Manga Digest: 60% Yandere, 40% Blood
Theme 07: 60% Yandere, 40% Blood
~Warning: Do not read some of these titles while you’re A. eating, or B. all alone in your house with your aunt’s dark, creepy room with the door wide open behind you. TRUST ME (-inserts “Trust Me” song- SORRY. BAD PUN, BUT I HAD TO).
I thought it was time once again to unleash my love for the Horror genre since these past manga posts I’ve been writing have been filled with cute, girly, or comedic manga. Deep down in Hoshi’s black heart there is a disturbing soft spot for creepy, psycho, bloody, horrific, and extremely disturbing manga, but it’s been constantly overshadowed by my willingness to try new genres, by which I can’t help but get into that new genre I’ve discovered and leave my previous love behind. My reputation as a strong lover of Horror has died down, so every now and then I try to redeem myself with something like this; to remind myself why I love this genre, and why it brings a smile to my face.
I couldn’t think of a proper theme at first, but after scavenging the Horror and Psychological genre tags, I managed to find three that had two things in common: blood, and yanderes. Yet, two of the mangas had yanderes and blood, while one had no yanderes, but only blood, hence the odd percents x’D (Oh I’m so clever huh?). Anyways, care to take a look into some of these odd and horrific worlds?
Aphorism
Author: Kujo Karuna
Genre(s): Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Psychological, School Life, Shounen, Supernatural
Status: On-going
Volumes: 6
Year: 2008
Summary: Naraka High School, is a seemingly normal school. However, unknown to the public is the cruel truth of what really goes on in the school’s halls. Rather than studying, students are forced to struggle for their very survival. And the strong bonds of friendship may be the only difference between life and death.
Thoughts: For some reason, stories like this that have those you-can’t-escape-this-hell kind of settings scare me a lot internally because in my mind I’m like, “I have no idea what I would do! I’d probably be killed!”, especially in this manga’s case. It’s pretty horrific what they have to do already on their first day, and trembled a bit thinking about it (Yes Hoshi has a lot of strange fears…). At first when I started reading this, I got kinda bored because the beginning is a bit cliche with the boy and the girl blah blah, but once you read more into the second chapter it gets interesting with blood, a little gore (as you can tell by the third thumbnail to the right), and some good, old-fashioned battling XD
I’m afraid some might find this a little boring though because it does kinda seem that way after a while. Yet I’m an extremely nice person when it comes to manga so I always find a reason to cling onto a manga and claim it’s good. For Aphorism, it’s that horror of having to constantly worry about getting killed and see your friends dying that makes me cling to it, no matter how much it scares me. I also love a lot of the character personalities and their powers as well, so I don’t really have an absolute favorite character. As for the art, it’s pretty decent, nothing too spectacular, but it’s enjoyable as you read it. Anyways,Aphorism is a good read if you need to calm your brain after reading the next two titles on this list~.
Doubt
Author: Tonogai Yoshiki
Genre(s): Drama, Horror, Mystery, Psychological, Shounen, Tragedy
Status: Complete
Volumes: 4
Year: 2007
Summary: There’s a game going around Japan called ‘Rabbit Doubt’. The premise of the game is that all of the players are rabbits in a colony, and one amongst them is randomly chosen to be a wolf that infiltrated the group of rabbits. Every round, the wolf kills off a rabbit, and every round, the group tries to figure out which of the rabbits is actually a wolf in disguise. Sometimes the kids who play this game decide to meet up in person, and Yuu, Mitsuki, Rei, Hajime, Eiji, and Haruka have done just that. Unfortunately, one of them has decided to take on the mantle of the wolf and has already killed once. Who is the wolf, and can they be stopped before everyone meets a very unpleasant end?
