Chikan Otoko

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

The circumstances that lead to the creation of this manga are really important when rating it. This manga takes inspiration from a (supposedly) real story from a 2ch thread, obviously the artist has done some embellishment of his own, for example I doubt the molester man (the MC) actually had the impulse to do a JoJo reference every 5 minutes IRL, but it's fine, it makes it a more enjoyable manga if anything.

Now, as a manga, from a technical standpoint, it's a mess, firstly because there's way way waaaay too much text every page, and secondly because the art style is sloppy. However, that doesn't ... bother me because after all the artist is really doing us a favour by adapting a 2ch thread into a manga in the first place. Regardless of how unimpressive the art and paneling might be, the very fact that it exists is amazing. Think of it as those little comics on twitter about funny 4chan greentexts, except this one is 21 chapters long.

Regarding the characters, I do have some pet peeves, but it's not stuff that I can really criticize, their flaws are justified by the fact that they're real people. Nevertheless I did find the molester man to be kind of insufferable, especially at the beginning, but that might be just because personally I hate the "2ch degenerate" archetype, his internal monologue was at times too cringy to endure. His redeeming grace is that when he decides to open his mouth he's surprisingly kind, caring and thoughtful, and as the story progresses his degenerate antics becomes less of a cringefest and more of a funny gag.

Lastly, the story itself is a masterpiece, the sole reason I put up with the (admittedly few and minor) pet peeves mentioned earlier. I'm not exaggerating when I say this is one of the best romance manga ever, full stop. The story isn't a wishy-washy slog where the characters take 100 chapters to confess like 99% of romance manga, there are no painfully obvious and annoying tropes, the drama isn't suffocating, there's no unnecessary and immature fanservice, and last but not least it's not set in a damn high school (hurraaaay!!!). This is mostly because the manga is based on real events (at least that's what I decided to believe), so obviously the story feels realistic, and realism is something that romance manga almost always lack.

Overall this was an extremely satisfying read, it's funny, romantic, realistic, relatable, just an amazing story, really. I can't give it a 10 because it's not perfect, if the art and paneling were like Yokota Takuma's more recent works I would be more inclined to give it a 10, alas I will rate it a 9.

--You probably don't care but this is my first time making a review and English isn't my native language, so don't expect a good review--


" Everyone in VIP, no, in 2ch, please hear me out.
The other day, I was totally mistaken for a molester.
And I don't mean it as a joke, I was actually mistaken for one.

It all started with this... "


Man it was so good.. We can sense without effort that it's the same author as the one who made my favorite manga ... : Onani Master Kurosawa. It has the same (godly) art style, same humour but most importantly, the same way of pouring and sinking those feels down into you (despite the art style that can be off-putting at first).

I couldn't fully relate to him since he would sometimes go into extremes (such as buying an onah*le, but still, this thing is an important part of him and the story), but if we take his not so often paradoxal way of thinking and doings away, I think he's the embodiment of the average guy from this generation, including me. He might sometimes do a lot of stupid things and be irritating, but hey listen, he's still an inexperienced virgin. His struggles do look realistic, that might be the reason people call it cringe. We don't really see any important development from the MC though, instead, the story dwells deep into his mind and shows his good sides, as it does for all the side-cast.

Pretty original way to make a manga by the way, since there's more narration than dialogues. Why ? It is explained by the fact that this story is taken from a thread on 2chan, based on a real story. This really does spice up the manga even more, like it does knowing that your horror movie actually happened in our realm, also called real life. It would actually be very interesting to hear news from the author about his relationship, friends and what is he doing right now in life though. PS : the story took place in 2004.
I don't know if I'm allowed, but this is a website where someone translated all the threads : https://molester-man-original-threads.firebaseapp.com/index.html

There's not really anything else to say apart from the fact that it has a very good side-cast, the MC isn't one-dimensional but rather complex and finally, the story is enjoyable. It's probably the most original and realistic romance story I've ever seen.


Overall it deserves a solid 9, and yes, I highly suggest you to give this story a read.


--As I said, this is my first review and I know I'm missing a lot of critical points that have to be in it, so I'll try to get better the further I make reviews--

Chikan Otoko was inspired from a post in a certain forum, that read something along the lines of “Today I was mistaken for a stalker”. Indeed that is how the manga begins. Actually, our protagonist seems like a suspicious guy due to his foul bachelor lifestyle; 20 years old, living alone, half-assing his studies, and acts as a woman repellent. His gateway out of his half-hikikkomori, irl-friendless lifestyle is the darkest corner of the forum, where the foulest of bachelor's lurk, ready to troll and humiliate. A most glorious lifestyle. Hail to those of us who have experienced it (except the repellent part. I sure ... hope no one lived through such a phase).

After clearing the misunderstanding with the cute girl, he manages to get her to have another cup of coffee. Along the way he meets 3 beautiful friends of hers and the story goes on.

The first thing that is clearly wrong stares right at you; the art is bad. Simple as that. As you read the first handful of pages a second problem emerges; the panel arrangement has no sophistication. A lot (and I mean a lot) of pages consist only of text squares relaying a forum post or an email, basically switching the medium to a novel. A third thing that's wrong is, that while this manga tries to pass as a comedy, it is clearly not. After a couple of OK jokes in the beginning the humor dries out and the genre becomes that of a hardcore slice-of-life.

I noticed that people praise that style and find exciting the meticulous realism in the way that the manga develops. That would be nice and well, if it retained that realism in the major plot turns. Well it doesn't; at every major “event” the outcome is unrealistic, all to force the conclusion upon us, making all the realistic details we have been reading pointless and tedious.

Nothing in this manga stands out, and I can not understand the hype. Overrated, while being mediocre through and through. 5.0/10.