Litchi☆Hikari Club
Lychee Light Club

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First off, since you're on this manga's page you probably already know what you're getting into. If that isn't the case, I highly advise that if you have not had any experience or prior knowledge of the ero-guro (erotic grotesque) and yaoi genres to NOT READ THIS MANGA.

Yes, it is very, very explicit.

Litchi Hikari Club is an adaptation of a theatrical play of the same name that was performed at the Tokyo Grand Guignol Theatre in 1985.
(For those who do not know, the original Grand Guignol was located in Paris, France, and became infamous for it's horror-themed performances that involved large ... amounts of violence and gore. It was later closed in 1962, due to World War II and the Holocaust making people realize that violence isn't exactly hilarious.)

Plot: 10
Litchi Hikari Club tells the macabre tale of the club of same name, which involves a boy named Zera and his eight followers attempting to create the ultimate Artificial Intelligence. And then everything goes horribly wrong. This may sound a bit average, but it's executed so well that it even breaks away from the genre it's supposed to be. This isn't just porn and gore, there's drama with twisted romance, as well as friendships, betrayals, and a plot that's built off of both ancient and modern philosophy. All in one volume, to boot.

The beginning of the manga took a little bit for me to get into (the German dialogue surely didn't help, aside from creating the creepy mood), but after that the ball dropped and didn't stop rolling until the last page.

Art: 10
If there's one thing that should stand out with Litchi Hikari Club, it's the artwork (which surely you must have noticed by now). To put it simply, it's incredible. Usamaru Furuya's ability as a mangaka is quite remarkable, and any fan of manga artists such as Tajima Sho-U (MPD Psycho, Galerians) and Obata Takeshi (Death Note, Bakuman) will easily be drawn in by his style. While many of Furuya's older works have a rather average to mediocre style outside of his more detailed fine-art inspired panels (take Palepoli for example), he draws the characters of LHC with large amounts of detail, as well as creating backgrounds that define the industrial-dystopian-esque wreck they live in.

And sticking true to it's roots, the gore is drawn equally as well. It's intense, enough to make any fan of horror and the grotesque look away (but then they'll have to look back again, it's so painstakingly drawn to detail.)

Character: 7
For the most part, the manga adaptation of Litchi Hikari Club sticks with the original, aside from what looked like one name that was changed. Although the majority of the characters dress in a similar school uniform, each has their own unique personality quirks that separate them from one another, from Zera's sick and twisted Elagabulus-esque complex to Kaneda's constant thumb nomming.

However, due to the length of the manga, most character development is cut short on the secondary characters and left to the protagonists. This is kind of forgivable in my eyes, since it's still part of the horror genre, which usually leaves out developement and sticks with stock character types, but I would've liked to have known a little more about the less important members of the club.

Enjoyment: 10
Litchi Hikari Club does everything it should do for a series of the ero-guro and yaoi genres, and more. It's shocking, twisted, and leaves such an impact (the final chapter comes to mind instantly) it's near unforgettable. As I've said before though, if you're not interested in a series built on violence and lewdicity, you may want to check out something else.

Overall: 9
Litchi Hikari Club was able to carve itself a bloody niche in my manga-loving heart. It was made with such panache that it could actually give a positive light to the ero-guro and yaoi scenes.
If you need a good scare, a devious plot, or just want to look at some great artwork, Litchi Hikari Club is the manga to pick up. It's a guilty pleasure that's worth the time.

Based on the Tokyo Grand Guignol play of the same name, Litchi☆Hikari Club is a twisted black comedy about teenage-hood.

Giving off a strong vibe of Lord of the Flies crossed with A Clockwork Orange; LHC is ironic, explicit, violent, over-the-top, sexist, and terrifying. Not entirely unlike the inner turmoil of an average testosterone fuelled and sexually confused boy toeing the line between what is taboo and what is acceptable, testing the waters before swimming through the shallow waters of puberty and out to sea... I guess you can call it a coming of age, except with more dangling innards and megalomaniacal zeal for death. ...

