Jisatsu Circle

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

RED Dizziness
by radiantfire

Context:
For this review, I'll be analysing Jisatsu Circle by Usamaru Furuya. The concept of the series comes from a movie bearing the same title. While not a direct adaptation, it nonetheless comprises of the same elements: troubled children and suicide.

Story:
The suicidal dive of 54 schoolgirls at Shinjuku station is one of the most memorable opening sequences in any manga I have read. Gruesome and deeply biting, the opening jump alone sets what is profoundly a scary commentary on the state of Japanese contemporary society. It is on this note that Jisatsu Circle introduces one of the most disturbing stories I have ever experienced.

... Art:
The horror theme of the manga is heavily accentuated by the art. Characters are drawn pragmatically, bodies are realistically ripped apart, and moods and emotions are easily conveyed through facial expressions. The odd styling of Furuya gives the series a strong grotesque frame of reference.

Character:
Saya is demented. All the girls in the club are demented. They mentally and physically break themselves down in order to gain a sense of happiness which is found, scarily enough, in their deaths. They are, in all sagacity, the fundamental source of horror in the series. Through them, Furuya highlights the importance and the profound fragility of life.

Enjoyment:
The series brought me a strange kind of experience. Although I was intensely engrossed by the story, I strongly felt a sensation of fragility. In all honesty, I have not read anything like it before. It brought me, what can be best described as, a bitter-sweet enjoyment.

Conclusion
Jisatsu Circle provides a terrifying and disturbing volume on Japanese contemporary society. It leaves us to question the very state of their world but also, our own mental states. A sickening and deeply depressing piece of horror, Jisatsu Circle is not one for the faint of heart.

Disturbing.

I stumbled upon this manga while looking for something short to read. Suicide had always intrigued me as it is the very essence of giving up and finding solace in death. It is one of those few things that those with the will to live can never understand and for that reason I was eager to read this manga.

Story: Unfortunately this manga had more of a horror taste (perhaps to be expected) than a profound psychological one and I was left relatively unimpressed by the time I had reached the end. The manga is quick to shake you as it begins with a scene ... of mass suicide; nothing is explained. While the shock-factor may intrigue you at first as it did me, I quickly found that this was the only thing that enticed me to finish the story. They did not delve deeply into the minds of the girls who joined the club nor did they explain much of how the protagonist felt - things simply happened. And perhaps it is my lack of exposure to Japanese culture but in spite of the protagonist's tragic upbringing I felt myself unable to relate or feel sympathy while feeling that the whole thing was unrealistic and simply designed to be disgusting. By the end of the story nothing is resolved. There is no depth. The story succeeds in its role as a horror manga however and for that reason I reward it a7/10

Art: The art was quite good and effectively magnified the story's dark and disturbing flavor. Bodies are drawn in proportion and 'impacts' are realistic to say the least. The character's were all consistently ugly. They are not afraid to go the extra mile. Everything is done to make this manga look as disturbing as possible.

At this point I don't really feel like analyzing the rest of the categories as I normally do. The characters like the story, were 2-Dimensional at best. And while the story was enjoyable in the sense that it kept you reading - it won't add anything of value to your life. The story was not insightful. The art was not astonishing. The characters did not make you cry or smile. This manga was meant to disturb. It is designed to shock you. And that is what it does well. Had they gone more in depth into the idea of suicide, how and why it occurs for different individuals and considered the topic on several levels while maintaining the existing mood of disturbia, it would be much better. Overall: 6/10

One word Disturbing and thrilling.
From the begining to the end you want more, you want to understand why and at the same time you don't want to... because the answer will probably freak you out more than the question.

This manga, make you wonder about your own life, about the society, maybe about a friend who is like one of the characters... because it doesn't matter wich country is, there is always a 'Saya Kota' in all the societies.

One way i find my manga is through the reccomendations section of a manga i already read (and enjoyed). This manga was the recommendation of a recommendation (i typically dont read horrors, lol). Anyway, this manga is a good break to any other type of manga (unless its already horror your reading). A very MYSTERIOUS (in the good way) and yet DISTURBING manga at the same time.

Story:
Jisatsu Circle is a manga that truly shows what girls go through sometimes, with a lot of gore and body parts added into the mix. (as you will soon see when you read it *winks). Like most horror manga, ... it will start out with a massive shock factor that will horrify the reader into think "hey? WHY DID THIS HAPPEN? and try to read on". And there are many twists in the story, leading the reader to falsely suspect people. And some freaky un-explained occurrances.

Mainly focuses on suicide, girls' lives (what ppl dont know), gore, and cult.
DO NOT READ IF YOU CANT TOLERATE EXTREME GORE, even i (who i think can stand most shock factors, flinched a bit after viewing it in the first chapter :/ ).

