Smokin' Parade

Youkou lives in a future where organ transplants are common and available to all, but life's not as idyllic as it seems—it turns out a nefarious organization is using that technology for their own evil ends! Only the elite squad Jackalope has any chance of stopping them before it's too late.

(Source: Yen Press)

Edit
Background

Smokin' Parade has been published in English by Yen Press from February 21, 2017 to May 24, 2022.

More characters
Characters

Kakujou, Youkou

Main

Midari

Main

Akuta

Main

Shiba

Supporting

Ken

Supporting

Gagara

Supporting

Kotoharu

Supporting

Hazama, Kurama

Supporting

Jimo

Supporting

Kakujou, Mirai

Supporting

Reviews

Jan 10, 2018

Sakan

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (10/49 eps)

In spirit, Smokin' Parade almost transmits us the same gore vibe than Deadman, which is still great, but it fails in putting the reader inside the ambient, i would say because there is just too simple character development in each chapter.
It follows a story of a group that kills "spiders" and in each chapter you have a new enemy with a new simple motivation and low deepening but with considerable reasons to do what they do. Considering it's a manga about a group of people killing and joking around, the character development is really shallow and don't trasmit enough empathy in any way. ...

Open

Gift

Apr 30, 2016

kuroror

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (6/49 eps)

From the creators of Deadman Wonderland comes Edgy Gory Avengers Against FNAF Characters with Added BL. In other words, Smokin' Parade. And maybe Suicide Squad.

First of all, this is nothing like Deadman Wonderland. It is completely different aside from the art style. If you've read a summary, it's about a boy who joins an organization against these things called "Spiders."

As of now the manga has six chapters and the plot is basically: "Let's go around doing missions and killing Spiders." with some black comedy and every chance to add gore scenes and uncomfortable, crazed faces to make the reader uncomfortable. Heck, the first chapter ...

Open

Gift

Feb 17, 2025

Final_Verdict

Not Recommended

Smokin’ Parade is a strange manga, and not necessarily because of the graphic nature of its content; rather, that it ends up never really making any sense at all, and is just a confusing and tedious mess that constantly had me scratching my head.

The basic premise is simple, if a bit silly: in a not-so-distant future, people around the world who get prosthetic implants from a company called “Amenotori” often mutate into mindless, mascot-headed cyborg killing machines (dubbed “Spiders”), and a group of mercenaries with implanted weapon limbs (dubbed the “Jackalopes”) exist to hunt them down whenever they appear.

Already there are questions, right? ... Why the mascot heads? Why “Jackalopes?” What’s the point, here?

Sadly, Smokin’ Parade never really gives us an answer to these questions, nor many others. The writer and artist duo’s manga before this, Deadman Wonderland, is notorious for putting style over substance in similar fashion—but as a reader of both, I can easily say that Deadman Wonderland ends up having a great deal more intention than you might expect if you’ve only seen the anime. Sure, it’s edgy, and tends to tout that, but it has a kind of cohesion that makes all its sillier elements interesting. Smokin’ Parade never approaches this balance.

Don’t get me wrong, it has no lack of style and aesthetic; often flaunting genuine top of the line art that is consistent with what Kataoka provides in many of her other works. However, meaninglessness pervades in a way that the artwork cannot save. There isn’t very much to latch onto in the way of story or characters: the emotional storytelling is juvenile and slapdash, often beginning and ending arcs for random characters way too quickly, or just having a general lack of direction from the getgo. First we’re dealing with Spiders, then another group of mercenaries that act as a foil to the Jackalopes, but, wait, they’re connected? But the characters that connect to the protagonists show up for like, three chapters and then aren’t seen again? Then it doesn’t matter and there’s a big Spider out somewhere that needs to be killed, and then… uh, THAT doesn’t matter either, then the world’s ending? There’s no plot direction at all, with things happening randomly and either not getting resolved, or getting resolved as soon as they’re introduced.

