Kara no Kioku

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Two words. Fight Song.

Since discovering that song, plus looking into the artist. That's how I became interested in this, and honestly.. It's my first foray into manga, and in my genuine opinion. I'd say if you're new to manga, or like the vibe set up by Jujutsu Kaisen, and looking for a good time sink (Vet Manga readers might say otherwise, this is my thought.) check this one out. Currently 10 chapters into it, and its been a ride thus far. The characters are set up to your typical 'slice of life' cast, but with the twist it gives, it breaths a bit of ... fresh air into the genre, least in my experience. The world has me gripped, and I'm going to follow this one until it finishes! Genuinely hope this one gets an anime adaptation! It needs to be brought to life by someone.

Hope this continues at the pace it's going. Because if it does, I am hooked all the way.

The story of Kara no Kioku is written by the singer Eve. Many of the characters come from his music videos, so if you are familiar with those, it is a delight to read. I really do like this manga, but it's not perfect by far, so I have both negative and positive things to say about it. We'll get the bad things out of the way first so we can focus on the good!

It is obvious that this manga was made specifically so the fans begging Eve to make an anime could have something to satisfy them. This isn't a ... bad thing, but shoving as many music video characters in and then immediately forgetting about them is confusing. There are also pacing and plot problems, which I'm assuming exist because Eve--bless his heart--is not a writer. However, the story is still enjoyable and I do look forward to each chapter. What I dislike is waiting a month (maybe two) for a chapter that is sixteen pages, and for very little plot progression to occur.

Okay, I think I have all the criticism out of my system. What I love most are the characters. All of them are dynamic and lovable. Rei is quiet and anxious (relatable), and Tobi is the cool, powerful, and mysterious one you can't help crushing on. The art is good and lends sort of gritty quality to the dark story. The story is legitimately exciting and has me wondering what will happen next.

Overall, it's a fun story that I would recommend but it's tainted by the fact that I know this story could have be done better by someone with more writing experience.

Spoilers! I've been a big fan of Eve's work from his video and now his manga. I watch a lot of the videos but the first one I watched was How to Eat Life. After understanding some of the videos and the Zingai from his videos it really amazed me when I finished chapter 16 called How to Eat Life in the manga. This is only a theory though, but subtle meanings of eating a life probably talk about the emotions he goes through. I think before he really trusted his heart form he feels like he was becoming a shadow himself. However, because he ... hunts shadows as an exorcist he probably ironically has never dealt with his own problems and emotions.

I now have two questions after reading the manga. One is who is Hitosume's host and two is what is Hitosumes power. I think the host is Bun-chan from Literary Nonsense makes more sense so far than any other characters. It seems like Hitosumes power can unlock something in people or influence them in a good way. Maybe he can make one's own Zingai unlock a transformation like shown here in the manga. Hitosume seems like a wise sage character that guides some of the characters in Eve's stories, so this power might make sense for Tobi hunting down Hitosume, so he can fix Tobi's problem of never being taught how to use a fork (or otherwise means that he was never told how to process his own emotions). I've been thinking about a different possible host like Kurukuru. However, he as a host feels like a loose assumption and it can be reasonably not Kurukuru as he literally suffers from his thought that people hate him and that he'll die if anyone tries to rip his mask off.