Art:
The characters in this manga are drawn in an entirely different style than what most ppl who read mangas are used to. I must say, this is one of the only manga whose characters actually might look like real life ppl (the eyes are smaller, not all girls are lovey dovey and cute). For most people who like cute manga girls with large eyes and stuff, this manga might not seem appealing in this way, but the art is unique in this way and suits this manga well.

Character:
There is a lot of character information, and the main character Saya Kota develops very well in this manga. The manga is designed so that it is mostly told from a third person's point of view: Saya Kota's friend Kyoko. IMO the characters are very well explained in this manga, about how they came to be. Kyoko shares her memories of Saya from even when they were children, and how tragedy afflicted her friend. In the end, Kyoko is finally able to reach Saya just a bit, but it is too late...and the circle (or shall i say cycle) of horror continues.

Enjoyment:
Most ppl would enjoy the story more than the gore IMO. The story (along with explicit pictures shown) will make you feel horror, sadness, intensity, shock, and sometimes even disgust. But there are many twists, and you'll want to keep reading to find out the whole mystery of the story.

Overall:
Again, DO NOT READ THIS MANGA IF YOU CANT STAND GORE, otherwise it is a great manga, and is concise. Shows very well what girls may be suffering through, and has shock content and mystery to keep the reader on edge and the pages flippin.

ʚ . . Let ' s all die together . . ɞ

If I were to choose a word to describe this manga , it would be disturbing , however it ' s incredibly interesting && it made me want to read more && more until the end . I wish there were more chapters , however it felt a lot with just the 6 chapters it already has . What made me read it ? Simply , the synopsis . I don ' t read many mangas that contain suicide , however this one caught my eye && I just *had* to read it . ... Before I start , I tried to keep this review as spoiler free as I could , any parts that have spoilers I added a warning just incase . On with the review . .

♡ ∿ Story — 10/10
I found myself intrigued to finding out what could and will happen with the story , && also to find out more about why the suicide circle / club exists . It was rather unrealistic (( understandably so , considering this is fiction )) , however it also had realistic aspects about it such as how they showcased the struggles girls (( especially teenage girls )) go through . The events that take place are rather bizarre , but that ' s the interesting thing about it . The plot is unique && since the topics were sort of new for me , I couldn ' t stop reading it since I was so captivated . It ' s incredibly deserving of a 10/10 for this section .

♡ ∿ Art — 9/10
The art stood out to me the most about this manga , specifically the cover art . It ' s the main reason I clicked on this manga to begin with . The colors in the cover popped out the most from all the other mangas in the horror section , which also made me more interested in reading this manga . I liked the varieties of different face structures in the actual manga , however a lot of the character designs never really stood out to me .

♡ ∿ Characters — 10/10
Great characters , Saya && Kyoko ' s friendship stood out to me and made me want to see more of them together . " How will their friendship end up being like ? " , " Will they die together ? " , " Will they live together ? " are a couple of questions I had . I had many more other questions about them while I was reading this manga , && yet I wasn ' t left disappointed with the outcome . ( spoiler warning ) Kyoko being the "chosen" one to become the next Mitsuko at the end made me realize . . a new Mitsuko gets chosen every mass suicide , it also actually made me think about it more . " What will happen with Kyoko as the new Mitsuko ? " , " What if someone else would ' ve survived instead of or with Kyoko ? " ( spoiler ended ) . Anyway , Kyoko && Saya were a great duo && had a great friendship .

♡ ∿ Enjoyment — 10/10
I *loved* this manga . It never failed to keep me entertained && it never made me lose interest in the characters or story . Nothing really fazes me , but some scenes did , which surprised me && made me enjoy it even more . I ' m glad to have had this experience and I ' m more than willing to read it again to further analyze it .

♡ ∿ Overall — 10/10
I *highly* recommend this if you ' re into gory mangas that contain sensitive topics , in this case suicide . It ' s a quick read && you can finish it in less than an hour it ' s great if you ' re busy but want to read manga . Do keep in mind before you get into this manga that there are quite a few NSFW scenes . .

Jisatsu Circle is an adaptation of the Suicide Club film released in 2002 written and directed by Sion Sono. The manga was originally meant to follow the film, however, Sono asked Usamaru Furuya to put his own spin on the story, giving the franchise a fresh makeover and a new plotline.

Having not watched the original film, reading Jisatsu Circle was my first look into this franchise and I was a little hesitant. It took me a while to decide if I would read the manga or watch the film first and I finally decided on the manga as it was a somewhat 'alternate universe' to ... the original creation.

