Super-Conductive Brains

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For someone who enjoys dark humor and horror, but does not care much for "grotesque nonsense", picking up a Shintarou Kago is like playing Russian roulette. In this analogy, "Super-Conductive Brains" is a blank: you lose but at least you don't suffer any major consequence.

This manga is not an avant-garde comedy -in the vein of "Dementia 21"- a reasonable reader might hope for, nor is it one of this author's more "extreme" works. "Super-Conductive Brains" is a short science-fiction manga for mature audiences, with a loose overarching story connecting various vignettes set in a rather bleak future.

Granted, the manga is not for the faint of ... heart -with plenty of gore and nudity- but it is all presented in an unceremonious and matter-of-fact way, which will not make it very impactful to horror/dark sci-fi readers. The inclusion of those elements might simply be a way to reinforce the theme of dehumanization and the overall dystopian feel of the setting. Since the visual presentation is rather dull in general, lacking the abstractions and creative compositions often seen in Kago's work, the focus is indeed on the story.

This is where "Super-Conductive Brains" comes especially short. None of the vignettes bring any novel science-fiction concept to the table, and the overarching story suffers from Kago's usual issues with providing a satisfying conclusion to a narrative. The stories all revolve around the biomechanoids' ambiguous nature (human or machine) or some generic "dystopian future" plot without subverting those tropes outside of the tacked-on graphic content.

Overall, the manga is simply not very engaging. The characters are fine and sufficiently developed within the story they appear in and -besides some overly busy panels- said stories are competently told. Still, it will not leave any lasting impression, because of the absence of Kago's (in)famous trademark visuals or comedy, and because it ends up being a collection of generic science-fiction stories.

"Super-Conductive Brains"
- imPERVious90 Bogusified -

Now, to those who knows or are familiar of the works of Kago Shintaro or to be more specific, that of the guro-manga typed manga scene, you may possibly know how this review may go. To those who are looking for a good read and happen to stumble upon this manga... Well, prepare for a "good" read...

Super-Conductive Brains has a story to it, a oddly developed story. Now it may not immediately tell you what in the world is going on, and believe me, you'd be telling yourself, "What in the world is going on?" for the entirety of the read, ... it will definitely tell you what in the world is going on in a rather "subtle" fashion. Each chapter has its own story to it, but the over-arching story will be slowly revealed, and I think it was done in a rather easy-to-follow fashion, to which I give merit to, granted, that that story isn't really much to go around and may be already obvious and predictable to the some very observant viewer/s.

Now with art, it has the "Kago Shintaro" usual style to it, and to those familiar with his works, it is easily discernible. Now for the general audience, it can be perhaps a tad bit exaggerated at times. Though with how the genre goes, the art form easily discerns what is what, and that is certainly not easy to do with this type of genre. With that, the characters are, well, bland, no one standouts, though character development for each chapter are fairly done and expresses what each characters motives are for the actions they commit.

Overall, if you are a fan of the "guro" manga genre, then why in the world not, not read a Kago Shintaro manga... Now on the far side of the spectrum, well... This is certainly not easily stomached and I do recommend you to "stay away" as far as possible. If you don't like "guts, very-very dark humor, and more guts" then yes... please do take my advice and go... far far away to "Naruto" Land... If you're the "guro" typed person then this certainly is for your own super-conductive brain... you slime... no offense...