Apr 24, 2024
A middle-aged loser experiencing a midlife crisis finds escape by donning the mask of a hero from a cancelled TV show he loved as a kid. The hero, Zebraman, has no special ability or support, but fights with his own power against invading aliens who afflict apathy among earth's inhabitants and encourage vulnerable people to lose to their inner demons. When a series of crimes begins, mirroring what happened in the cancelled show, and his own family falls victim, the cosplaying oji-san is forced to put on the mask and take on the "grey" epidemic with his own hands.
This manga is clumsy, takes itself seriously,
...
is not edgy, but comes from the heart. So it's hard to hate on. It's also another one of those "ally of justice saves people by inspiring them" stories, but manages to feel more mature and grounded. According to an omake, the themes were influenced by the author's own experience of living in limbo while in between jobs. The "grey existence" criticisms are not only directed at apathetic individuals, but are also aimed toward Japanese society as a whole, for living pathetically with a damaged psyche after the war and economic bubble.
Unfortunately, the elements that make it interesting are compromised or overshadowed after the first two villains. Probably after inspiration from lived experience ran out. The realism starts getting stretched, the action sequencing, which was always weak, becomes downright confusing, and the storytelling gets lazier, edgy, and incomprehensible. There's still a few signs of life, but it stops feeling like an allegory and becomes a tacky action-drama story.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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