I surprisingly enjoyed this. Following the story of a suicide club with an opening of fifty-five high school girls jumping in front of a high-speed train, this manga starts things off fast and then immediately slows them down. Following the mystery as to why one of the girls survived, we're slowly taken across a story of intrigue trying as Kyoko tries to figure out what is happening to save her best friend Saya.

There is quite a little bit of hype around this in the horror community as one of the best jisatsu genre one-shots, and similar stances, and although I thoroughly enjoyed this, I feel like it fell a little flat. We go from a simple suicide club plot line to an intricate maze of clues and frankly I feel like it was a little bit far fetched for what Usamaru tried to do with the story. The art was well done and the gore scenes definitely caught my attention. I skimmed this more than I read it, looking through the art and not paying much attention and I still managed to understand and get the entire story. It's simple enough to understand, simple enough to read, and it has a decent presence.

I'm not quite sure what was a little lacking in this for me. I believe it was the plot point that Usumaru went for in his work, the overall why they were doing this and it didn't feel as authentic as it could have done.

Still, it's a good seven out of ten for me, chilling to flick through, but not as prime as it could have been.

Well I've seen other reviews around here all crying disturbing or whatnots...

Story:6
Well I do not really think it's THAT disturbing... but rather a little disappointed in the execution of the manga. The mangaka is quite a master at executing grim stories... unfortunately I do not really see a very realistic portrait of this whole "Mitsuko" incident. Remember what people said about this Mitsuko... that she's something of a sage... that she brings tangible benefit to them, that they feel peaceful when they look at her.

O rite... and about the dead ppl bbs... it was not explained properly.. I think.

And there are a lot of ... spaces in-between some huge events, like after the train mass suicide incident did no police or counselors approach "the only girl who survived"? Besides, there are a lot of strange points, how no one complained many different high and middle school girls congregated at a school? And how did Saya get so many followers over a summer?

Well seeing this as done over a month I can't possibly say that much about it. But it's quite a pity... since most of the content seems to be mired in tragedy and horror. IMO, it wasn't very solid.

The ending wasn't that well too... I simply do not get how Kyouko and Saya suddenly got so well with each other again... it seems too rushed.

Art:7
I do not like the naked child scenes. But other than that it was still all right. Except for Yoko's face.... sometimes it looks a bit weird, especially the placement of her eyes.

Character:5
Some character development, mostly to justify the birth of 'Mitsuko-chan'.

Enjoyment:6
Argh it leaves a bad aftertaste and a bad during-taste too.

Overall:6
Overall, I do not like it but it's not that bad of a series. It is not a retelling of the original movie by the same name. It is modified by the mangaka with the permission of the original creator. And it was created within a month.

And PS. read the mangaka's other works like Picasso's ?? and 51 Ways to protect your Lover to catch his awesomeness^_^.

Warning: avoid cause of spoilers









... One word: angry

Story: simple premise, girls kill themselves, one survives, survivor makes a new circle of girls, they commit suicide as well, the cycle continues. what makes me very angry is that they took a girl against her will to join and who was such a good friend; what right do they have to steal a life like that. I don't care about how she's like them, it's not right.

Art: works with the style of the story and I liked how they looked, even with the gore; its what I came for

Characters: Very much enjoyed Kyoko and her kindness until the end when she accepted her suicide attempt, then I got mad that she accepted so easily. I pitied Saya for a while cause I do understand her pain and downward spiral, but the same with Kyoko, I just don't accept her easy changed. She didn't deserve this fate but she also deserve this for being a horrible friend and person. Yes, death and suicide are always sad and are no laughing matter, but for how she is and what she did, she deserved the worst

Overall: I'd recommend if you're in for art and horror, but I do not recommend for someone that's sensitive of these topics or if you're like me and probably don't understand why the easy changes of these suicidal students

ʚ . . . Mitsuko-san . . . she ' s got a gentle smile . . . ɞ

This is was quite the enjoyable read and I loved every second of it , it was short and interesting , making you want more . i ' m really glad there ' s a movie so maybe I can learn more about such an interesting series .
I ' ve had high expectations for this because it looked really good , I didn ' t realize at first until later but it was made by a really good creator by the name of furuya usmaru , ... his works are always great and he makes amazing creations , I love it . Adding this to my favorite mangas (*＾＾*)

ʚ overall 10/10 ɞ
This manga easily earned a 10/10 for overall , it was a pleasant and short read , I would love to get a longer read of this manga but I feel it was good as a short manga as well . It may be an adaption , but it ' s well executed , Furuya Usamaru does his adaptions nicely . I ' ve never seen the movie before so I can ' t comment on that aspect but the manga is really good .

