Forum - View topicDark Plots in Manga Land
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milcor1
 Posts: 337 |
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Here's an interesting article from Animefringe talking about dark plots in manga and they've chosen an EXCELLENT group of manga to derive examples from.
http://www.animefringe.com/magazine/2005/05/feature/06.php I would recommend ALL these mangas wholeheartedly (well... not so much Death Note  but it is still quite decent) to anyone who is remotely interested in manga or wants an incredible read that will keep you up all night. These mangas are like literature novels stamped onto the manga format. They are so good and I have read them all and can personally say I've been left breathless on each and every one of them except Death Note. You can't call yourself a manga fan until you've read at least one of them. All the mangas listed in the article except for Death Note are "seinen" mangas and thus usually go much much deeper and have a greater sense of purpose than shonen mangas. Alot of anime on manga fans are only used to seeing Shonen or Shoujo mangas come to North America but the true works of art from manga are usually from the higher age group manga magazines aimed at young adults such as Big Comic Spirits and Ikki. If You've read any of the mangas please comment and since 20th Century Boys, Monster, and Death Note will be coming here soon, all the more reason to give your opinion! Support great manga!
Monster: This manga is by Naoki Urasawa and volume 1 will be released this October by Viz. All I have to say is WOW, where did this come from? Before Monster Urasawa was drawing lighthearted sports mangas about girls learning Judo to try and make it to the olympics and tennis players trying to pay off their family debt. Comedic and slightly romantic with a simple plotline made them enjoyable but nothing really captivating. Then all of a sudden he created Monster, and his reputation in Japan since then has become legendary. I read the whole thing a second time a few days ago for the whole day and after reading something like Monster, you're just left buzzing afterwards. I was on such a high and all I could think about was Monster for the rest of the day. The intricately detailed plot that feels so close to true literature (after all, it has been licensed for a movie here by New Line) and the amount of wonderfuly varied characters that populate the manga. An 18 volume epic that slightly reminds me of the Harrison Ford movie "The Fugitive". If you've seen it you'll get a rough idea of what Monster is about, but it is also so much more. After reading it a second time, things became so much clearer and I could follow the story alot easier since reading it the first time can be a bit confusing (but just as good) with all the strings that tie together to form this epic of a story. Buy it when it comes out in October. You won't regret it. Just look at all the people in the anime forum clamoring about the anime version of Monster. They all love it, and you can see where it all originated from by reading the manga and experiencing everything as it was intended by Naoki Urasawa. 20th Century Boys: Another brilliant masterpiece by Naoki Urasawa and definitely in my top 10 of all time favorite mangas and many others too. He started this one after Monster and at 18 volumes so far, it's still going strong. If Monster's plot reminded me of a line, 20th Century Boys is more like a circle. Every event, every character, every detail serves a purpose that comes back later in the story. Reading 20th Century Boys you can tell this guy knows his stuff. Not once did I feel Urasawa was making this up as he goes along. The story spans a whole generation. We see the characters young, middle aged, and old and it helps the reader connect so much better with the characters while fleshing out it's incredibly epic story. I don't think I've ever been so captivated by a villian who's identity is never shown and goes by the name of "Friend". It starts off a little slow but once it gets rolling, it just builds and builds and never lets up. A true definition of the term "page-turner". It's such a shame that it's been delayed by Viz. This manga deserves all the critical acclaim it gets. It's been given numerous awards in Japan as well as Europe. Now it's time for North Americans to see what all the fuss is about. Once it comes out, please buy it! Ichi The Killer: My avatar is a character from Ichi The Killer by Hideo Yamamoto and the manga itself is truely out of this world. Probably the goriest and most gruesome manga I have ever read so far. More gut wrenching and stomach churning than Berserk. I admit I've probably skipped about 25% of all the pages in Ichi the Killer because I just couldn't handle all the gore, but that didn't stop me from appreciating this incredible psychological and bloody manga. While the violence and torture would make anyone wince, at its heart the story involves a bunch of guys that want to take over an apartment complex occupied by the Yakuza. So simple yet so amazing. I'm having a hard time now trying to describe all these incredible mangas at once but for Ichi the Killer it's the characters and the violence that drive this manga. The psychotic twins, kakihara the masochist, Jijii the old man on steroids, Ichi the sadist, and many other perfectly flawed characters that have a hard time communicating with each other except through violence. I don't know if this manga will ever be licensed as it would have to be shrinkwrapped three times over to protect people from getting nightmares but if you enjoyed the goryness of Berserk or just want another great manga, read it if you can get ahold of it. Homunculus: While Ichi The Killer was Hideo Yamamoto's first great manga series that got him a cult following, it is Homunculus (still running in Japan) that has catapulted him to the top of the sales charts anytime a new volume is released. In Homunculus the violence has been replaced by psychology but that really weird knack for things Yamamoto is known for is once again prominently displayed in Homunculus as well. Unlike Naoki Urasawa, Yamamoto's art is much more detailed and intricate which matches well with Homunculus as he gets to draw an incredible amount of zany stuff. The story basically revolves around a man who after going through a surgical procedure known as trepenation (it's real) that bores a hole in the person's head, he is able to view people as homunculi whenever he covers his left eye. Homunculus deals with rape, the human psyche, unconscious thoughts, dark pasts, and all that inner stuff that is the opposite of action but still oh so sweet. These mangas will open you up to a whole new level of sophistication and craft that the medium can accomplish. They've made me empty my wallets and kept me up days on end. I hope I don't have to say it again but.... buy them when they come out! Best $10 you'll ever spend. |
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darkhunter
 Posts: 2992 Location: Los Angelas |
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Even though I like Berserk a lot, I thought Ichii the killer was just disturbing and senseless. It seem like the mangaka went out of his way to make the most disturbing image to carry his plot, it becomes tasteless. But that's just me since I don't really enjoy explicited and detail rapes and then killed scene in my manga, female's hair getting pull off their scape or their tits getting slice off with blood squirting out like crazy.
