Aug 25, 2023
Right off the bat, I want to emphasize how incredible the art is. The mangaka has a very detailed and dynamic style that works great for horror. While their artwork does suffer a bit from "same face syndrome", the characters are distinguished enough that it does not have a significantly negative impact on the story. Their usage of panels and scenery is absolutely top-notch as well, with many 'transition' scenes reminding me of Murata's redraw of One Punch Man. The mangaka is not afraid to include graphic details (for better or worse) and each page is drawn with plenty of little details to notice.
Unfortunately, the
...
art is just about all the praise I have for this manga. The characters have interesting premises that are never fully developed. Early on, there's a contrasting dynamic established between the main characters Yuu, an optimistic hero-type character, and his younger brother Tora, a more pessimistic anti-hero-type character. While this dynamic is brought up every few chapters, it is never expanded upon, leaving the characters feeling very flat and static. The manga introduces a multitude of characters but they barely have any presence, with the most prominent examples coming to mind are the main character's numerous younger siblings. These characters tend to suffer one of two fates: they are neglected, left as little more than background characters; or they are killed off after a couple of chapters. Character deaths are not inherently a bad thing, and the mangaka certainly tries to use most of them to play up the drama and create some more worldbuilding. However, many of these deaths feel rushed - neither the characters 'nor us, the readers, are given time to process the deaths or the implications surrounding said character deaths.
All of this results in a beautifully drawn manga with a decent premise that is never fleshed out. The characters are not particularly appealing and the world is uninteresting. As I finished the final chapter, I was not compelled to take a moment and think about the series; it felt like another uneventful occurrence that you see and move on from. And frankly, it's rather unfortunate. The mangaka clearly has the artistic skills and their writing isn't terrible. I feel that if they had more time and support, Bougyaku no Kokekko could have been much more developed and become a solid B-rated horror.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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