The Light Club itself is both a metaphor for society at large and for the cruelty of one's teenage peers. To submit or to perish. The comedic blind pursuit of beauty and youth, and the overwhelming innocence shown by the boys is complemented very nicely by a good dose of sexual violence. They capture and trap girls but are ultimately unsure what to do with them. They raise their chosen doll-like girl onto the pedestal to worship and neglect at the same time. They blush at the prospect of being in the presence of girls yet feel nothing as they strip and gut their female history teacher. It may just be me, but I felt the Light Club perfectly and strikingly illustrated the dichotomy between the treatment and view of women in society.

The story of the boys is contrasted by the story of Litchi (or Lychee), the eponymous AI monster designed by Zera which foreshadows his Frankensteinian fall. Litchi is the blank slate taught to kidnap, to hurt, and to kill by the Light Club. Without spoilering too much of what is already a short story, Litchi's growth and maturation is I think a highlight of the manga.

Another one of the stand-out features of this manga for me is the theatre-like atmosphere and lighting used in the illustrations. This particular framing allows a degree of suspension of disbelief over the outrageous activities happening on stage whilst not detracting from the shock and aesthetic value. It's only a play and we are only viewers. Thus giving viewers the permission to indulge in the heinous acts in the name of art, which in turn mirrors the actions of the boys in the manga itself.

There is no subtlety to be found in this manga, the metaphors are glaringly obvious and the actions of the characters are dramatised to the extremely. Litchi☆Hikari Club reads exactly like a grotesque play about the harshness and fragility of teenagers, and I loved every page. It's only a short manga, but definitely worth reading especially if you're a fan of Anthony Burgess' Clockwork Orange.

Zera is my toxic Sigma male "literally me" character ngl... Now, I came into Litchi Hikari Club as a fan of Japanese Angura and Eroguro Kei and shock material in general, so I had a semblance of what was going to happen, though LHC turns it all up to an 11. If you don't know what Eroguro usually entails, then be advised that this manga has ultra-violence/extreme gore and explicit sex scenes. I only recommend this work to readers over 18 and those who enjoy dark themes and shocking material. Albeit, Litchi Hikari Club is so much more than mere shock material, trust me.

The art ... style is fantastic. The art style has a very strong Angura aesthetic, with Shironuri (white face makeup) and Gakuran (black boy's school uniforms) complimenting the dreary monochromatic background of their Shouwa-era, worn-out, industrial town. Despite each member wearing the same clothes and having the same hair/eye colour (not typical in anime/manga), each boy has a unique look to him and stands out, from Kaneda's half-hidden face to Raizou's effeminate gestures. Colour is used sparingly, and when it is, you can FEEL it, despite the comic being in black and white (that's how effective it is).

Though the leader gets the most screen time, LHC doesn't have a main character and mostly focuses on the Club as a whole. Zera is their leader, a calm and calculating young man who obsesses over aesthetic beauty. He demands order in the club and commands calmly, but with an iron fist. The members seek his approval and follow him in his goal; to give life to their robot Lychee, and have him successfully kidnap a human girl. His members include his right-hand man and lover Jaibo, a sycophant with sadistic tendencies. Tamiya, the somewhat disgruntled former leader. Niko, the ultra-dedicated "#1" of Zera's. Dafu, who is fairly quiet yet dedicated in his own right. Dentaku, a highly intelligent young man in charge of programming Lychee. Kaneda, whose nail-biting habit reflects his anxious spirit. Raizou, a highly effeminate and spirited young man who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty in the club's business. Jacob is the youngest member and is the most innocent of them all, however, he is still very much complicit in the club's heinous activities. Other major characters include Lychee the robot, and Kannon the kidnapped girl (despite being in captivity, she has agency and plays a major role in the plot).