Thoughts: I had contemplated bringing this manga up for one of these posts before, but I ended up shying away because of the art. Luckily, I came back and forgave the art (because my policy is to NOT judge a manga by its art) and I actually got quite a good mind-bender from this! I won’t lie, the culprit is a bit predictable if you think hard enough, and the story is a bit cliche. It kinda reminded me of Saw once I saw the setting. Yet, as you get closer to the ending, it totally whips away those doubtful thoughts about ditching it with this sudden twist in the story that leaves you going, “Wait, WHAT?!” Then it fully…molds your brain into mush as it ends. Okay, I may be exaggerating but that’s how it felt to me since I’m a pretty slow thinker |’D
I absolutely LOVED the ending, and I don’t care what anyone says about it. I love those cliff-hanger, you-have-no-idea-what-the-fuck-is-going-to-happen-next endings because they leave this lasting impression on me that I don’t get from complete closure endings. I’d rather be biting my nails anxiously forever than have a good sigh and say ‘Well that was fun to read’. Plus, this kind of story NEEDED an ending like that because otherwise, it would have been a typical horror, who-dun-it manga, and would not have been on this list~.
Mirai Nikki
Author: Esuno Sakae
Genre(s): Action, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Psychological, Romance, Shounen, Supernatural, Tragedy
Status: On-going
Volumes: 11
Year: 2006
Summary: High school 2nd year, Amano Yukiteru, is a boy who has problem making friends. He thinks of himself as a bystander and will always write down everything he sees in a cell phone diary. Tormented by solitude, Yukiteru began to imagine things like a friend called Deus Ex Machina who is apparently the Lord of Time & Space. Seeing Yukiteru’s miserable state, Deus gives him a new ability. His diary will now record events that will happen in the near future. Yukiteru is then forced to participate in a game which the winner will become Deus’s successor.
Thoughts: After the complete FAIL that was the “OVA”, I knew I HAD to read the manga, and folks, it is ten times better than that nine minute overview. The “OVA” actually skipped a whole chapter before going to the bomb-girl, and when I read it, I was like, “WHEN WAS THIS?!”. Anyways, the instant I started reading it, I couldn’t stop, seriously. It gets quite addicting because already into the third and fourth chapters there’s action happening and I desperately want know what’s going to happen next because it ends in such cliff hangers! I even got in trouble for staying on the computer for so long because my brother needed to do homework |’D The only thing I’m a tiny bit worried about is that the story will get repetitive since Yukiteru is in the game to become Deus’s successor and has to kill other Diary owners. Now I haven’t read much, only up to the third volume, but so far the mangaka actually keeps all these battles interesting and even intertwines some of them so I haven’t gotten bored yet with this!
Yukiteru annoys the hell out of me though. He’s always crying and complaining about being a failure and such; MAN UP!! He’s a typical wimpy character who has his shining moments, and cries in almost EVERY panel. Now Yuno…Oh Yuno, you psycho yandere~. I love her to bits, no matter how crazy and murderous she is, because those are the reasons WHY I love her (Yeah I’m more of a yandere fan) xD There are other diary holders that I’m also very fond of, but I’d rather not give names since it’ll spoil it if I do. Mirai Nikki is definitely my top pick out of this post for so many reason; it’s got action, twists, violent twists, and one of the best yanderes in the manga world. I’m extremely excited to keep on reading this, and maybe, HOPEFULLY they’ll actually make a decent anime for this~!
~Well, it looks like this manga post is my final manga post of 2010 so I’m glad I get to finish this year with a genre that, as I said before, is near and dear to my black heart. *throws confetti* Let’s hope the new year not only brings us some good anime, but some good new manga series as well! Until next YEAR then~!!
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.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
EXACTLY the kind of stuff I like. <3
I've already gone through some of Doubt and definitely will be reading Mirai Nikki so Aphorism comes as a cool nugget. Nice list, Hoshi. xD
POWUH: 800-899 and Self-proclaimed Manga Queen with 874 comments
~Yesss, it seems like most of the Metanorn girls love Horror hahaha XD
AND YESSS MIRAI NIKKI!
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 234 comments
Mirai Nikki!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The manga is awesome.
