Franken Fran

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Franken Furan, Phase 20

Japanese: フランケン・ふらん

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 8

Chapters: 71

Status: Finished

Published: Jul 19, 2006 to Jan 19, 2012

Genres: Comedy, Horror, Supernatural

Theme: Psychological

Demographic: Seinen

Serialization: Champion RED

Authors: Kigitsu, Katsuhisa (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 7.79¹ (scored by 13,735 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #1329²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #493

Members: 35,668

Favorites: 1,420

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7.79

Ranked #1329Popularity #493Members 35,668

MangaChampion REDKigitsu, Katsuhisa (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /8

Chapters: /71

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Synopsis

Deep within Japan's remote regions is the mansion of Dr. Naomitsu Madaraki, a surgeon notorious for his gruesome work. While he is away from home, his artificial daughter Fran takes over the mansion and his grisly surgical practice. With the aid of her violent younger sister Veronica, the human-cat hybrid Okita, and Dr. Madaraki's other macabre creations, Fran deals with the unusual requests of her clients. From tumor removal to reviving the dead, no two jobs are alike, but no job is too difficult—or too dangerous—for the successor to Dr. Madaraki. This eccentric medical prodigy is willing to do anything to save a life, even if her results are seldom pretty.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Included one-shot:
Volume 7: Phase 20

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Background

Franken Fran was published in English by Seven Seas Entertainment in 2-in-1 omnibuses from February 16, 2016 to January 17, 2017.

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Characters

Madaraki, Fran

Main

Madaraki, Veronica

Main

Madaraki, Gavrill

Supporting

Adorea

Supporting

Okita

Supporting

Kuhou, Rumiko

Supporting

Nezura-san

Supporting

Moriya, Misaki

Supporting

Tadashi, Matsumae

Supporting

Tsuji, Misae

Supporting

Reviews

Nov 5, 2023

Ciaran_Zagami

Recommended

I can only recommend this to readers with a strong stomach and a darker sense of humor.
The shortest way I could describe Franken Fran is like an old European Fairytale (like Princess Donkey Skin type stuff) but with much more body horror. Halfway between a Fairy Godparent and Herbert West Reanimator.

Fran is a really good character, her ideal of scientific progress at nearly any cost clashes with her unwillingness to let anyone under her care die. (even if it means crafting a fate far worse than death for them)
Sure its not exactly realistic, but if you stick with my fairytale comparison it makes ...

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Mar 4, 2021

deli_

Recommended

Franken Fran is a dark-comedy manga with lots of gore. If you don’t like gore, then this manga is going to disturb you extremely. However, if you’re like me who absolutely loves looking at dismembered limbs and eye-catching grotesqueries, then you’re going to have a fun time with this. In a way, this manga is sort of like a toned-down version of the world of eroguro. It’s much more “polished” and less “raw” than guro works but still contains the organs, the dismemberment, and the bloody circus of acts that is present in eroguro. It's more creative in its approach through its diverse collection of ... individual stories, and there are certain chapters where the style of comedy and art feel reminiscent of Shintaro Kago’s (another eroguro artist known for his surreal illustrations) own motifs.

The thing about Franken Fran is its lack of consistency. Franken Fran is structured in an episodic way, with the titular main character Fran Madaraki going through different scenarios throughout the course of the manga. Thus, there are chapters that are brilliant, from the insect chapters to the stories with human multiplication. And then, there are chapters that are not as interesting and even some that pale in comparison to the rest. Not all of the stories retain the same level of quality. There’s an experimental edge to this manga that lies in the concepts of its individual stories. The author uses the premise of Franken Fran to delve into the components of society and human behavior, and while they’re not the most profound or probing portrayals, the playful nature of the manga contributes an amusing perspective into those things. And if there’s one thing that the manga does extremely well at, it’s in its playful and snarky way of commenting on society.

Franken Fran explores how we perceive physical appearance and attractiveness, delves into the darker side of the entertainment industry, and touches on the everyday life, all to twist these ideas to fit within the comically apathetic attitude of the manga. It’s a kind of dark humor that’s very tongue-in-cheek and makes the manga feel more fresh and fun as a result. The stories can get wild and almost always lead to an undesirable outcome for the characters. That’s what makes it brilliant though as it’s always played off in a darkly comedic manner. It’s playful and snarky in all the right ways.