While it is comparable to Lord of the Flies with its isolated and self-governing male-centric, barely pubescent cast, I feel as if LHC reaches a separate logical end conclusion of LotF's more open-ended themes. Mirroring Japan's own extremely group-centric society, LHC functions with far more social cohesion and centers around the constant battle of appeasing (not rebelling) leader Zera in order to gain power... Well, except for what happens later, but that's a spoiler. Not to mention that it breaks down NatSoc (we know it as Nazism) into a smaller, digestible scale and shows how it influences the club's power structure and culture, that being of brutality and aesthetic worship (Nazis heavily used pleasing aesthetics to advertise their regime). As you would imagine, a large group of the same sex does indeed create sexual tension, which is shown in Zera and Jaibo's relationship and the resulting "power-couple" dynamic that is equal parts a shockingly NORMAL depiction of a gay relationship and a spiral of bad influence that emboldens each boy to embrace his negative character traits. This may be me reading into it too much, but I feel like, despite its dated setting, LHC still applies to the modern day with how our post-industrial society is creating dystopias where increasingly isolated men/women seek echo chambers and borderline cults in order to feel a sense of belonging. It also offers a mild character study of Zera, who slowly devolves into a mess of paranoia as his club devolves into chaos, his personal anti-thesis. The greatest theme, I'd say, is what it means to be human. I won't spoil it, but the end shows that humanity is earned and not begot by simple existence.

With this type of story I think it would be more productive to not look at it literally. If you take the story literally it becomes nonsensical and kind of random. It's more interesting to examine what this gore, cruelty and all types of violence supposed to represent. What is hiding behind them.

Boys in Hikari club are both disgusted of adulthood and are terrified of growing old. Pubic hair, more mature bodies, having jobs or even applying make-up are all viewed as signs that you've entered adulthood. For them it is better to die young than to become adults. This type of thinking is what ... I can PARTLY understand. All of your childhood you keep hearing from adults about how much harder you're going to have it once you become older. Whenever you look there are adults gloryfing childhood to an unhealthy degree and villainize bodies of adult people. Usually women.

Edginess runs through their veins. The whole club is structured like a religious sect with Zera as Jesus figure. Better comparison would be nazism. Historical aspect of Japanese uniforms aside, they remind me of the nazi uniforms. Not to mention the boys like to speak german and Zera has build some sort of cult of personality around himself. Their devotion to Zera is absolute and cannot be questioned while everyone fights for his attention and love. Zera once even got compared to Hitler by a seer. He was capable and manipulative enough to take over the club and encourage vile behaviour. Much like nazis, these boys also don't know anything about women.

In their mind women are only a means to a pleasure. Once Litchi kidnaps Kanon, they immediately deify her by putting her on a throne. She becomes an object of worship. Of course they could not even be bothered to ask her name. That is because her name does not matter. Only her beauty. Only that gives her a value. One of the characters trying to explain beauty to Litchi points towards classical paintings of Botticelli or pre-Raphaelite brotherhood. Some of those paintings show women with fair skin, long silky hair, surrounded by flowers in a garden as if they themselves were just one of the flowers. When the boy has to explain what beauty is beyond pointing at those paintings he starts sweating and talks about curves. For them those paintings are an equivalent to porn magazines. They never had any meaningful relationship with women so they cling onto artistic ideals. Anything below that is unacceptable. Only character that manages to make some sort of human connection beyond lust is Litchi himself. His cold demeanor that was installed into him is being melted away by emotional connection that the boys could never give him, for they do not know it.

In the end intrigues, lust, obsession, inability to be honest with their feelings and desire to cling onto power is what destroys them. It's not just toxic obsession with women. Even Jaibo's obsessive love and lust for Zera was equaly damaging. The problem was not the whenever they are obsessed with men or women. Problem was not their sexuality but rather sheer disgust, fear of adulthood and caring only about their own feelings and desires.

I went into this manga expecting filth, gore, lots of yaoi and horrible rape scenes. But...honestly, it wasn't as bad as I thought it could be. I'm used to seeing gory things--it comes with the genres I like--and Litchi Hikari Club delivered.

Story - 7:
Without giving too much away, Litchi Hikari Club is about a deranged group of students who aim to make the perfect, or at least a functioning, AI robot. They worship their number 1, Zera (Tsunekawa) as a god, and he compares himself to Elagabulus, a Roman emperor who came into power early in life.
The story had a simple concept and I ... really liked the ending. It was completed really neatly in one volume of manga, without any loose ends to ponder over. I enjoyed this manga because it didn't need me to think at all. However, the twist at the end didn't really seem to fit. It was like reading a crime novel and finding out about every other character except the killer (example - "A Rare Interest In Corpses" by Ann Granger).