It’s also over LOL. The last chapter was posted today. SADFACE.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 190 comments
*sigh* Sadface it is indeed
POWUH: 800-899 and Self-proclaimed Manga Queen with 874 comments
~Yeah I noticed as I went back to get some thumbnails for the post. *SADFACE* I tried finishing it yesterday but I had to go to bed |’D I still have two volumes to go…
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 93 comments
OH MY GAWD why did I not take your advice, and ate alone in my house while reading the manga? =-= The only one I didn’t like is doubt, WHY ARE THE BUNNY HEADSSO FREAKY
Ughhh reading horror genres alot results in thinking every little noise I hear is a murderer.
POWUH: 800-899 and Self-proclaimed Manga Queen with 874 comments
~I TOLD YOU! Specifically reading Doubt while home alone is terrifying o____o; THE BUNNY HEADS ARE TOO FREAKY…
Ugh same here…I’m always twitching my head back to make sure nothing is behind me |’D
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 55 comments
Wow Mirai Nikki and Doubt were some of the first mangas I had read and that is when I found out I like psychological more then anything. granted I still love romance 😀
Oh and have you read majin tantei nougami no neuro?
I am most defiantly gonna have to read the first one now.
POWUH: 800-899 and Self-proclaimed Manga Queen with 874 comments
~Oh that’s cool 8D Yeah psychological is also one of my favorite genres, even if my head hurts sometimes…
Oooo no I haven’t o3o *will check out
And wohooo~ Yes read the first one!
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 55 comments
will do but should it be at night in the dark or in during the day with lots of light?
defiantly should find more of these to read….
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 222 comments
I’VE READ ALL OF THESE.
I love them all <3 I remember how happy I was when Doubt appeared in the Durarara!! manga when Walker and Erika were torturing the worker xD
You're my hero, Hoshi-sama.
POWUH: 800-899 and Self-proclaimed Manga Queen with 874 comments
~NO WAY KSJFLKDJFSGKJDFKLG AWESOME!
Ohh are you serious?! THAT’S SO COOL *A*
Heehee~ 8D
POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
HORROR?
I’m out.
POWUH: 500-599 and The Trapolicious Treasurer with 599 comments
What if it was yaoi+horror? Then you’d read it I bet :3 Yepp, the Yaoi Queen must if she is to keep that title.. buwahahah.
POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
ness, so mean! ah, it’s so hard to keep that title. i guess this is how all the kings and queens feel when the evil villain comes out and demand qualifications of a true king/queen *glance at ness*
POWUH: 500-599 and The Trapolicious Treasurer with 599 comments
Oh so with that glance at me, I interpret that as I’m an evil villain now? I don’t mind HAH. I didn’t mean to be… mean though.
POWUH: 600-699 and Romance Expert with 652 comments
there is some yaoi involving a certain character and yuki in mirai nikki. plus he’s also yandere…
POWUH: 800-899 and Self-proclaimed Manga Queen with 874 comments
~NO GET BACK HERE *drags back with rope*
I find some yaoi horror actually while I was making my list >> I saved them for myself LOL
POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
i did read yaoi horror actually. i cried at the end. for some unknown reason, either both of them died, or the uke died. hehe
i’m reading mirai nikki actually. that is so not horror
and i actually lol’ed at the third thumbnail of aphorism or whatever that manga is called xD
POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
i’m on book 5 now. man i thought when u guys meant by horror was ghost story. now THAT ONE i’m scared of. but i don’t mind these bloody manga(s). shiki is waaaaayyy bloodier than this >:D
btw, am hating the main guy chara right now. he needs to drop dead.
POWUH: iLurker with 17 comments
Yeah, Mirai Nikki manga is much better than that so called ova (it is more of an advertisment than ova). Those two manga’s looks good too, need to read them 🙂
POWUH: 800-899 and Self-proclaimed Manga Queen with 874 comments
~It definitely is! It’s so addicting; I read up to Volume 10 from Volume 3 yesterday x’D And yes please do check the others out!
