Change the World: Kyou kara Satsujinki
Change the World: Bloodthirsty Killer from Today

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The story about a suicidal, bottom of the barrel, net-cafe dueler with nothing to lose; finding the will to live, and the very knowledge, that it can really get much worse.

"Change the World" is a fantastic manga. The idea of a simple concept seems so fresh, so big in possibilities, and put to ink with such finesse. Yuichi, meaning "One of a kind" or "To be Unique"; is one of my favorite protagonists in a while. A person who self describes himself as one of the worst kinds of people on earth, landing in the opposite position without it being sunshine and rainbows. While the ... premise sounds great, it's not just about changing bodies with the aforementioned serial killer, but about a man actually finding the true meaning to his name.

As a story, it works extremely well. It doesn't waste any time on anything other than telling the story without filler or tangents. 25 chapters, that's all it needed to tell a compelling narrative, not a chapter longer or shorter, and as such it feels like a compact little dish, with every flavor perfectly balanced. So many tense moments of the panic that comes with the premise, with the police, with the characters being inches far from death or an impossible situation. Mostly, I love the logical ways characters get out of situations, or how if it isn't too logical, it's explained with something relating to the backstory. Obscuring, giving new details as the main character obtains them, with others given by other perspectives. The reader is given just enough information to feel smart when piecing everything together; given fun with the characters and building interactions, as well as a dialogue style akin to a film, not just a manga.

Characters are one of my favorite aspects. A band of misfits, some mentally damaged, others highly corrupt as allies, and a small girl with so much character and enjoyable moments that make this feel like a dysfunctional family manga for a bit. Murderers, bandits, geniuses, serial killers, police, and some special people, make this an explosive, constant fight to the death that never lets up, and engages us to every character, even the villains. The comedy of the story too, a stand-out in such a dark tale, I loved everybody here. No character was wasted.

There's little that actually detracts from this story. For example, the art works excellently, conveying a stylized emotion aspect with the quality it needs for each time it tries to. Comedy moments stand out, as well as the most serious moments use shadows and horrid, abstract expressions to convey the fear and mental pain characters go through. The fight scenes were so well put together, with easy to follow movements and beautiful spreads that show the most impactful and gory moments. Every page was enjoyable, even when it was just talking, since there was a new expression, a new detail.

I loved the series, and I encourage anybody to read it completely. Usually you can tell if you won't like it at the beginning since it's a high stress, balls to the wall action, gory thriller with intense moments and emotion that doesn't let you go. 2 or 3 chapters is enough to know, but for me, I found what's almost a masterpiece. If it wasn't for some stupid copouts that angered me so much to the point of stopping to read for a total of 5 minutes, it could be a 10/10. It's not even that they're badly written, they simply could've done better at making those scenes.

9.3/10, a must-see, and my god what a gem.

*Non-spoiler review*

Now HERE is an amazing experience that had me laughing, crying, worried, happy, excited, anxious.... and so much more. I can't believe this masterpiece fell into my lap. Holy hell, by the end I'm just stunned. Absolutely entertaining!

Story & Characters - The main point of this story IS the characters. The self, who they are, what is happening. Change the World is a fantastic work of art of storytelling from different points of life and how people collide (literally and figuratively). Without going into too much detail, I found the characters to be absolutely enthralling and enchanting. Kanzaki brought to life all of these ... different types of personalities without failing to keep their unique (heh) identity. All the way to the end the character development and story pacing was perfect for me. Absolute delight.

Art & Style - One point that is really sticking with me is the flawless aptitude for expressing emotions and the most INSANE character changes through careful art. Change the World's art style and execution is one of the most perfectly designed pieces I've seen in manga, and it helps with a story that is this crazy to begin with. No other art style would have fit this absurd and twisted story.

Overall, I have this at a 10. I sat for a bit to think if there are ways it could have been made better or why this WOULDN'T be a masterpiece in my eyes, but I am failing. This was such a thrilling and enchanting experience I wanted to cry and smoke a cigarette at the same time. (Jokes aside, please don't smoke.)

Happy reading!

Plot:
Yuichi is miserable. He has no proper job, friends, partner or ambition of any kind. Everyone is constantly disappointed in him. Fed up with this world, he decides to kill himself. He goes to what seems to be an abandoned mansion to hang himself, when he notices a gun on the floor. He picks it up when he realizes that somebody - a man - appeared, also holding a gun - and pointing it at him. Both confused, they shoot at each other. In this moment, the two bullets melted into each other, causing the two men to switch bodies.
When Yuichi wakes up, he ... can’t believe his luck. He is now handsome, an elite detective who is popular with women, has a lot of money…his luck finally changed. Or so it seems…


This Manga…is a lot of fun. I don’t want to give away too much of the plot (although you can guess it by the title) Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of violence, blood and graphic scenes (not the worst I’ve seen but just putting it out there) and it deals with a lot of sombre subjects such as depression, suicide, loneliness etc., but manages to make these things, well, kind of fun, or enjoyable to read, at least. That’s what I really like about it. It shows how absurd human beings can sometimes be, even when faced with a death threat or unusually dangerous situations. The art is also beautiful.

In a sense, this story is about finding yourself, finding meaning in your own existence. If you like entertaining stories about such topics, I’d really recommend this manga. Yes, it might not be the most original story, but the execution is just so entertaining and highly enjoyable.

Currently, there are three volumes out, the fourth coming out in a week. So far, I don’t think they have been translated into English. Which is probably why nobody has reviewed this so far (I hope it’s just because of that and not because people don’t like it…)

So if you know Japanese, you can get it at Bookwalker or simply buy the physical copies.