Helter Skelter
Helter Skelter: Fashion Unfriendly

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Helter Skelter is a nice exploration into the world of fashion, highlighting of course the more problematic and darker aspects....

Story: A sort of case study sort of feeling as we witness the flourishing and ruining of our MC in the eyes of herself and world, the story is very strong. The ending however in my view was not absolutely necessary, it could have ended without it and been much better (the Mexico portion), or done in a way that portrayed this particular character more colorfully. 8.

Art: Considering the story, one would expect some stunning visuals. H.S fulfills this decently. However, I would have wanted ... some more detailed images of closeups. One common complaint with this manga is how "rough" or "minimalistic" the art style is. While it is partly annoying sometimes its not something that will hurt it. 7

Characters: Especially for the MC, emotions are strong, passionate and despondent, mixing well with what goes on in the story. The MC's monologues particularly are all very well done. The main characters that appear have important parts to play and are fleshed out reasonably. 8

Enjoyment: I recommend it, it's only 1 volume. 8

Overall: 8

Helter Skelter – Spoiler Free – Mixed Feelings

TLDR
Story – 5/10 – 5 x 0.275 = 1,375
Art – 4/10 – 4 x 0.2 = 0,8
Characters – 4/10 – 4 x 0.225 = 0,9
Enjoyment – 3/10 – 3 x 0.3 = 0,9
Total: 3,975

Story – 5/10
Helter Skelter is a manga mainly about the fashion scene seen through the eyes of a model – Liliko. It witnesses the main character’s creation and downfall in fashion. It is a grim depiction of an almost inhuman world filled with the tears of those who suffer in it, affecting both personal and professional lives. In this sense, the beginning of the ... manga excels in showing this very reality, but it is then later relegated to a mere secondary position, only to reemerge in the latter stages of the story. The story is stark and raw, allowing the protagonist's despair to be felt throughout the manga. It is also a saddening story about how some fashion models are almost artificially created, condemning those who go through such processes. This is a one-volume manga, having thus fulfilled its purpose as it is, but one cannot say that it is a great and entertaining story. Moreover, aside from the critique of the fashion world, it is bland and uninteresting, with many unnecessary dialogues and interactions.
The “Mexican” ending could have been different and was mostly unnecessary, not helping to convey the story's meaning or objective.

Art – 4/10
The art is the manga's weakest point. The very minimalistic art style does not help in the storytelling in general, being quite confusing in some panels. It goes without saying that such an art style is anything but a good service to the manga, although its unique allure may entice some. One can also hardly recognise characters from one another, having a bland character design.

Characters – 4/10
There are some strong reactions and emotions in the manga, but aside from Liliko the characters are bland and uninteresting. They don't add anything to the story, they don't play a role, and aren't well-developed.

Enjoyment – 3/10
One cannot give Helter Skelter's enjoyment a high rating. Even though it is a one-volume manga, one wonders when it will end while reading the work, which is not a good symptom for a story: wanting it to end quickly. Moreover, most characters are uninteresting. They don't add value, and their interactions don't create anything worth mentioning. One can almost say that this manga is filler in the form of dialogue. However, it clearly shows the suffering of all those who dwell in such a world; for this reason, Mixed Feeling is more adequate.

The most salient aspect of this manga is its strong moral. Superficial materiality and obsession over physical appearance is self-destructive; the perfect beauty is an illusion.

I think anyone would enjoy this manga, but I feel like its moral is especially important for young women to hear and for that reason I think its demographic would be women aged 13 - 25.

I feel like this was a manga full of good ideas, but was a little half-baked. Essentially, it feels like a solid first draft for a would-be great manga. The plot points are all there, it's just its execution that leaves something to ... be desired.

The art wasn't the best. The art on the cover is amazing, but that doesn't match the art on the inside, which comes off as a little crude dilettante. It reminds me of the art used in comic books meant for very young girls. Although, the art is also encouraging in the sense that it inspiring to know that if this artwork could be published then perhaps so could one's own. Albeit, it was refreshing to see a different art style in manga, even if it wasn't my favourite.

One of my biggest issues with the manga is that it explains plot points instead of just showing them, which nerfs the impact. For example, instead of showing a person getting shot in the head - which would be such an interesting plot twist - the narrator writes in a paragraph that a character was shot in the head, thus weakening the impact of the surprise.