and will they figure out the meaning of life though?
STORY
In this manga we follow the lives of 2 brothers , Suguo 14 and Ikuo 8 whose mother just died, and got abandoned by their step-father. They decide to go to Tokyo to try and have a life there but they are broke and clueless. Arriving there, they meet Itou another 14 years old orphan who’s only passion is sniffing glue and makes a living by scamming tourists. They quickly become friends
and decides to live together until they get kicked out of their appartment and have to overcome the wilderness of the streets.
The story gives a pretty cynical yet humorous view on the society they live in , with exaggerated and absurd comedy on their journey to find the meaning of life.
CHARACTERS
There is a versatile cast of characters in this manga each blessed with a unique (fucked up) personality and most of the time design (they ugly) as well. This numerous cast of weirdos allows for the crazy and dark comedy to nicely fit in with the manga , as the side characters are effectively used in that way.
We will see the characters bizarre and extreme quirks shamelessly exposed by the author and follow their daily lives illustrated by their struggle to attain their respective objectives. But what the main characters actually strive for is a place to call home. Don’t expect deep characters with incredible developpment because all you’ll see are imperfect teenagers that are nothing but human beings.
ART
The art in itself isn’t anything too incredible, but Furuya makes a good use of facial expressions to emphatize the grotesque of the situation or the character’s emotions. We also sometimes have some nice chapters covers. I also bear in mind that this manga is quite old and is Furuya’s 2nd manga whom has considerably improved his art since the 1st.
ENJOYMENT
Overall I found this manga extremely funny as a fan of shameless, toilet humour. The manga only has 49 chapters so it’s pretty easy to binge and we barely have time to get bored or tired of the running-gags. However, this type of dark comedy is definitely NOT for everyone, some might find it childish, some might be uninterested in the overall premise leading them to get bored of the same type of comedy. In my case I totally loved it and read 49 of the funniest chapters I’ve ever read (I read it 2 times) , laughing for no fucking reason
everytime. I also found the subtle satyre of society pretty interesting.
OVERALL
As a whole this manga is perfect at it’s job, making me laugh. Nevertheless, everyone doesn’t have the same sense of humour, thus I can’t guarantee you that you’ll love it, but y’all should at least read 5 chapters to get an idea of it. It is definitely a great manga to pass time and definitely deserves more recognition around the western manga community.
