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evgeniya's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
"who i am as a person and my body are both borrowed... but my feelings for you are real."
wow. just wow. i am so normal about this (lying). it hurt my heart but in the best way possible, this is so my type of story. like, what if you lived in a small town and had an unrequited gay crush on your best friend who went up to the mountains one day for reasons you don't know and disappeared for a week, but then a creature stole his body and came back from the mountain like nothing happened, and you're the only one who can tell that it's not actually him even though it looks and sounds like him, has his memories, but the creature just wants to experience the simple joys of humanity and it follows you around because you're the only person who's ever been kind to it. and it probably kills people, you think so, at least. it's the coming back wrong and haunting the narrative type of story, being queer in a small town and internalized homophobia (very relatable, this is the real horror of the manga), the codependent homoerotic friendships you had when you were fifteen (also, very relatable), and what it means to be alive or dead and navigating a world you feel like you don't belong to, and grief, and mourning, and obsession, and love. what's not to like? and, the most important moment of them all. "after school, i'll show you my insides." me when. ME WHEN. who's showing me their insides? and maybe consuming me by the void inside of them completely?
but! if you don't want to be devastated, this is not for you. because this is just so full of grief, full of longing for what's lost and conflicting emotions for what's been gained. there hasn't been a day where yoshiki hasn't experienced soul shattering trauma, just warning you here. he's constantly scared and confused, and seems to be a huge overthinker (i can relate), he keeps bouncing back and forth between accepting this 'something' as hikaru, his best friend, and then beating himself up for doing so and thinking it's disgusting, that he is disgusting. he feels he's being selfish for even entertaining this whole thing. all the flashbacks we get when yoshiki gets reminded of the stuff that 'hakari' keeps mentioning from the past, when he wasn't even there to witness it all, but he just knows it now, that's when it hits you its hardest. i can only imagine how yoshiki feels when it happens. it fills me with dread, personally. and i can just feel this not ending well for either of them. i feel like one of them, at least, will die in the end. i can already see it in my head. and i can feel my heart break, because i'm way too attached to these characters already. it's been six chapters.
last thing i want to mention, the art is absolutely fucking gorgeous. it's beyond beautiful. i spent so much time looking around all the pages, taking in all the details instead of moving on with the story. so damn good.
wow. just wow. i am so normal about this (lying). it hurt my heart but in the best way possible, this is so my type of story. like, what if you lived in a small town and had an unrequited gay crush on your best friend who went up to the mountains one day for reasons you don't know and disappeared for a week, but then a creature stole his body and came back from the mountain like nothing happened, and you're the only one who can tell that it's not actually him even though it looks and sounds like him, has his memories, but the creature just wants to experience the simple joys of humanity and it follows you around because you're the only person who's ever been kind to it. and it probably kills people, you think so, at least. it's the coming back wrong and haunting the narrative type of story, being queer in a small town and internalized homophobia (very relatable, this is the real horror of the manga), the codependent homoerotic friendships you had when you were fifteen (also, very relatable), and what it means to be alive or dead and navigating a world you feel like you don't belong to, and grief, and mourning, and obsession, and love. what's not to like? and, the most important moment of them all. "after school, i'll show you my insides." me when. ME WHEN. who's showing me their insides? and maybe consuming me by the void inside of them completely?
but! if you don't want to be devastated, this is not for you. because this is just so full of grief, full of longing for what's lost and conflicting emotions for what's been gained. there hasn't been a day where yoshiki hasn't experienced soul shattering trauma, just warning you here. he's constantly scared and confused, and seems to be a huge overthinker (i can relate), he keeps bouncing back and forth between accepting this 'something' as hikaru, his best friend, and then beating himself up for doing so and thinking it's disgusting, that he is disgusting. he feels he's being selfish for even entertaining this whole thing. all the flashbacks we get when yoshiki gets reminded of the stuff that 'hakari' keeps mentioning from the past, when he wasn't even there to witness it all, but he just knows it now, that's when it hits you its hardest. i can only imagine how yoshiki feels when it happens. it fills me with dread, personally. and i can just feel this not ending well for either of them. i feel like one of them, at least, will die in the end. i can already see it in my head. and i can feel my heart break, because i'm way too attached to these characters already. it's been six chapters.