Art - 7:
Nothing super. The blood is drawn like tiger stripes over everything when the people are attacked. Sometimes it just feels like thick paint instead of blood. Maybe that's just how it flows. The backgrounds didn't sway me, all the same, but not bad.

Character - 7:
In terms of character development, it's only 1 volume of manga, so you couldn't expect too much. It was sad seeing the generation of the Hikari Club, and what it came to be, and how that affected all the characters. As you were dealing with quite a few characters in a short manga, the difference between each was little. They all said pretty much the same things until the climax in the manga.

Enjoyment - 6 - 7:
Easy to read, no thinking. Blood and gore incited no feelings of disgust or otherwise. It was satisfying to reach the end and see what had come to be, and I did get a little teary.

Overall - 7:
Yeah, seven. Might read again, might watch the series. Probably won't remember the details of it next week.

"Litchi, Li Litchi, Li Li Litchi 〜♪"
MAN!!!! This Manga is just something else man..! I'll just say it off the bat, this manga gets a solid 10 from me.
Almost every aspect of this manga gets a 10 from me except characters. I'll explain that first.

Characters: 9
The reason why its not a 10 is simple; Not all characters are able to be fleshed out well enough, because of the short length of the manga. But, because the manga cuts short on focussing on the secondary characters, the main characters that the story focusses the most on, are outstanding. They are by far not the ... most complex or deep characters ever made, but they are compelling enough to get you very much invested in their story. The way Zera falls into a deep insanity trying to figure out who is the traitor, Jaibo confessing...you know.., Litchi falling in love with Kanon, and vice versa,,, you know the drill. Out of the four characters, all but Zera's ultimate drive is Love. And I find that so absolutely stunning, considering the plot and gore and every gut wrenching feeling you get after reading each chapter! I also love the contrast between Zera who is becoming less and less human by the minute, and Litchi, a robot, becoming more human and learning the importance of love and life.
(ALSO, One thing some people may find hard to understand, is that liking a character is different to condoning their actions!!! I hope the readers of this manga are intelligent enough to understand that Rape/Murder/Violence is bad, and also understanding that simply liking a character is different to thinking everything they did is okay!!)

Story: 10
This is no jolly fun tale of nine 13 year old boys and their secret little club, oh no no no. It's a Psychological drama falling more and more into insanity as the story progresses. I'd like to call this story a secret love child of "Lord of the flies' and "beauty and the beast"
As I said before, a lot of it focusses on the fact that Zera is losing his humanity, and Litchi gaining it. Its interesting seeing the boys in this cult-like Nazi club all worshipping Zera and trying to keep hold of their innocence aka beauty. Zera turning into a twisted monster each chapter and the mysterious sexual connection he has with Jaibo would be enough to be a stand alone interesting concept, but what makes this story So outstanding is the other story happening at the same time; the story of Litchi and Kanon. It is beautiful and heart-warming. I am somewhat of a sucker for the "beauty and the beast" genre of stories. The contrast between the two intertwining stories is what makes this story so mad but beautiful at the same time.

Art: 10
One look at the art, and its ingrained in to your mind forever. In a good way. An amazing way. The dark atmosphere, accentuated by the use of lots of beta/black, and the imagery of the dark and gloomy factories in the background. Sometimes you get just a panel depicting the factories, giving off even more of the depressing and dark tone of this manga. The atmosphere created by the art is what got me sold for this manga in the first place. Also, who could forget, the depictions of the characters. Each of their faces unique, and unforgettable. The way their movements are drawn, are human like, and their facial expressions are telling and so so powerful.
The art probably is the selling point of this manga, and I get it. This manga wouldn't be as perfect and loved without this unique art style and the atmosphere it brings with it.

Enjoyment: 10
So yeah, I loved it, as you can tell by now. Some people might get thrown by people calling it a BL or Yaoi. I mean, there is depiction of a sexual relationship between two boys, but its important to the story. Its not some kind of useless fan service they throw at you. The story would be incomplete with this relationship. Please do not shake this manga off because someone called it a Yaoi. It's not. It's really not. Even if you dislike Yaoi, I assure you you'll get a kick out of this manga.

