ART SECTION: 7/10
It is hilarious, no matter how crude the characters look or move. If it was a title where graphics play an outmost importance this would be a major minus. Since it is a comedy not based on slapstick movements, it goes well with the territory. To be honest, the thing that matters the most are the spaced out grimaces the characters make. All the rest are unimportant. Looking so gentle to a point of passing like nerds and mama’s boys or freaked out to resemble mass-murderers was enough to make the jokes work. So, movements and proportions suffer big time but at the same time they give of a feeling of an anarchistic underground comic. I almost doubt it would be as funny if it were done any better.
STORY SECTION: 5/10
A polite, kind youngster turning into a make-belief Kind of Demons against his will and becoming the exact opposite of what he always wanted to be was more than I could bear without laughing for several minutes. I mean most series have some perky youth with high ideals that struggles to accomplish his dreams (i.e. Naruto, Ash Kecham, Luffy D. Monkey). Here we have someone who fails miserably at it but is quite good at being bad! If that is not funny, I don’t know what is. The story was making fun of this cliché most manga have become quite repetitive of (thus feeling boring for the same reason), so seeing it being ridiculed is hilarious for a veteran reader like myself.
In all, the story is funny but not really developed or solid in any way. It will feel like stand-alone chapters with an almost identical form of storytelling. The gentle protagonist will have some peaceful, cheery plan, something goes wrong, and he turns to his hated alter ego in order to solve the problem in a most embarrassing (yet hilarious) manner that favors him. Everything is very convenient, so I never felt the story was meant to be realistic. It is just a simple scenario that unfolds in separated chapters, with an identical manner. The story does depict the basics of the problems music bands and singers have to face as they struggle for fame and acceptance. It still doesn’t get serious at all, as most things are resolved in a very forced way.
CHARACTER SECTION: 8/10
I am the King of Demons! (Krauzer II)
The cast of the characters is generally very likable. None besides the main character gets much focus or development; but since this is a series that focuses solely on one character, this is not a bad thing. Negishi is very interesting as he hates violence and passes for quite passive when in practice he always uses his hateful persona to get out of his troubles. Something like a suppressed dark side of his, Krauzer II is the persona you will most likely choose. For you see, calm and gentle people are presented in very negative ways (spineless, useless, oblivious) while the scum of society are glorified (mucho, imposing, decisive). Like the rest of the story, everything happens in extreme ways and leads to funny results because of the absolute separation of all the characters in to only two reverse poling categories.
VALUE & ENJOYMENT SECTION: 8/10
F**k! My c**t is so wet, that the rain season will come early this year! (Krauzer II’s manager)
That is one of the reasons I adore manga. Give them the liberty, and nothing is impossible to them. It is true that many manga are about a music band (i.e. Beck), or even implement irony and the unexpected factor as means of telling a joke (i.e. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei). This series is the only one that mixes all of the above and even takes them to extreme heights.
The repetitive form of the plot does start to become tiresome later on. Still, the total amount of laughing overshadows the amount of time you start to doubt things. It is far more extreme and bold than most comedies out there. The chances of watching it again are high. The chances of forgetting it are zero.
VERDICT: 7/10
Krauzer II, your verdict for killing and raping a thousand people is … NOT GUILTY! Oh, Lord of the Underworld, murder me now!