But for those who enjoy these stuff like Battle Royale, they'll love Ichi the Killer. It will desensitize you for sure. On the other hand, 20th Century Boy and Monster are pretty good. Too bad Viz can't releaes 20th Centoy Boy soon, I would have prefer this over Monster. Last edited by darkhunter on Tue May 03, 2005 7:11 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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v1cious
 Posts: 6241 Location: Houston, TX |
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oh man, Homunculus is freaking bizarre. i'd highly recommend reading it if you get the chance.
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cboudreau
 Posts: 69 Location: Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada |
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I recognize each of these titles, but I can't say I've read any of them. I am, however, going to check out Monster and 20th Century Boys because I've heard such great things about them.
Though I read a lot of manga and comics, my personal tastes run toward complex, character driven plots that are marketed toward a mature audience. |
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Nimbus
Posts: 37 |
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[post deleted]
Last edited by Nimbus on Mon Jun 20, 2005 5:53 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Kagemusha
 Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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I'd argue that Berserk uses violence and sex far more senslessly than Ichi. Yes, the twins' character development didn't lead anywhere and was unessisary, and what the narrative became convoluted in the middle, but everything came together at the end. Yamamoto managed to explore the characters phycologically in facinating ways, and made his commentary on modern society that was clear yet left the right amount to the imagination. Sure it's content is atrocious, but the fact that there's more substance behind Ichi than almost anything being published here today makes it a masterpiece. Berserk may not go as over-the-top as Ichi, but most of the time it's rape scenes have little purpose behind them (excluding a few examples). Not to say Berserk is just sensless violence and sex, which it certainly is not, just that it generally has less purpose behind its graphic content and most of the substance lies within the characters and story.
I also enjoy manga like this, but there really aren't too many things like this being published in English (heck, I find most comics that are advertised like this don't live up to the description like Fables or Y the Last Man). Often they just resort to needless violence and sex with no real substance behind them. Domu is probobly the most finely crafted "dark plot" that I've read in English, with Akira also deserving mention (its more of an epic though). Uzumaki is of cours a classic horror manga, as well as the underappriciated Orochi: Blood. Blue Spring is a more recent example of a story that doesn't have to use excessive violence and sex to create a dark message. As a whole I really haven't found too many mangas that can convey dark ideas as well as film, but then again I have yet to read alot of Japanese manga that hasn't been translated. In any case I don't think that something needs to dark or overly mature to be thought provoking, as light-hearted things like Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou and Oh My Goddess! are more well crafted and substancial than most manga, dark plot or not. But thanks for the great article. I would disagree with 20th Century Boys though, as the plot isn't overwhelmingly dark. |
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SnowfairyX
 Posts: 438 |
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You can't handle the gore in Ichi the Killer? Is it really that bad? Have you ever watched any violent and gory movies? I own the live-action movie of Ichi the Killer on dvd and found it to be quite enjoyable. There were a couple of gruesome and somewhat offensive scenes that shocked me, but I never averted my eyes from those scenes. Because I enjoyed the movie so much, I would also collect the manga if it came out in the U.S. |
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milcor1
Posts: 337 |
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Yea I don't watch horror movies and I'm a sissy when it comes to blood. Ok? Good
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Kagemusha
Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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I also really don't like horror films, but for a diffrent reason: they rarely scare me, and without the scare factor, I'm left with a (usually) moronic plot and poor acting. Even the recent and much praised 28 Days Later did little to excite me. There are a couple of ones that I love (The Shining, the original Dawn of the Dead), but as a whole I don't get the genre. But on the subject of Yamamoto, one of his older works was released here by Viz back when PULP was still up and running. Called Voyeurs, Inc., it's a look into the seedy world of proffesional vouryism . Like his other works, Voyeurs, Inc. presents a very depraved and perverted take on modern Japanese society, though much less extreme as Ichi or Homunculus. It isn't as good as either series, and I'm sure many with be turned off by its excessive weirdness, but it's worth a look if you can manage to find it. In any case, all of the old PULP line is worth a shot. There are some great series with very dark overtones (Banana Fish, Benkei in New York and Strain, as well as Black and White to a degree), as well as some good works of black humor (Junko Mizuno and Bakune Young). |
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