Overall: 10
Do I even need to explain myself even more?? I recommend this manga from the bottom of my heart to anyone ready for this Psychological madness of a manga with lots of gore. It only took me an hour and a half to read, so if its cold and dark out, and you're craving some horror and drama, and you have some spare time THIS is the manga for you. I'm sure this manga will suck you in with its unique atmosphere and unique story telling, just by the first chapter. Oh, and I'm gonna warn you, It sure is gonna be hard to stop turning the pages.

(I'd also like to add that I think its the best if you read through the whole thing in one shot. :)

EDIT: Honestly though looking back at this review, I make it sound like this is the most incredible one-of-a-kind mind-blowing manga, but it's kind of more like a manga you blast through in an hour and a half and get a huge kick out of it and thats it. It's like a roller-coster. It's short, and not that deep, you could even say it's been already done a million times over, but just sit back and enjoy the ride. And you know what, I still love it lots and def recommend it to anyone looking for amazing art, an intriguing but short story and great gore.

My advise: don't take the mark or other opinions siriously, read it first for it is the kind of manga which will be different for each reader.

Litchi Hikari Club is a great manga from and author everyone should check at least once. The manga itself is based on a play from the Tokyo Grand Guignol in which even Suehiro Maruo worked. Usamaru Furuya has said that he always wanted to enter in the Grand Guignol but failed to build up the courage so he drew this Manga instead years later.

Art: The art in this manga is outstanding, the use of inking and beauty of some ... of the panels is incredible, while maintaining the creepy feeling all over the story.

Story: this is the best part of the manga, it feels a little bit like cheating as it is based on a succesful play but Furuya does it just right, it is a story about beuty, love and the struggle to become adult all within a format meant to shock the reader.

The Grand Guignol in itself was meant to scare and shock its audience with the violence and terror depicted in it. So i'd recommend this manga to almost everyone except those who are very sensitive. People who liked other Furuya manga or who likes horror and erotic manga will love this. But even people who haven't read anything of the sort is in for a treat as they will have a very different experience of what they are used.

Lychee Light Club is a horror manga written and illustrated by Usamaru Furuya, and was serialized in Manga Erotics F from 2005 to 2006. Furuya based this manga loosely upon a 1985 play of the same name directed by Nozimizu Ameya.

Story: 9/10
This manga is pretty short (only 9 chapters), so what Furuya could do with the story was limited. The story goes like this: nine students from an all boys middle school belong to a "club" called the Light Club, and they're working on creating an AI for the purpose of kidnapping beautiful girls, due to their leader Zera's obsession with youth and beauty. They ... later succeed in creating the robot Lychee, and everything starts to go to shit. The plot also has some philosophical ideas, though you would mainly want to read it for the really disturbing aspects.

Art: 10/10
Furuya is an amazing manga artist. This should be expected though, as he graduated from an art school and worked as a high school art teacher years before writing this series. Furuya is great at drawing human characters. He also did some amazing mechanical designs, backgrounds, and gore scenes in this manga. There is a lot of gore in the later chapters, and it is all really well drawn. The sexual content might be off putting for some though, as all the characters are around 13-14 years old.

Characters: 9/10
The amazing thing this manga does is make a robot made for kidnapping and murder easier to sympathize with than a group of middle schoolers. Most of the Light Club members are horrible, disgusting people. I can't really say how twisted some of the characters are without spoiling parts of the plot. Lychee and Kanon though are pretty likable characters. Despite being a murder robot, Lychee grows to be a likable and actually very human character. Kanon was alright, I mainly liked her for the friendship she developed with Lychee.

Enjoyment: 10/10
I honestly enjoyed every moment of this manga, the last few chapters especially. The violent moments, the comedic moments, the emotional moments. Furuya did an amazing job making an amazing horror manga. I just wish this manga would've gotten a proper anime adaptation, because it would be so great with sound and color. I can see why it never got animated though, because the sex scenes and extreme gore.

Overall: 10/10

Maybe I'll read more of Furuya's work in the future. I might finish the anime series at some point and review it. I might read the prequel manga and review it too.