Freesia

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Imagine Vinland Saga reimagined for an adult audience, with all the gritty, brutal realism laid bare. But the cost of that rawness came at the expense of the art style, rough around the edges. Despite that, when it comes to character depth, especially the supporting cast, it stands head and shoulders above the series I’m comparing it to.

There’s just a similar vibe between the works, paradoxically enough.

I get that this title currently feels like a reflection of Russia — grim and oppressive. But even in this world, despite the brutal executions of those who falter, rebellion was possible. In a way, this dystopia might offer ... a future that’s still better than the one under Putin’s reign.

Freesia impressed me to hell and back from the moment I picked it up to when I put it down. It's perfectly paced with a stellar arc design, so it never felt too long or too short, and every step was gratifying to experience and finish. The protagonist, Hiroshi Kano, is one of the best examples of a (very) sincerely schizophrenic man. The way the author showcases him as a representation of "retaliatory killing" itself is already great, but he himself also has one of my favorite resolutions of any character in any manga ever. The supporting cast is viciously potent as well, whether they ... stay for the whole series or just one arc. I have nothing but high praises for this series and would recommend it to anybody familiar with seinen, but I wouldn't put it in the hands of a first-time seinen reader, admittedly.

If there IS something that I could pick out to bash on, it would be the art. It's messy and dark, in a literal way. Easily comparable to Dorohedoro. Most people don't have a problem with this, but I do know some folk that have to put a series down for a while from the eye strain. This would be one of those series, even if I think the art is near masterfully done for what it is regardless.

10/10 for a serious, thoughtful read. 4/10 for a casual read. Trying to go through this quickly or without paying too much attention will leave much of the literary elements to be lost on you, so even though the story beats will still be interesting and cool, you'll walk away disappointed. I highly advise you don't do those things.

What the hell am I supposed to think about it?

To give a brief intro, we're set in a slightly dystopian, realistic future world. The economy is horrible, crime is on the rise, technology stagnated, and jobs directed to killing people are commonplace. A government agency created a vengeance act that benefits our schizophrenic, master hitman protagonist, Kano, who now has a chance to get a job, and find a safe routine. I came in without a synopsis, but that's such a big mistake. Everything at the beginning is set inside a mentally ill individual that can't discern what the hell is happening around him.

We ... go about how he deals with his job, with his visions, and constant hallucinations. He's the most untrustworthy protagonist I've ever seen. Instead of the author hiding the story, it's just the protagonist not being able to grasp it himself. He fights the plot itself, in an attempt to control it, and organize what doesn't make any sense in this messed up world. After some time, just as the protagonist found a routine, the plot stabilizes, and we get some sort of understandable rhythm.

The story takes on the perspective of those that must be assassinated by the protagonist. We experience their lives, their troubles, their tribulations, and the death that comes with it. In the middle of all the edgy, and horrible concepts, there's this human feeling, to follow the ones that have a good heart, or those who truly regret their mistakes. The world comes smacking down, in the unrelenting power of a Kano who thinks nothing of death.

Bewilderment, strange, confused? I'm confused about being confused. By the end, the message was pretty clear, specially with that ending, but there's something that's not fitting. I've read many stories where the lesson was the lack thereof. Sometimes, life throws curveballs that mean nothing, that hurt people, and involve them in the worst things to ever be lived. But, this had all that, while still trying to convey a message. Something in the nothing, a bunch of violence, sexual assault, domestic violence, suicide, mental illness, throw in some dementia in there, PTSD. It's a cocktail of destruction, and the worst in humanity. The ones that deserve to die, will be the only ones to survive.

I guess, or more like, I hope, it's about the lies we tell ourselves. In this world of horrible acts, done to everybody, we mustn't invent a world where they don't happen. We have no friends, but that's not an excuse to pretend life has no meaning, or value. We should embrace the absurdity, the pain, loneliness and violence, and only then we can see the value in life. I think that's it, and I hope that's it.

Can't segue into the artistic aspects easily, so I'll just mention how good the art is. If there's something I loved was the brutal, sketchy art that perfectly captures this horrible world. Dark, ugly, disgusting at times. You can always feel the impact of fight scenes, on the damage done to people. There's a gimmick, where we don't see the reaction, right after people suffer damage, but we hover in the wound, while their faces remain calm, right before the suffering. It feels so… deliberate, that I have a hard time judging the rest.

This isn't an easy story to talk about. There's much I still have to think about, but it definitely wasn't entirely for me. I had a hard time reading, or engaging with the dialogue. The action scenes, and the main character using this strange allegory for predator vs. pray as a power against people. It felt exactly like what the mind of the protagonist was. A scrambled mess of emotions, bursting with a desire to understand the world around him, but ultimately failing to do so. He only managed to understand himself, and use it as a cautionary lesson, to himself.

8/10. Absolutely not for everybody. The things that happen in this manga are truly despicable, and loads will just not engage with the narrative style. I had to restart after the first few chapters. Still, there's a strange level of humanity here, and a strange lesson that draws you in. Give it a shot, but even I have a hard time calling it good, even if it is.