Jul 9, 2015
From the time we're born, humans are fascinated by mysteries. As babies everything is a mystery to us, and we become curious. Because of that, as our brains develop we seek to find the answers to the mysteries we could not understand as babies. As we mature and grow older, we are each faced with a mystery that we want to solve no matter what. Can I be a good parent? Why am I alive? Is there any other life in the universe? Some of these mysteries we can find answers to, others we cannot. But every human is constantly trying to solve some sort
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of mystery, rather they realize it or not. That is why the mystery genre is one of my favorite. It taps into one of our most base desires as human beings. The desire to not only solve, but understand, mysteries.
13 Club is centered around mysteries. Sometimes these mysteries are solved, sometimes they are simply archived by our recurring character, Kudan. Luckily, they are always fascinating. From the first mystery I was hooked. While not always original, the mysteries are structured in such a way that they feel unique. The manga is not linear, and each mystery is separate from the others. The final mystery was weaker than all the rest, and raised some questions that weren't worth raising in the final chapter. The only thing that all the mysteries share in common is Kudan, the owner of the 13 Club website.
Kudan is an interesting character. While he is fascinated with, and at times at the heart of, numerous mysteries, he himself is perhaps the biggest mystery in the manga. We don't know who he is, why he is fascinated with mysteries, how he met his assistant, or anything else for that matter. We don't learn much about his assistant either, but to me I felt that rather than being a mystery, she was an unnecessary character. The one off characters that were contained in each story segment were almost always interesting, with a few being weaker than others.
Despite the backgrounds being rather simple (which, let's face it, is pretty common in manga) the art was well done. The character designs were good, and all of the artwork was sharp, clean, and up to snuff with today's standards.
If you are a fan of the mystery genre, this manga won't disappoint. It is an exciting ride through the mystery that is the human psyche, and is presented in such a way that it's hard to feel lost or bored for even a moment. Once this sinks its teeth into you, it won't let go. It has some character and story issues depending on which mystery you're reading, but it scratches the mystery loving itch that we humans are born with. If you aren't a fan of mystery.... well, you are lying to yourself, so get reading.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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