What makes me sad is that there are often good ideas in this story: the cost of transhumanism, the “scientists only thought about if they could, not if they should,” shebang, you could even make a case for this manga sorta-maybe-kinda analyzing the effects of Big Pharma, and the dangers of corporate medicine. There’s cool ideas about prosthetics, grueling human experimentation (that could’ve been more impactful), and a protagonist that—admittedly—is more than likely a sociopath… but nothing here gets the time and depth it deserves, nothing is explored to its fullest. And I just don’t know why? The duo has shown they’re capable of making something interesting even if it’s framed by meaningless violence: in Deadman Wonderland’s case, even if the premise and ideas were absurd, the absurdity was constantly lampshaded, and many nuances were expanded upon in ways that felt logical. The power system makes sense, the characters have page time, and their motivations make sense, even the silly naming conventions (like “Branch of Sin,” all the Deadmen being named after birds, etc.) make sense. The setup, the conflict, powers, and, yes, even the goddamn naming conventions: none of it in Smokin’ Parade feels like any more than a slapdash excuse to get the “cool” imagery Kataoka and Kondo wanted into manga. Imagery of edgy cyborgs with animal heads getting chopped up by edgy cyborg people. It’s just lazy.

Is it fair to keep comparing a manga to the creators’ previous work? Normally I’d say no, but there’s such a little departure in ideas and style that I couldn’t help but constantly think “Deadman did this better” as I read through the story. The whole thing just ends up feeling not very cohesive, and forced.

In the end, Smokin’ Parade is a gorgeous manga with interesting action scenes that is constantly on the cusp of having good ideas, but which are always sabotaged by its own lack of coherency. So much so that I’d consider it below average, and not generally worth reading, even if it's cool to look at.

Interest Stacks

More Obscure Finds from Your Local Library

by FrenzyofParadise

32 Entries · 39 Restacks

Cyborgs

by Nightmare_Eyes

35 Entries · 62 Restacks

More recommendations
Recommendations

View All

More news
Recent News

North American Anime & Manga Releases for May

Here are the North American anime, manga, and light novel releases for May Week 1: May 3 - 9 Anime Releases 2.43: Seiin Koukou Danshi Volley-bu (2.43: Seiin High Sch...read more

May 4, 2022 4:32 AM by Aiimee | Discuss (3 comments)

North American Anime & Manga Releases for March

Here are the North American anime, manga, and light novel releases for March. Week 1: March 1 - 7 Anime Releases Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka? Bloom (Is the Order a Ra...read more

Mar 3, 2022 11:25 AM by Aiimee | Discuss (2 comments)

More discussions
Recent Forum Discussion

Ongoing or canceled? -Sasaki- - Jan 21, 2016	10 replies	by nidoqueen106_2 »» Jul 11, 2024 6:09 PM
Poll: Smokin' Parade Chapter 12 Discussion Ittan_Momen - Nov 16, 2018	2 replies	by Ittan_Momen »» Jan 2, 2020 3:25 PM
Poll: Smokin' Parade Chapter 6 Discussion Stark700 - Apr 30, 2016	2 replies	by Ittan_Momen »» Nov 14, 2018 8:48 PM
Poll: Smokin' Parade Chapter 4 Discussion drama_menck - Feb 4, 2016	6 replies	by Ittan_Momen »» Nov 14, 2018 6:55 PM
Poll: Smokin' Parade Chapter 2 Discussion Stark700 - Oct 7, 2015	21 replies	by the_sketchy_nerd »» Apr 2, 2018 10:11 PM

Smokin' Parade
Edit

What would you like to edit?

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Edit
Synopsis

Edit
Background

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

More characters
Characters

Reviews

Interest Stacks

More recommendations
Recommendations

More news
Recent News

More discussions
Recent Forum Discussion

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Smokin' Parade Edit What would you like to edit? SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

EditSynopsis

EditBackground

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

More charactersCharacters

Reviews

Interest Stacks

More recommendations Recommendations

More newsRecent News

More discussionsRecent Forum Discussion

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Smokin' Parade
Edit

What would you like to edit?

Edit
Synopsis

Edit
Background

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

More characters
Characters

More recommendations
Recommendations

More news
Recent News

More discussions
Recent Forum Discussion