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minimicropup's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Okay, so technically I didn’t like this because so many awful things happened. But I think it was well done.
Energy: Visceral. Compulsive. Devastating.
Scene: 🇯🇵 Set in Tokyo, Japan.
Perspective: Observing the day-to-day struggles of a cast of high school students.
🐩 Tail Wags: The startling, sad, but believable storylines. Illustration style.
🤔 Random Thoughts:
Throws every bad thing that could happen to someone as a teen at the reader, but it didn’t feel gratuitous. It seemed plausible.
Check content heads-up as a lot of it is graphic especially when you can watch it play out on the page.
Check content heads-up as a lot of it is graphic especially when you can watch it play out on the page.
This was originally from the ‘90s and it feels that way. Some of it didn’t age well, but the topics and outcomes aren’t irrelevant for today. Footnotes provide context when popular media is referenced from that time.
----
🤓 Reader Role: Watching the scene unfold getting to understand the group dynamics and backstories.
🗺️ World-Building: Immersive, sensory, gritty.
🔥 Fuel: Character de-evolution, parallel plots, and atmospheric tension. Who will survive, who will succumb, and will there be justice?
📖 Cred: Hyper-realistic to plausible.
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Stagnant water. Canadian goldenrod. Factory smoke. Steam whistle. School bell. Tears. Faint ocean breeze. Sewage. Ozone.
- 1980s/’90s high school drama
- Coming of age tragedies
- Harsh life struggles
- Dark foreboding atmosphere
- Teen psychological horrors
Content Heads-Up: Homophobia, homophobic slurs. Outing (by friends). Bullying (physical assault, humiliation, name-calling, threats). Toxic relationship. Adult/minor relationship. Fatphobia. Sexual content (consenting; graphic, on page; rough off page). Corpse (discovery, disposal). Eating disorder (bingeing, purging; on page). Violence (attack, strangling). Murder. Cheating on romantic partner. Pregnancy. Abortion (discussion of). Obsession, unrequited love. Animal cruelty (cat torture, death; on page). Fire (fatality). Suicide. Blood. Miscarriage. Rape (on page). Vomit. Body fluids (semen). Drug use.
Rep: Japanese. Gay. Lesbian. Heterosexual. Cisgender.
📚 Format: Advance Reader’s Copy from Kodansha Comics, Vertical Comics, and NetGalley.
My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Fatphobia, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Outing
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Miscarriage, Blood, Abortion, and Pregnancy
jenniferforjoy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Recommended sure
for a look at a darker piece of life for the time, for a "slice of life" story where the slice is pretty grim and dirty
Thoughts:
Look, this is not for kids just because it's a graphic novel. It's got full naked bodies and corpses and violence and eating disorders and animal abuse and lots of other dark and heavy stuff. Please, be ready for it if you read this. I had to take some breaks after certain moments that pierced me through.
My best description of this is that it's like slice of life, but the life is shit. Everyone is unhappy in some way in this story, and it's all very dark and sad. There's no resolution; things don't get better; people don't change. You just stay with them for a while and see how they live, and you end it knowing that's still how they live. Don't come here looking for an arc of "learn and grow" because it's not here. This is not an indictment at all, it's just not the kind of story being told in this. If I understood correctly this is a story based on a poem, which is included at the end and was a bit harrowing (which made sense after reading the story that was meant to reflect it, I believe).
If you asked me what's the point or the takeaway of this story, I have no idea. The randomness of life is what I felt from this, and particularly the randomness of the pain that some people just get dumped with over and over. It's just kind of like "this is how it was and how it continued to be" even when it was shitty. And hey, maybe that *is* the point, you know? Things don't always get better. Things don't always work out. You just have to keep going. And in that, it was darkly compelling.
While the story is ugly, the art is not. There's a tinge of wildness to it that matches the desperate wildness of the characters, each showing it in their own way at some point in the story. Sometimes I had to really pause and see the whole panel, which made the story that much more poignant and piercing because I would have to really focus on a scene of something inevitably terrible. I couldn't just glance at it and turn away because I had to pay attention in order to really *see* it, and I feel like that mirrors what life needs to be in order to accomplish anything: really look at the ugliness and pain, or else you'll never be able to understand those things in order to move past them. Maybe I'm reading too much into it all, but that's kind of how this book made me feel. Somber, reflective, a touch morose.
Overall I do recommend this but only if you know that it's a darker vibe and filled with pain (and triggers).
Thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for a free advanced copy. This is my honest review.
for a look at a darker piece of life for the time, for a "slice of life" story where the slice is pretty grim and dirty
Thoughts:
Look, this is not for kids just because it's a graphic novel. It's got full naked bodies and corpses and violence and eating disorders and animal abuse and lots of other dark and heavy stuff. Please, be ready for it if you read this. I had to take some breaks after certain moments that pierced me through.
My best description of this is that it's like slice of life, but the life is shit. Everyone is unhappy in some way in this story, and it's all very dark and sad. There's no resolution; things don't get better; people don't change. You just stay with them for a while and see how they live, and you end it knowing that's still how they live. Don't come here looking for an arc of "learn and grow" because it's not here. This is not an indictment at all, it's just not the kind of story being told in this. If I understood correctly this is a story based on a poem, which is included at the end and was a bit harrowing (which made sense after reading the story that was meant to reflect it, I believe).
If you asked me what's the point or the takeaway of this story, I have no idea. The randomness of life is what I felt from this, and particularly the randomness of the pain that some people just get dumped with over and over. It's just kind of like "this is how it was and how it continued to be" even when it was shitty. And hey, maybe that *is* the point, you know? Things don't always get better. Things don't always work out. You just have to keep going. And in that, it was darkly compelling.
While the story is ugly, the art is not. There's a tinge of wildness to it that matches the desperate wildness of the characters, each showing it in their own way at some point in the story. Sometimes I had to really pause and see the whole panel, which made the story that much more poignant and piercing because I would have to really focus on a scene of something inevitably terrible. I couldn't just glance at it and turn away because I had to pay attention in order to really *see* it, and I feel like that mirrors what life needs to be in order to accomplish anything: really look at the ugliness and pain, or else you'll never be able to understand those things in order to move past them. Maybe I'm reading too much into it all, but that's kind of how this book made me feel. Somber, reflective, a touch morose.
Overall I do recommend this but only if you know that it's a darker vibe and filled with pain (and triggers).
Thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for a free advanced copy. This is my honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Eating disorder, Gore, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Toxic relationship, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, and Pregnancy
hazelwood's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Very dark. (Kittens get murdered. People die.) I'm not sure what the point of it is. Something about desire. These kids are fucking each other up the whole time. Nothing really gets resolved either. It just didn't really speak to me, specifically. Interesting story, but kind of depressing. Heed the content warnings, lots of heavy topics.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Suicide attempt
dfmaiwat's review
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Rape, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Abortion
kaiyakaiyo's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
yeah this was incredibly fucked up in the name of “showing real issues” or some bullshit like that & im really wondering why manga is so obsessed with teenage girls suffering, specifically sexually
lots of rape and sexual assault, near murder, a very badly handled teenage pregnancy storyline, and some sort of cobbled together point about self-esteem? so much of the violence was gratuitous; the author could’ve made these points without actually illustrating a rape scene, strangulation, etc…
weird as hell
lots of rape and sexual assault, near murder, a very badly handled teenage pregnancy storyline, and some sort of cobbled together point about self-esteem? so much of the violence was gratuitous; the author could’ve made these points without actually illustrating a rape scene, strangulation, etc…
weird as hell
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Blood, Vomit, Stalking, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
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