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 70 comments
I’ve read (and finished) both Judge and Mirai Nikki
yeah, Mirai Nikki’s final chapter’s been scanlated and uploaded ^_^
and Yoshiki has released a sort-of sequel to Doubt, called Judge…you can read it at mangafox ^_^
POWUH: 800-899 and Self-proclaimed Manga Queen with 874 comments
~Oh yes I saw that,
and really?! I should check it out then *A*
POWUH: 500-599 and The Trapolicious Treasurer with 599 comments
I haven’t read any of those. Then again I can’t read horror but I can watch horror.. strange huh? :3 haha. But I will check out about reading Doubt, those bunnies caught my curiosity.
POWUH: 800-899 and Self-proclaimed Manga Queen with 874 comments
~That is strange; I’m the opposite, I can read Horror but not watch Horror (unless when it comes to anime) xD
YES Doubt is great; the scary bunnies caught my eye as well hahaha.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
Absolutely, my cup of tea!
Blood and horror – such a MUST in my list!
“Doubt” sounds the most interesting of the three. Personally I find this kind of plot highly addictive. I’ll get into it as soon as I’ll be back home… >>
Thank you for useful(as always) advice, Hoshi-san!!! ^___^
POWUH: 800-899 and Self-proclaimed Manga Queen with 874 comments
~Oh same for me!
For Doubt, it certainly does get addicting after a while because you want to know who the Wolf is already XD
and you’re welcome ^^
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 53 comments
I’m not a huge fan of horror, but I think I’ll read Doubt, for the bunnies (which I think may give me nightmares, they look so horrible). Maybe I’ll give Mirai Nikki and Aphorism a try after I finish reading Doubt, though 🙂
POWUH: 800-899 and Self-proclaimed Manga Queen with 874 comments
~The bunnies? Hahahaha, yeah they do look quite horrific |’D
I say you MUST give Mirai Nikki a try NEXT, the best one of the list in my opinion.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ and Vocaloid Fangirl with 363 comments
I think I’ll try reading Doubt 8D
I like horror.. to a certain extent hehe. Thanks for posting!
(-inserts “Trust Me” song- SORRY. BAD PUN, BUT I HAD TO) < HAHA EPIC. I love that song too♥ It's been ringing in my head since forever.
POWUH: 800-899 and Self-proclaimed Manga Queen with 874 comments
~YESSS, try it! Hope you like it :3
and you’re welcome!
I ADORE THAT SONG TO PIECES LOL. Whenever someone says, trust me, I finish it with “Trust me trust me trust me, YEAH!” And then I’m givin’ WTF stares XD
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ and Vocaloid Fangirl with 363 comments
I finished it today! xD
It was really.. scary and exhilarating. I feel kind of freaked out right now but at least it’s in the afternoon and not midnight or something. 😛
It was pretty awesome and I thought the ending left a lot for us to speculate about.. not that it’s a bad thing, though.
Thanks again for recommending! 😀
I really enjoyed it, trust me trust me trust me YEAH! HAHAHA.
POWUH: 600-699 and Romance Expert with 652 comments
I finished doubt a few months ago. it was pretty exciting and thrilling, I was starting to suspect a certain someone and I turned out right.
what I think of the ending(in spoiler for those who havent finished it):
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mirai nikki is the best imo in this list. it has the awesome Yuno, the queen of yanderes, in it. plus it has pretty good tactics and strategies done by each player.
Show ▼
POWUH: 800-899 and Self-proclaimed Manga Queen with 874 comments
~It certainly was thrilling, and I suspected that same character as well, but then I got thrown off by another character which is why I loved it so much because Ive never been confused like that hahaha.
IT IS THE BEST. I literally spent my whole day reading, and I got up to Volume 10. Yuno certainly is the Queen of yanderes o___o; I love her but she freaks me out a lot hahaha.
