Ore to Akuma no Blues

Do you like the Blues? Do you know who Robert Johnson, Clyde Barrow and The Devil are? Than you well love this manga.

Each chapter is named after a song by the blues legend, Robert Johnson. Why? Because this is his story....Sort of.This is the unreal story of his mysterious life.

You can read the back of the manga to now the story. Just check it out.

The mangaka/author is definitely knowledgeable when it comes to Robert Johnson and the myths surrounding him. But this is by no means a manga biography of Johnson. Given that there is very little verifiable information on the bluesman, the book takes a lot of liberties and, in my opinion, gets a bit far-fetched at times.
The book' depictions of 30's blues clubs and the like seem relatively authentic, and compared to a lot of other manga, the book has a very 'western' feel.
The artwork is one of the book's strong points, with a lot of attention of detail. Most is gritty-looking and fleshed out with lots of cross-hatching and doesn't seem a bit cartoony.

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It's after the civil war, the black people of America had been emancipated from their treatment as slaves, officially that is. But in the South, where this story takes place, racial discrimination is alive, healthy and well. RJ, an African-American farmer, has lived with his wife, sister and brother-in-law for years; living as a farmer never really suited him, his passion was for music: the Blues. But unfortunately, he couldn't play a tune to save his life. Well, until he heard about a myth...

Excellent, the story is excellent. Twists that will leave you reeling, characters with strong personalities and eye-candy illustrations: it was like watching a movie, an extremely good one that you will never find in a million years (human ones not dog ones).

The characters were mouthwatering-ly complex, their emotions were understandable and logical. There was no pointless waterworks happening, everything had a time and place, everything was just as it should be and I was at peace with the world as I read in blissful joy.

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