Anne Freaks

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I must confess to being one of those impatient readers – if a story doesn’t grab me quickly, I tend to lose interest. That said, the opening of Anne Freaks not only grabbed me, it gave me a good shaking by the metaphorical scruff of the neck. It’s clear from watching Yuri dispose of his mother’s body that he’s not the most mentally balanced person you’re likely to meet and within a few more pages, we realise that young Anna herself is about as sane – and dangerous – as a bag full of wasps on LSD. Admittedly, given that there’s only 24 chapters to ... tell what becomes a fairly convoluted tale, there isn’t really much time to fanny around, and apart from a brief wobble halfway through, the story doesn’t let up the pace, nor does it lose its focus.

Equally impressive are the number of layers surrounding the basic plot. Yes, it’s essentially a tale of revenge, except you’re rooting for some rather poisonous anti-heroes (in typical Bonnie and Clyde style, I guess). Even when the police become involved (and we are faced with a rather clichéd good cop / bad cop team at this point, although they are both female, so score one for Women’s Lib), you’d rather they didn’t catch the young killers… well, at least not until revenge has been had.

In a strange and slightly twisted way, it’s also a love story – albeit a very one-sided love story. Mentally broken from years of abuse and the recent trauma, Yuri becomes besotted with Anna, seeing her as a kind of redeemer who saved him from his past life. She exploits this to the maximum, ensuring his slavish loyalty. When a rival appears on the scene, who not only witnessed Yuri with his mother’s body, but wants to use that to blackmail him into going out with her (didn’t her mother warn her about boys like that?), Anna is pretty quick in making sure she won’t bother Yuri again… ever. It’s round about this point that I started to realise that calling Anna a cold-blooded killer, would give other cold-blooded killers a bad name. That said, the characters are not merely portrayed as ruthless killing machines. Kotegawa gives us glimpses of their human side too, one of the funnier examples being Anna muttering jealously (as many adolescent girls might) about the size of the female detective’s chest. It’s simple, but effective – if they were simply mindless killing machines, I doubt the story would be able to sustain our sympathy for very long.

When Mitsuba, another troubled youth, is drawn into the fold, it adds another dimension to the dynamic of the team. Soon she’s playing the two boys off against each other, making each prove their loyalty to her (even if it just be via a shopping trip, or cooking supper), whilst being equally careful not to let the rivalry escalate into jealousy. She’s just happy knowing that they’ll do whatever it takes to please her. It might be stretching the metaphor a bit far, but you have the impression that if she rang a bell, they’d both start drooling. Certainly, it’s a performance that would have Svengali nodding and taking notes. Therefore, you could also add that it’s a tale about people and their interactions. It would have been nice to see some more ink used on character development, but it is interesting to watch what we can of the developing relationship between Anna, Yuri, and Mitsuba.

Finally, underlying all this is a very subtle steak of very dark humour. I don’t think it’ll have you laughing aloud, but it’ll wring a wry smile from you occasionally.

The central cast of characters is kept small, apart from a small army of expendable cult members, which gives us time to get to know them and their back-story, even if the story doesn’t allow much time for character development. Maybe character deconstruction would be a better phrase as we first watch Yuri and Mitsuba fall under Anna’s spell (not to mention watching Yuri lose touch with reality, illustrated by his frequent flashbacks to his mother), then realise that Anna herself as been carefully moulded to fulfil this role by people I’ll call her mentors (to avoid any potential spoilers).

The artwork is crisp and clear with good attention to backgrounds and little details that might just as easily pass unnoticed. Even the crowd scenes are filled with individuals (well, within reason anyway), not faceless blobs. It’s nice to see Kotegawa giving the character design a feminine touch, making everybody variously pretty or handsome – but not overly so.

It might even be borderline shoujo-esque. I don’t mean this in a bad way - after all, there’s something to be said about pretty girls with guns… sorry, I thought I heard an angry buzzing sound just then.

It’s also not afraid to occasionally switch to chibi mode for a couple of frames – normally just before something nasty happens. It might be a cheap attempt at shock value, but used in moderation, it does work. In addition, Kotegawa also scores points for her attention to detail when it comes to weaponry. I’m no expert on guns, but I’m guessing any fancier worth his salt wouldn’t have trouble identifying those used in the manga.

The real skill of the mangaka comes through in the action scenes. Firstly (much like Aida Yu of Gunslinger Girl fame), the frames aren’t cluttered with unnecessary sound effects, or action lines, yet still manage to convey the impression of motion and force. Secondly, much of the violence (and don’t get me wrong, although this is a fairly violent manga, it does pause to take a breath now and again) is implied rather than shown.

Taking a leaf from Hitchcock you’ll be shown a before and after frame, and maybe a hint of what’s happening in between (one of the nastiest involves a glimpse of bloody scissors). Just how much violence is actually happening is left up to you and the size of your own personal bag of wasps. A picture might paint a thousand words, but the imagination makes movies…

Take all that, then add a plot that twists and turns on itself, a cast that straddles that fine line between the perception of good and evil, a climax that covers the better part of the last 2 volumes (including a bit that will hopefully have you going “I can’t believe he did that…” and stir vigourously. The result is a pretty decent, fast-paced action tale, that doesn’t really pretend to be anything else. Even its conclusion, which might be described as “open-ended” and probably not as “happy” should leave you satisfied.

