Kore ga Geijutsu

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Warning: this manga contains depictions of sexual violence, mutilations, psychological abuse and some of the most disturbing paraphilias one could think of.
Despite of the above I rated this manga a 10/10 and I usually will not rate pornographic manga this high if it doesn't contain an additional element which could make it worthy of being discussed. You will ask "ok, so what makes this manga more than just a very disgusting porno?"

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Jun Hayami creates a very "emotional" form of eroguro: all of his stories are extremely psychological; the entire focus is the mental states of the characters during the performances of their depravations: going ... from humilliation fetish to r*pe-m*urder. He suggests that this depraved side of human is a result of obssessions, isolation, trauma and of the very mysterious human body that, in some cases, will associate pain and humilliation with pleasure. But there's no excusing, though, no romatizantion; on the contrary: the focus on the majority of this stories is not on the helpless victim of a faceless abuser, no, the focus is in how pathetic and depressing is to reach such ends of mental degradation that one may yearn to do unspeakable deeds. These are not Suehiro Maruo's stories in which beautiful teenagers located in extravagant lands -or in past times- show us the world of unknown but weirdly attractive pleasures; here we see total freaks who desire the destruction of others, of themselves and of the social world at large as a result of their feelings of loneliness, insufficiency and resentment. One would feel pity for them if they weren't at best disgusting and at worst, evil.
Surprisingly, men are sometimes the ones being abused (and abusing their own bodies) in these stories. This fact makes this collection more fascinating than anything the disgusting Uziga Waita could ever put out. "This is art" is not a simple masturbatory work about an artist's fetishes but a reflexion on them. (There is a suggestion that part of this is autobiographical). It's more about the soul than about the body.
If you thought that eroguro artists were just a bunch of nutcases who fantasize on destroying the bodies of women and girls and using them as objects, Jun Hayami might make you think twice.
The art itself is strange: Hayami is clearly a competent illustrator who's alright at storytelling but his characters may feel a bit stiff at times in their movement and their design is quite samey. Nonetheless he manages to convey the abject mentality of his characters quite well through facial expressions, these wretches do feel alive. And the overall style suits the terrorific content even if it's not that technically impressive.
Yes, the subject matter is vomitive, the characters are all criminals but the author shows an odd depth in his writing and characterization that has made me reread this manga out of fascination.

Recommended to anyone interested in eroguro. Not recommended to anyone under 18 or anyone sensitive to this sort of content.