POWUH: 400-499 with 406 comments
OH GOD. My friend told me about Doubt. Sounds like the most horrific thing ever. -shivers- I die from too much horror D;
Also, MIRAI NIKKI. I love it so much OMG. The twists are so goodddd.
POWUH: 800-899 and Self-proclaimed Manga Queen with 874 comments
~If you were the person in the game, OH YEAH. But the manga is not so horrific to read XD
THE TWISTS, OMG. I think I almost cried in a lot of those twists |’D I’m always screaming, “WTF?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO” to my computer screen.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 107 comments
Blood? Horror? I’M IN! <3 <3
I've read Doubt, it's pretty interesting & scary, thought it's not the scariest manga I've ever read :p
Always want to read Mirai Nikki for quite a long time, but still can't bring myself to read it online or download it. Hope I can push myself after reading your review 🙂
Aphorism cover looks good enough for me, maybe I'll check it later 😀
POWUH: 800-899 and Self-proclaimed Manga Queen with 874 comments
~To me it was pretty scary because I was reading it while I was home alone |’D
YOU MUST PUSH YOURSELF TO READ MIRAI NIKKI. I can’t stress that enough now after reading almost all of it in one day x’D It’s really, REALLY good. I saw read Aphorism first since they’re are only a few chapters first, then Mirai Nikki because it does get addicting.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 107 comments
Just out of curiosity, may I know the scariest manga you ever read? 😀
POWUH: 800-899 and Self-proclaimed Manga Queen with 874 comments
~Hmmmm…that’s a toughie because I don’t really get super scared when I read manga, plus I’ve read so much manga in my life that I don’t really remember everything I’ve read |’D
There’s one manga that comes up in my mind, and that’s because it was so disturbing, it scared me internally and kept me from going back to the site I read it from for 2 days. It was called Jiatsu Circle. It’s not necessarily scary, but it’s pretty graphic and very disturbing. (IT’S EVEN A MOVIE…)
POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
*pass by*
*saw the word “Jisatsu Cirle”*
*shriek and faint*
it’s so gore!
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 107 comments
definitely going to check it! *noted Jiatsu Circle* xD
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 304 comments
Well, I just added some more stuff to my “plan-to-read” list. I love me some horror!
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
As Metanorn’s resident yandere, I approve of this post. Also, I’m SO GLAD the Mirai Nikki manga actually turned out good. Once I get off of these video game kick I will read these FOR SURE!
POWUH: Meta Resident and Yōko Fanboy with 1246 comments
OH!!! Now I know where I’ve heard Mirai Nikki from~~~ It was recently made into an anime xD One of the anime’s I turned down in the WINTER season LOLS! Well considering Hoshi really likes the manga, I guess it won’t hurt to watch it…
POWUH: Meta Resident and Yōko Fanboy with 1246 comments
I prioritize anime over manga… I’m sorry Hoshi ><"
If there is an anime of the manga then most likely I'll watch the anime unless it doesn't continue then I'll read the manga to continue the story further on.
POWUH: 800-899 and Self-proclaimed Manga Queen with 874 comments
~NOOOOOOOOOO don’t do it Tofu!!!
Didn’t you see mine and OC’s post about it?! It’s a TOTAL FAIL. I put the link to the post in my thoughts for the manga o___o
POWUH: Meta Resident and Yōko Fanboy with 1246 comments
oh right ahahahaha whoops ^^ yeah I kinda ignored that OVA post cause it didn’t concern me, but thanks for the tip and to be honest I’m a bit half dead cause it’s still early morning here (for me that is…) I’ll check out the manga
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Started reading it today! wow sure is a fun ride 😀 and very addictive 🙂
POWUH: 800-899 and Self-proclaimed Manga Queen with 874 comments
~Not highly, EXTREMELY ADDICTIVE XD
The ride gets better, trust me ;D
POWUH: iLurker with 2 comments
I’m a hardcore horror fan (to the point Peaple are scared of me) and I loved mirai Nikki. I started deathtopia what are your thoughts i(if you read it)