Franken Fran's stories are able to flourish so well due to its peculiar cast of characters. Fran's unethical ways of "saving" her patients lead to a mixture of disturbing and sometimes even outright terrifying abominations. She’s like the crazy mad scientist except that she actually has good intentions, though it’s not always clear from the way she conjures up solutions. The characters in Franken Fran play off of each rather well, and the people that Fran meets and interacts with with each new story offer a new concept to be explored, whether that be reviving humans, wanting to look more physically attractive, or desiring to attain a new body. Fran’s own eccentricities make for countless humorous moments as she works her doctor role which, more often than not, leads to the opposite of what she envisioned. Fran is the perfect character for a manga like this, and her naivety when it comes to human behavior and her lack of concern for the ethical make for some interesting developments in the realm of science.

And then there’s the artwork.

Franken Fran’s artstyle, especially with certain illustrations, share the same kind of up-in-your-face presentation as Kago’s stuff but with a little more sheen to it. Franken Fran’s art is gross, overblown, and creative. Through the course of the manga, the author manages to impress and maintain the same level of quality of the grotesque depictions of the operations, mutilations, and chaotic bloodbaths. For anyone who loves looking at gore done in cool ways, this is definitely one of those manga where it's fresh all-around, and there’s always something neat with each chapter. Even though there are certainly chapters that are not so interesting, they’re still worth reading for the bloody bits. There are even some surreal illustrations that accompany the more bizarre stories, and they work to add a little more flavor to the manga as a whole.

Franken Fran is the kind of manga for big fans of gore, and it definitely offers more than just that. It may not be the most profound manga or the most consistent, but it’s definitely a worthwhile read for anyone who wants to sit back, relax, and envision themselves as a mad scientist (who also happens to have good intentions).

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Oct 21, 2020

Larcus

Mixed Feelings

Franken Fran is an episodic body horror manga with a soft hint of comedy put into the mix.

The story revolves around a frankenstein-like girl named Fran and her encounters with various people who often seek her advanced medical knowledge in order to solve a particular problem they face. Almost all chapters are self-contained individual stories with new casts of characters, with Fran and company being the only thing that ties it all together. However, I do recommend reading Fran in chronological order because a lot of stories get referenced in later chapters. The stories by themselves arent that scary in a graphic sense but ... they are pretty scary and very interesting in terms of ideas of what sorts of things could be done to the human body. The only big problem I had with this one was that the pace of every chapter sped up like crazy on the last third or fourth pages of a lot of chapters which kind of messed with my immersion in the story. However, most of them end on a unique bitter-sweet note that felt unpredictable and left me craving for more.

As for the main cast, I definitely felt like they weren't fully fleshed out.
Fran Madaraki(the MC) was, in my opinion, the vocal point of this manga. She is a master surgeon with a very nuanced philosophy and charm that captivates the reader. She is like a clever subversion of the mad-scientist archetype that's believable and works exceptionally well.

The only thing she lacked was character development and progression. You could argue that this was because she was from the start an accomplished individual and that's fair. But still, much of her character and her relationships with other charecters were unexplored. The same could be said for the rest of the cast excluding Frans little sister Veronica who developed quite a bit.

The art was pretty decent, with great detail put into the body horror big page layouts. The character designs were very unique and the monsters that were introduced always felt fresh.
The one thing I found very misleading about Franken Fran( and I think most fans will agree with me on this one) were the volume covers of the manga. All of the eight volumes feature a very sexualized depiction of one or more of the main characters. Which would be fine if this was an ecchi series, but its definitely not. None of the characters are depicted in a sexual way in the manga and nudity is only shown when it is accompanied by body horror. Although, I must say that the cover art definitely differs from the style of the manga so it's possible the covers were done by another guy who just happens to have a thing for Frankenstein girls, who knows.

Overall I think this is a nice read, and I am giving it a 6 out of 10.
I would've given it a 7 or maybe even an 8 if the story actually concluded. But after 70 chapters the story just kind of stops without ending. Hopefully the sequel Franken Fran frantic won't meet the same fate.

Thanks for reading, peace out :)

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Poll: FrankenFran Chapter 4 Discussion Faust721 - Apr 5, 2008	26 replies	by lucita_prk »» Oct 24, 2023 3:00 PM
Poll: FrankenFran Chapter 5 Discussion Darkreaper70 - Apr 12, 2008	18 replies	by novusanimis »» Jul 1, 2023 1:04 PM
Poll: Franken Fran Chapter 57 Discussion notsureifsrs - Oct 16, 2011	11 replies	by HunLepto »» Dec 17, 2022 12:11 AM
Poll: Franken Fran Chapter 61 Discussion 13man18 - Feb 5, 2012	36 replies	by FedeMetal »» Nov 10, 2022 8:09 AM
Poll: Franken Fran Chapter 60 Discussion 13man18 - Feb 5, 2012	9 replies	by FedeMetal »» Nov 9, 2022 11:15 AM

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