A review by crookedtreehouse
Henshin by J.M. Ken Niimura
2.0
I've told the story to several people of the time I recommended [b:I Kill Giants|6435893|I Kill Giants|Joe Kelly|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1356121155s/6435893.jpg|6625451] to one of my exes because he enjoyed manga, completely forgetting that the emotional core of that book (no spoilers here) tied deeply into his own childhood in a way that would lead to an emotional breakdown.
The thing is, I've recommended that book to at least hundreds of people. And as someone whose relationship with Joe Kelly's writing is split evenly between This Is Pretty Good ([b:Four Eyes, Vol. 1: Forged in Flames|8666523|Four Eyes, Vol. 1 Forged in Flames (Four Eyes #1)|Joe Kelly|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1435998904s/8666523.jpg|13538097] and [b:Space Ghost|707920|Space Ghost|Joe Kelly|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1177483077s/707920.jpg|694194]), and Fuck This Guy ([b:Bad Dog, Vol. 1: In The Land Of Milk And Money|22129931|Bad Dog, Vol. 1 In The Land Of Milk And Money|Joe Kelly|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1433923801s/22129931.jpg|41476308] and [b:Bang! Tango|24888224|Bang! Tango|Joe Kelly|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1430166570s/24888224.jpg|44536732]), I credited [a:Ken Niimura|4800063|Ken Niimura|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s art for being the most important part of why I love I Kill Giants.
Henshin isn't supposed to be anything like I Kill Giants. It's a series of short stories about transformations in ordinary life. Or so it claims. The opening story about a girl escaping bullying by visiting her uncle in Tokyo (who might possibly be Yakuza...we aren't given time to tell) is not an ordinary life story. There are other stories about cats, stories about...fart ghosts? and stories about how missing a train can derail your life, but I didn't connect with a single character in this collection. For me, this was a series of shrugs, some drawn beautifully, some just competently.
I don't know who I'd recommend this to. There's much better manga out there for off-kilter nearly normal stories, and I don't think anyone who doesn't already enjoy manga would enjoy reading this.
The thing is, I've recommended that book to at least hundreds of people. And as someone whose relationship with Joe Kelly's writing is split evenly between This Is Pretty Good ([b:Four Eyes, Vol. 1: Forged in Flames|8666523|Four Eyes, Vol. 1 Forged in Flames (Four Eyes #1)|Joe Kelly|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1435998904s/8666523.jpg|13538097] and [b:Space Ghost|707920|Space Ghost|Joe Kelly|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1177483077s/707920.jpg|694194]), and Fuck This Guy ([b:Bad Dog, Vol. 1: In The Land Of Milk And Money|22129931|Bad Dog, Vol. 1 In The Land Of Milk And Money|Joe Kelly|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1433923801s/22129931.jpg|41476308] and [b:Bang! Tango|24888224|Bang! Tango|Joe Kelly|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1430166570s/24888224.jpg|44536732]), I credited [a:Ken Niimura|4800063|Ken Niimura|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s art for being the most important part of why I love I Kill Giants.
Henshin isn't supposed to be anything like I Kill Giants. It's a series of short stories about transformations in ordinary life. Or so it claims. The opening story about a girl escaping bullying by visiting her uncle in Tokyo (who might possibly be Yakuza...we aren't given time to tell) is not an ordinary life story. There are other stories about cats, stories about...fart ghosts? and stories about how missing a train can derail your life, but I didn't connect with a single character in this collection. For me, this was a series of shrugs, some drawn beautifully, some just competently.
I don't know who I'd recommend this to. There's much better manga out there for off-kilter nearly normal stories, and I don't think anyone who doesn't already enjoy manga would enjoy reading this.