last thing i want to mention, the art is absolutely fucking gorgeous. it's beyond beautiful. i spent so much time looking around all the pages, taking in all the details instead of moving on with the story. so damn good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Grief
Moderate: Child death
iane_reads's review
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Gaslighting
Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Abandonment
Minor: Body shaming, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Excrement, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
syinhui's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
17 Chapters and 3 full volumes out. Mokumokuren got a new fan here. Or should I say umbrella?
This is actually really good. One of the best seinen manga I’ve read this year. Not much on the bl side since the shounen-ai category was scrapped from the official release.
This is actually really good. One of the best seinen manga I’ve read this year. Not much on the bl side since the shounen-ai category was scrapped from the official release.
The art style is great and I really appreciate the hard work and effort put into creating each chapter which is evident in the skillful shading and incredibly detailed background. I, in particular, love the fish-eye lens effect incorporated in some panels. The colored pages and extra art are both stunning and expressive. There’s even a nod to Junji Ito’s Uzumaki in one of the art featuring Yoshiki and Hikaru. A parallel to the mysterious and disturbing events happening around the town, the distortions, and the inevitable spiral descent to madness if things continue as it is.
Mokumokuren also effectively uses the unique medium of manga in enhancing the narrative. In the very first chapter, the buzzing of insects depicted in text as repetitive sfx, builds up the atmosphere of the countryside in summer but as it progressively becomes more prominent almost taking up a whole panel and then abruptly ceasing altogether. You can tell that something is not quite right at that moment. A presence. Enough to drown the surrounding noises.
Yoshiki knows it’s not Hikaru. I’m glad that it’s made very clear from the start, straying from the usual trope of brooding over/slowly finding out whether my friend who came back different is a monster or not. So instead, what’s left is Yoshiki's internal struggles - how he would process the turmoil of emotions that came from that confirmation. Yoshiki is tottering at the very edge of the precipice torn between longing, love, guilt and fear while this Hikaru desperately clings to him, the only person who accepts him for who and what he is.
A refreshing take on body possession, combined with the yokai of Japanese folklore, hints of homoeroticism and coming to terms with loss at the same time working out your feelings for an entity similar to those in Eldtrich horror. With all of these elements rolled up into one manga, I think this going to be a personal favorite.
A refreshing take on body possession, combined with the yokai of Japanese folklore, hints of homoeroticism and coming to terms with loss at the same time working out your feelings for an entity similar to those in Eldtrich horror. With all of these elements rolled up into one manga, I think this going to be a personal favorite.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Gore and Murder
Minor: Child death
not_another_ana's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Gore
ahh_listen's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death
nevermoregothic's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Child death and Death
elwyn_k's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Grief
Moderate: Child death and Death of parent
livelaughomo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Gore
Moderate: Body horror and Homophobia
doodlesread's review against another edition
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Interesting premise and setting, great artwork. The topic of grief is prevalent throughout. A small town with a curse and superstitions that might or might not be true… I love the mystery.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Moderate: Gore, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
Minor: Homophobia
wends_nblw's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It's okay. I think my main problem my last few reads have been expectations. I was expecting a great horror mlm manga. And it might be making its way there, but right now, it's just not.
I love the art style, of course. It's so good. And I'm not sure how they were able to make a monstrous eldritch creature so lovable, but they did. I'm even loving the side characters.
However, I've found that eldritch horror just isn't my genre. (Which is a shame.) And plot wise, I'm just not keeping up. There's a whole mystery and I'm just not into it. Despite that, I'd still recommend this to casual horror enjoyers that like some body horror.
I love the art style, of course. It's so good. And I'm not sure how they were able to make a monstrous eldritch creature so lovable, but they did. I'm even loving the side characters.
However, I've found that eldritch horror just isn't my genre. (Which is a shame.) And plot wise, I'm just not keeping up. There's a whole mystery and I'm just not into it. Despite that, I'd still recommend this to casual horror enjoyers that like some body horror.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Homophobia and Injury/Injury detail