Nov 28, 2023
One word, UNHINGED. I'm still kind of haunted by that one really unnecessarily graphic r*pe scene because the visuals were all pretty tame since the first manga and then suddenly this one panel comes out of nowhere to give us all depression. I don't even know where to start because there's just so much to unpack. Honestly, I didn't have high expectations for this manga because I felt like the premise was getting a bit boring and repetitive at this point. But after reading it, I was pleasantly surprised.
In the beginning, I was severely disappointed that Nishina wasn't the protagonist, she wasn't even part of
...
the story at all. I was really anticipating her next game to see how much she's changed, so I instantly disliked the new protagonist, Ayaka. She starts off as an airhead, but that impression quickly changes after the first few chapters as we learn just how unhinged she is. While we do get to know the identity of some of the werewolves from the very start, they spiced up the game structure just enough to still have so much mystery in the story.
This manga kind of goes completely off the rails in comparison to the first two and I think it worked. The first manga focused on the villagers so the identity of the werewolves and the fact that they'd played the game before were unknown. The second manga was from the view of the werewolves so it was really a guessing game about the roles of the residents instead. For Crazy Fox, everything is a bit misleading because we know who some of the wolves are (some not all, this tidbit plays a crucial role in the climax) and that Ayaka is the fox. Aside from the fox, there's also the prophet, the bodyguard, and a new role which is the spiritualist. All these new changes, along with so many experienced players in one game, made the whole thing so goddamn chaotic. Not to mention, we follow the story from the view of Ayaka most of the time and as you get to know her, you realize it's hard to trust anything she says/does/or even thinks because of how unstable she is. Ayaka was basically a wild card character that threw everyone off (both the characters and me as a reader). It was interesting to see how every scheme and tactic was rendered useless by the fact that Ayaka just does not think logically and that her actions are driven by her delusional whims.
What I appreciated the most about this manga in comparison to the first two is that this one probably showed us the most creativity in terms of how to play the game. Maybe because the characters this time had more shared history amongst each other, but the relationships were just so much more complex and in-depth. There wasn't even any grudge aspect but their dynamics were so convoluted and twisted that I could never really tell what they'd do and who they were working with. Overall, I'd say that despite the underwhelming premise, each manga of the series was executed uniquely enough to make each one interesting and entertaining in its own way. Definitely worth while because all three mangas would take less than a day to binge-read.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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