming out on my birthday month, so I’m not too depressed anymore x’D  I was so surprised when I actually heard the news  because it is a pretty violent and dark manga. The whole ambiance of it is very dark and cynical, with only a few light moments. Every time I read it I get this strange feeling over me that sort of makes me sick to my stomach, and it’s not just from the violence either. Oh man, the violence<3 I’m a sucker for chopped off heads and such in a manga like this, but Deadman Wonderland violence is very…sophisticated! xD I mean, some of these prisoners die in horrible ways with lots of blood, but they don’t show a lot of guts. To me, that’s sophistication; it makes me internally sick, but not so physically sick that I have to turn away and barf in a pillow case (thought there is one scene where they show someone’s eyeball getting taken out, heehee. That was so grossssss). I hope I’m not weird-ing anyone out now!

It has a great storyline too by the way. The summary of it seems simple, but once you get into the nitty gritty mystery that starts to show itself in Volume 2, it gets really complicated and twisted in a good way. The story overall is a very bitter tale of innocence shattered. I mean, poor Ganta had to see all his friends practically blown to pieces, and then he gets sent to death for it. And while he’s in prison he witnesses, and sometimes even participates, in the very gruesome things that happen in the prison. There are only a few pieces of innocence in the story, and they don’t last long, except for our innocent character, Shiro (she’s so cute, by the way, uwah~).  The whole mystery behind this ‘Red Man’ and the other things going on in the prison is going to really frustrate you. It’s just so damn tantalizing that you want to know already! Every time I read it my brain starts to hurt because I’m constantly trying to solve this weird, cynical puzzle of a story in my head. I actually haven’t read up to the latest chapter yet, which probably explains some of this confusion in my brain, but I sincerely recommend you do (that way you can spoil it for me, heehee). Deadman Wonderland is going to leave this impression on you that I can’t really explain how it’s going to feel; you just have to figure it out yourself~ ;D

Goth
Author: Otsuichi/ Artist: Ooiwa Kenji
Genre(s): Drama, Horror, Mature, Mystery, Psychological, Shounen
Status: Complete
Volume(s): 1
Year: 2002
Summary: A rather morbid, sombre manga about two high school students, Kamiyama Itsuki and Morino Yoru, who have a peculiar interest in deaths and especially in murders that are committed near to them. Due to their strong fascination with murder and highly-developed analytical skills (along with some luck), they manage to solve the murders that have even eluded the authorities. However, acting on their own sense of justice and in self-interest, the murderers are often able to escape with the murders that they have committed. Often, it is Kamiyama that solves the cases even to the most subtle of details, but he is only interested in one thing, and that is the method by which Yoru should be killed.

Thoughts: This was actually adapted from a novel, and was also made into a movie, I believe. I’m really scared to watch the movie after I read this manga, seriously. Like the summary says, it’s a very morbid story, and a bit boring but I found it quite enjoyable. I was really interested in the boy, Kamiyama, to see if he’d actually kill the girl or not. There was also a lot of gore in this one, mainly from when the pair saw dead bodies. I have to warn you, in Chapter 2, it’s a very gruesome murder scene they find; you might want to be careful if you’re reading it at school or something |’D

The only thing that really annoyed me was the fact the girl was captured by murderers in almost all the chapters! I was like, “Seriously? Don’t just make a pun of it by saying she attracts weird people to her, Kamiyama.” It was that element that made the manga a bit boring because it was the same thing in every chapter practically. As for the art, it was just as morbid as the story itself. It’s rather simple, but has excruciating detail when it comes to chopped up bodies and guts, heh. The mangaka’s style really sets this whole dark, gloomy mood because mostly everything is in dark shading or has black grounds, which is nice 8) I’d recommend this whenever you need to get into the gloomy mood, or just lose a bit of your appetite~.

Le Portrait de Petit Cossette
Author: Katsura Asuka
Genre(s): Horror, Mystery, Romance, Seinen, Supernatural, Tragedy
Status: Complete
Volume(s): 2
Year: 2004
Sumarry: Eiri Kurahashi is an art school student, with a job at a local antique store. It’s there that he develops a strange obsession. He finds himself entranced by a portrait of a Victorian-era girl named Cossette. It’s a portrait with a strange history–everyone who has owned it has been murdered in a bizarre fashion. But the story runs much deeper than that. Cossette was savagely murdered by her lover, who also happens to be the artist who painted the portrait. When the new owner of the portrait nearly kills himself, Eiri decides to get involved. And that’s when Cossette begins speaking to him…

Thoughts: Ahh~ I remember watching the OVA of this back in my Freshman year of high school; it brings back so many memories of when I was still a bit of a newbie in anime fandom *sigh* Anyways, I’ve actually fallen in love with this storyline, no matter how simple and lovely-dovey it may sound. At first the story is a bit more like a cliché mystery-solving quest where they try to find the cursed objects Cossette has. Yet, like I said with Deadman Wonderland, once you get into the second volume, that’s when it starts to get really dark, and you see more into what happened to Cossette and why the things she once owned are cursed.

It’s a very deep manga, and if you’re like me, you’re going to have to read it twice to really understand, and get all the deep meanings going on.  As for the art, I find it really lovely, and it matches perfectly with this type of story (at least I feel so). I won’t lie; the manga did bore me a bit. I’d rather see the OVA episodes because it’s so much darker than the manga. The manga focuses more on the love story element than its OVA counterpart.  I hope I don’t discourage you from reading this though, because it is a really lovely, artsy, mature storyline that will grasp you~.

~I hope I didn’t creep you out too much! I did stumble upon even more disturbing, dark manga, but I felt these three were the more innocent of the choices (if you can believe that). Now go off and find some happy shoujo manga to cheer you up after reading these! |’D See you next time~.

About Hoshi

A tired, over-dramatic 20 year old college student who likes manga and cheesy Korean boy bands. Prone to succumb to laziness and refuse to work for hours on end.