If you’re looking for a fairly quick read, that’s not too taxing on the mind and if you don’t mind a spot (or a splash, in this case) of violence, Anne Freaks is worth looking at. Now, if only they’d make the live action version…

Anne Freaks, quite the odd name for a manga yet this is indeed one book you should not judge by its cover.

You get thrown into the action, mystery and romance quite quickly(since its only 24 chapters) yet it delivers it in such a way that you'll find yourself entranced and finishing the series before you know it. The conclusion of which I found quite fitting and enjoyable.

I highly recommend this series to anyone who loves a good romance. I've reread multiple times and it has remained a favorite to this day

To be fair to me, this was kind of like a poor mans Black lagoon.

The concept was intriguing but it really just really didn't live up to its promise.It could have been so much more than it was.

That said , its a fair read , so it garners a six in almost everything except the art , which i kinda liked.

This manga does not disappoint, the story will get you invested fast just like the authors other work. While I wished for another ending, the story is quite well written and it never goes off the main story arc, and when it does it shows you the stories of other characters and what their intentions are, well sort of, since you are let to guess until the very end if there would be a double crossing. One thing that I liked, is the fact that even though it deals with murders and violence and crimes, you have an easy time to read it, so you'll ... get to question yourself like why are you enjoying something like this? But don't think that you won't be shocked or moved by the actions in this manga. The characters are a interesting as you witness their descent into madness and a false idea of revenge. But the humor the author tried to put in this manga didn't click with the overall atmosphere. But still for me it's a solid 9 for a psychological thriller(since this isn't really a mystery) manga. It's isn't comparable to Kimi no Knife, which I consider the author's best work and one of the best manga's ever written, but it's still unique as it's more reality based then any other psychological thriller that usually goes into supernatural.

REVIEW: An earlier look into the lives and minds of a group of killers who hunt criminals, some disturbingly overzealous, others reluctant, by Kotegawa Yua.

IT ALMOST SEEMS A DRY RUN FOR HER LATER SEINEN MASTERPIECE "KIMI NO KNIFE". Weaker but similar art and familiar character profiles, using the now-familiar plot devices of guilt-driven hallucinations and love+circimstances forcing a mild-mannered, shy, guilt-wracked, and cowardly man onto the path of the reluctant killer... However, "Anne Freaks" is shorter, less mature and less coherent, with less detail less realism less believabilit and far less emotional impact, lacking its powerful mood-setting devices and strong introspectives...

SERIES DESCRIPTION:
10 years after ... a cult violently splinters into a small extremist terrorist core and a horrified majority of newly minted outcasts, many pursued or killed by their former comrades for their "betrayal", the cult leader's daughter Anne gathers her childhood friends, now teenagers, for her revenge - to end the cult once and for all...

The three live in hiding, Anne knowing the truth, and the two boys remembering nothing past being haunted by strange dreams. Anne, a hunted fugitive since age 6, is an embittered stone-cold outcast raised hiding among yakuza, and has grown into a wildly reckless, ruthless killer that hunts down and brutally massacres every cult cell she can find. Nor does she hesitate to kill any civillians or police that get in her way.

Meanwhile, Yuri, a mild-mannered, battered, studious and somewhat creepy boy in glasses, has spent these ten years with a psychotic, abusive, and suicidal mother. Mitsubu, leader of delinquents and self-proclaimed "strongest student of Kyoto", resides with a hikikomori father who sleeps his days away, supported by an older sister forced to play mother and breadwinner in the household.

As their seemingly-normal but not-quite-right lives come apart at the seams, Anne tracks down childhood friends Yuri and Mitsubu. Their families dead, themselves hunted fugitives, the two join her cause, to annihilate the extremist cult that wrecked their lives.

I was intrigued by the cover and decided to give Anne Freaks a try and it was well worth it and it's encouraged me to read some of Yua Kotegawa's other works.

The opening definitely drew me in as it introduces Yuri Kitagawa burying his mother which is definitely a good way to get someone to keep reading to find out his motive for killing his mother, while Yuri is disposing of his mothers body a mysterious girl (Anna Todou) offers to help him if he promises her to kill her father and as the story progresses we learn more about the characters and the cult ... that her father belongs to (The Kakusei Group) it's a decent plot and doesn't get boring as you read on but it's nothing ground-breaking which is fine due to it being short.

Due to Anne Freaks being quite short a lot of aspects such as character development and the plot feel a bit huddled together but it's not a bad thing because while reading I was still enjoying it regardless of it's small but not major faults.

The art is quite good as well which is an added bonus.

As I continued to read I found myself getting invested in the characters and their revenge against the Kakusei Group and the plot remained interesting throughout and I really enjoyed it for what it is.

There's also some humour thrown in as well although sometimes it works well and other times it feels slightly out of place.

If you want a nice short interesting read with a bit of romance, violence and psychological aspects Anne Freaks will deliver and it's worth the read.

Ugh why did the ending have to be darn abrupt?!?! 😡😡😡😡

Anyways it’s about a “bae” murderer Anna who pretty much partners up with a guy Yuri who drops out of school and Mitsuba who’s family got killed by a certain cult called the Kakusei Group , joins in her rampant killings. That also includes the pastor (ex cult member of that group) and Moe (who loved her mother and trained Anna from an early age). I have to say character development in this old skool manga was good enough but I think I have to give huge credit though to the character Nishikama cause my ... god, she is a badass inspector that I hardly see in cop action stories. I just wish though that the whole manga wasn’t rushed because I see it as a potential to be something that any action genre fan would enjoy!

Regardless it is worth the read for anyone who isn’t afraid of gore to check out!