Ibitsu

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Story - I didn't know what to expect originally. I've read most of the Higurashi mangas and I've read Elfen Lied (and seen both the animes). I didn't think that anything I read would be much worse than these two... How naiive of me... When I started reading this I was alone in my room, in the dark and I had to sit downstairs in the company of others to finish reading it. I almost expect to see the lolita standing outside my door right now...
Anyway, the story was very well done with a couple of interesting twist. Creepy too!

Art - As others have said, ... the art fit the manga perfectly. Especially the drawing of the creepy lolita with her empty eyes, bruised skin and her dirty clothing. All the horror sections were drawn very well.

Character - And I thought Rena and Lucy were insane, the development of the lolita is amazing. She is creepy and obsessive to no end. You really feel for the other characters that have to come across her.

Enjoyment - Enjoyment... Well, I read it in a couple of hours. I couldn't put it down and it creeped the hell out of me!

Overall - If you love horror manga, you will love this!

Story:
Hated the first chapter, thought the third was pretty provocative, enjoyed the manga as a whole. It's not a very complex narrative and certain things happen just to be spooky but a few other scenes are actually quite petrifying. The whole thing feels like a classic slasher film where the villain is mysterious and far more than anyone in the narrative can expect.

I only had some issues with exploitation. Now, granted, I'm a fan of horror so I've seen my fair share of gore exploitation where things are done far more than needed for the sake of exciting the audience. To me, I don't enjoy ... watching people suffer, but I do enjoy mystery and metaphors. Horror can do those both real well, and this one does a pretty good mystery but doesn't pursue metaphor all that much. So, to balance out the lack of metaphor, we're embraced with a lot of showy horrors. I didn't mind it too much, and that wasn't all that bothersome to me. The real problem comes into some of the exploitative artwork.

I'll get into more detail when I discuss the artwork but, basically, there are panels that don't exactly respect the women in the narrative. I'm not getting all SJW here, but comparing this to the genre that it is. The horror that puts emphasis on placing panels where we can see panties for no reason, or change the size of female breasts makes me wonder just how intelligent the horror is that I'm reading. And, the further you read, the less intelligent it seems since certain things happen just to be spooky, as mentioned before.

All of this means that the horror isn't really anything other than exploiting the horror of death without bringing anything to the table. It's not asking anything of you as a viewer, it's just putting you on the edge of your seat as a character runs and hides from certain death. Is this bad? Not necessarily, but it makes the narrative 'less healthy' in a sense. I'm left wondering whether I gained anything from watching someone die. Horror doesn't need heroes, but it needs satisfaction, and I don't find joy or satisfaction in seeing people terrified.

So, why the 7/10 for the story rating and not, say, a 5 or 6? Because the horror elements are quite good. There are scenes that are really quite terrifying and you can't help but root for the hero to escape before it's too late. Then there are points where laws are set about how to potentially combat the villain, or deter it, and you get the see how that works. Also, the mystery is a little boring and unoriginal at first but then you get to the end and the twist is quite satisfying. It all comes together quite nicely.

But, part of the reason everything fits is cause this is filled with the usual tropes. The villain is a girl, but also she's dressed in loli clothes. She looks so innocent, doesn't she? Wow, how could she be evil? Well, she is! Watch out! And, the fact certain characters are so stupid or that a certain venue in the second volume is so stereotypical for this kind of horror, it's not unbelievable to think this "Just works!" (Todd Howard voice.) However, it doesn't mean there isn't room for some improvement, but that's neither here nor there.


Art:
The art here is pretty bad. Some artists think horror means drawing everything like it's a sketch, defying the understood boundaries of the 2-dimensional world, but in reality, it just means it's even harder to tell what the hell is going on. Couldn't stand the artwork half the time, and I felt the protagonist's design was very weak.

I mentioned briefly the compromising female treatment in the story and there really is no reason for it. Some might say it's the artist's 'style,' others might call me out for being prudish, but none of that changes how stupid it all is. I mean, seriously, I'm supposed to be terrified by what's going on and you throw an ass in front of me? That's so stupid. It just means when a character loses their shirt because the villain tears it off, I can't help but wonder if that's supposed to be part of the horror in that the character is now losing the most basic form of physical defence (clothing) or you just wanted to show me a nipple. I don't get it. It just doesn't make sense.


Character:
Another poor rating, this time due to weak characterization. It doesn't really matter who the horror is affecting. All that matters is that it's happening. I can't even get into detail here or say who was what. Their names aren't even used enough to mean anything, and everyone looks the same except one wears glasses? Anyways, just bad character design paired with weak characters to begin with. Just a mess.


Enjoyment:
I don't know, it was hard to start but since it was 2 volumes I figured I'd commit. It was worth it in the end, and I found myself praising certain qualities when I talked about it to my fiancee on Discord. I've even recommended it to my friend who loves horror solely because it has such a classic feel to it. I think that's what kept this so enjoyable, the aesthetic of it all felt so 70's horror where a bunch of nobody teenagers just get screwed by circumstance. Things could have been better, no doubt, like stronger characters and less exploitation, but I'm not asking for the world when I look for horror, I'm really just lookin' for some spookin'.


((If you liked this review, check out my other reviews by going to my profile and clicking the 'reviews' tab. I review virtually all anime and manga I find!))

In short, utterly terrible. A thankfully short, z-grade foray into old and tired horror movie cliches that almost look laughably bad with the shonen style art. I would say I really enjoy horror and thriller themed seinen stuff, but more in the vein of episodic, large, almost adventurous tales: bio-meat, cage of eden, kamisama no iutoori and higanjima are all great example of horror seinen done right for me (to varying degrees.) With Ibitsu, all I got was a blah little serial killer story full of dumb plot holes and a twist that I saw coming miles away. The way they kill off characters is ... so predictable- part of the appeal of many gritty seinen manga to me is the unexpectedness or abruptness with which people meet their ends, even if you know its probably coming. None of that was here. There is no serious resolution here and it simply leaves you where it began, making invalid and useless everything that built up to it- this is true of so many slasher films nowadays. Whats even worse is how derivative of these slashers its truly is as every famous cliche is present: shadows darting forward and friends disappearing, a wacked out backstory involving psychiatric treatment, the old "hold the main character hostage and punish him out of love" routine, and body-switching themes. The characters themselves were the final nails in the coffin - vapid character archetypes with no depth at all. The serial killer and the main character was so typical, so boring,and so unlikable it was just lame. I did not find myself rooting for the hero to escape or on the edge of my seat for what would happen, because it became so tepidly clear what was going to happen. Skip it and watch a classic horror movie instead, same thing but way more entertaining.