ʚ Story 10/10 ɞ
The story really captivated me , the beginning really draws you in with an bizarre event and slowly leading up to why it happened through cues and small changes within the characters , truely fascinating stuff . I don ' t really have any complaints for it , I really liked it ! It ' s a unique plot i ' ve never seen done before , a great manga and I bet an even greater movie .

ʚ Characters 10/10 ɞ
Great characters , especially saya and kyoko . These two were a duo I couldn ' t help but root for , they were super interesting . ( spoiler warning ) . . . seeing the faint ques of mitsuko awakening within saya but her still being there somewhat even in end amazed me , as well kyoko going to become the new mitsuko . . . ( spoiler ended ! ) I love this manga .

ʚ Art 8/10 ɞ
Now , I do enjoy furuya ' s style , it ' s really appealing to the eyes and he can draw some great gore . . . now I ' m not sure when this was drawn but I feel this is more of a weaker point of the manga , I love the style , yes , But some of the characters look really odd , That may just be the appeal of his style but I didn ' t really like it that much .

ʚ Enjoyment 9/10 ɞ
I really enjoyed this series , as i did with other works of the author . It ' s an interesting story , amazing art , and enjoyable characters . Though , since this deals with more heavier themes , I felt really uncomfortable during some scenes and chapters , BUT , It doesn ' t take away from the experience , It may even add to it . I would 100% read this again , And I would really love to analyze it even further .

*Trigger warning for this manga if you're sensitive to these topics, just stray away from it. Self-harm, suicide, sexual violence, nudity, sexual assault*

Japanese horror really hits different, doesn't it?

It's not about explainable events, or anything that makes sense. The world contains a set of rules, and there's no way to change how the cookie crumbles. The only thing we're able to get into gripes with, are the characters experiencing the foreboding sense of doom. Place Japanese horror with suicide, and you get a manga that's pretty disturbing, all things considered.

I don't know what to say about the story. It feels like a machine that ... takes humans as fuel. An inevitable set of circumstances where characters can only “want” to escape, but never really do. Fighting against the “suicide circle” it only adds to the machine, it leads closer to the inevitable, and so, is there any free will to these people? Are their horrible circumstances the fault of the world, or of this machine that feeds on their disturbing destiny? It's a horrifying prospect, and the manga constantly hammers the idea that a character will always get to the place they have to be, will feel what they have to, and nothing will save them. I've seen arguments for the FMC, or many other characters changing drastically, making no sense, but I'll argue this is a cycle. Over 100 people were involved, and it always ended the same. Who's to say there's no fight in any of the others? Who's to say the one who didn't want to die, was always the one surviving to lead the next suicide circle?

Japanese horror leans into a weird sense of horrific destiny, and every piece of the puzzle always lands where it should, feeling what they should. I feel like seeing it as that makes it even more horrific, but that's just my interpretation. Characters do change drastically, and I get why people criticize it. I'm looking at it that way, since it always felt like everything happened for a reason, even if the end reason was that disturbingly sad destiny.

Of course, the notion of destiny doesn't remove from the potential message, which is lying right under the surface. Taking care of people, insisting, and doing just a little more could signify saving somebody. Maybe escaping this “destiny” wasn't as terribly hard as it seemed. Characters speak about how “if I did just a little more”. It feels like the author speaking to the audience. Suicide may be part of some sort of destiny, but trying even harder for those we love can break it, and what they wanted to show us was the bad ending in this thought process. Our FMC was a living embodiment of being a bad friend, hell, a terrible one, and she was made to feed into this machine. This is not the story about how to break a cycle, but how bad people feed into it. Perhaps that's the point, you only need one, a good one.

The art was pretty good for the tone of the story. Similar to Junji Ito, it excels in the smiles, the doom, the tone, that 2000s, weird feeling. I enjoyed it a lot, and it simply works very well. Nothing much to add there. You'll enjoy it if you're into horror.

All in all, it was interesting, subversive at times, pretty impactful at others. If my interpretation was correct, cool, I'd give it a 7/10, but if I was wrong, and it was just the author being edgy, and writing nonsense for the sake of it, I'd change it to a 5.5/10.

7/10. Extremely short, disturbing, but weirdly fresh.

You will be presented a mystery.
You will see images, meant to disturb and intrigue you.
The story will develop, but not the characters. The sad remain sad. and the helpless remain helpless.
As a result, you might not care much for the characters at all.
You just want a happy end so you can get on with your life with a sense of closure on this story.
You don't get it.
The mystery will be explained. Poorly.
The (entity?) that carried the plot will not be laid to rest.
The cycle goes on.
Why? Who knows?
...
In a nutshell, if you like satisfying conclusions and well-explained mysteries, stay away from this manga for it will provide you with neither.