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juushikaThe first of these is from, uh, May, and that's okay, that's legal. The others are from late-spooky-season horror reading: manga edition.
Title: My Capricorn Friend / Yagiza no Yuujin
Author: Otsuichi
Illustrator: Masaru Miyokawa
Published: 2014-2015
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 225
Total Page Count: 390,950
Text Number: 1467
Read Because: fan of the author
Review: When the school bully is murdered, our protagonist makes an impulse decision to flee with the primary suspect. This is delightfully Otsuichi: supernatural set dressing for a clue-driven murder mystery with a strong psychological bent. I noticed it also in Summer, Fireworks and My Corpse, but I've come to adore how Otsuichi handles daily minutiae—how heavy subject matter and suspense functions set against the charming banality of, frex, overnighting at a manga café. This isn't his most memorable, but Otsuichi never disappoints me and this is no exception. The art is solid—consistent, emotive, well suited to the tone.
Title: Happy Sugar Life
Author: Tomiyaki Kagisora
Published: Square Enix, 2015-2019
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 1905 (199+194+171+204+194+189+177+193+185+199)
Total Page Count: 411,515
Text Number: 1537-47
Read Because: reading horror manga, found on a rando list of horror manga
Review: Sato used to breeze through life, until she fell in love—a love she must keep secret and safe at any cost. I say this in every review of manga I read in my 30s, but: tone it back, tone it back just a little bit and it'll be even better. Particularly, fewer batshit-obsessive characters would make the protagonist's batshit-obsessive love even more striking, more chilling. Nonetheless, anime-ness and all (and it's very anime, given how loli and moe are used), I really liked this. It has a delicious premise and completely fulfills it: the idealized, toxic, unsustainable fantasy of dedicating everything to one love. Even better, the relationship is dynamic; that development in the lead-up to the climax is A+. There's also some engaging potential in the supporting characters (again, despite how extra everything is) and, a pleasant surprise, I buy the ending.
Title: Corpse Party: Blood Covered
Author: Makoto Kedouin
Illustrator: Toshimi Shinomiya
Published: 2008-2012
Rating: 2.5 of 5
Page Count: 1825 (368+352+352+352+400)
Total Page Count: 415,645
Text Number: 1559-68
Read Because: fan of the games
Review: Absolutely this isn't the best way to approach the Corpse Party franchise, and I don't know how to review it for newcomers beyond "nah, check out the game(s)." But as a way to revisit the story: interesting. Not entirely successful, but interesting.
This is often faithful, but not all of it translates. I love the room-by-room realization of the school in the early chapters, but that can't be sustained. The original plot, and the way it weaves in canon routes and bad ends, is significantly more interesting, but I like the manga's route in addition to those—another thread in the tapestry. The gore is good but the ghosts are so, so boring—I don't like how they're stylized. Some character moments are phenomenal: I am foremost Morishige trash and his scenes are all perfect, thank you, it's much appreciated. But the way that bodies are handled, that line where fanservice meets the embarrassing vulnerability of the flesh which persists no matter how outlandish the circumstances, a line so well tread in the first game in particular, is just awful here—it's all fanserivce all the way down, just embarrassing.
I have no regrets about reading this. I love the games, and this was a fun, easy way to revisit them that enriched my larger thoughts on the series. But at best it's only okay.
Title: My Capricorn Friend / Yagiza no Yuujin
Author: Otsuichi
Illustrator: Masaru Miyokawa
Published: 2014-2015
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 225
Total Page Count: 390,950
Text Number: 1467
Read Because: fan of the author
Review: When the school bully is murdered, our protagonist makes an impulse decision to flee with the primary suspect. This is delightfully Otsuichi: supernatural set dressing for a clue-driven murder mystery with a strong psychological bent. I noticed it also in Summer, Fireworks and My Corpse, but I've come to adore how Otsuichi handles daily minutiae—how heavy subject matter and suspense functions set against the charming banality of, frex, overnighting at a manga café. This isn't his most memorable, but Otsuichi never disappoints me and this is no exception. The art is solid—consistent, emotive, well suited to the tone.
Title: Happy Sugar Life
Author: Tomiyaki Kagisora
Published: Square Enix, 2015-2019
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 1905 (199+194+171+204+194+189+177+193+185+199)
Total Page Count: 411,515
Text Number: 1537-47
Read Because: reading horror manga, found on a rando list of horror manga
Review: Sato used to breeze through life, until she fell in love—a love she must keep secret and safe at any cost. I say this in every review of manga I read in my 30s, but: tone it back, tone it back just a little bit and it'll be even better. Particularly, fewer batshit-obsessive characters would make the protagonist's batshit-obsessive love even more striking, more chilling. Nonetheless, anime-ness and all (and it's very anime, given how loli and moe are used), I really liked this. It has a delicious premise and completely fulfills it: the idealized, toxic, unsustainable fantasy of dedicating everything to one love. Even better, the relationship is dynamic; that development in the lead-up to the climax is A+. There's also some engaging potential in the supporting characters (again, despite how extra everything is) and, a pleasant surprise, I buy the ending.
Title: Corpse Party: Blood Covered
Author: Makoto Kedouin
Illustrator: Toshimi Shinomiya
Published: 2008-2012
Rating: 2.5 of 5
Page Count: 1825 (368+352+352+352+400)
Total Page Count: 415,645
Text Number: 1559-68
Read Because: fan of the games
Review: Absolutely this isn't the best way to approach the Corpse Party franchise, and I don't know how to review it for newcomers beyond "nah, check out the game(s)." But as a way to revisit the story: interesting. Not entirely successful, but interesting.
This is often faithful, but not all of it translates. I love the room-by-room realization of the school in the early chapters, but that can't be sustained. The original plot, and the way it weaves in canon routes and bad ends, is significantly more interesting, but I like the manga's route in addition to those—another thread in the tapestry. The gore is good but the ghosts are so, so boring—I don't like how they're stylized. Some character moments are phenomenal: I am foremost Morishige trash and his scenes are all perfect, thank you, it's much appreciated. But the way that bodies are handled, that line where fanservice meets the embarrassing vulnerability of the flesh which persists no matter how outlandish the circumstances, a line so well tread in the first game in particular, is just awful here—it's all fanserivce all the way down, just embarrassing.
I have no regrets about reading this. I love the games, and this was a fun, easy way to revisit them that enriched my larger thoughts on the series. But at best it's only okay.
