Nouka Suitai no Kikairon-teki Sekaikan ni Kansuru Ikkousatsu

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This is a short one shot created by the great Kago Shintaro, a mangaka who has arguably created the single most creative and disturbing body of work in this form of media. He attracts a lot of negative criticism by people who expect his work to be serious business, or simple eroguro, or people who are just biased towards the kind of manga he creates in general. He is very unappreciated by fans and critics alike. The problem with the detractors of this manga in particular is that they read the confusing description, take it it seriously, and read the manga expecting Ghost in the ... Shell, or something similar. Despite what the description sounds like, it is not deep societal commentary à la Brave New World. It's more of a parody of that. It deals in absurdity à gogo, with a lot packed into 16 pages that will need to be digested rather slowly for full appreciation. The ridiculously pretentious and meaningless title really should have clued you into its parodic nature even if the content didn't.

It seems to be a satirical criticism and/or commentary on abortion and the dehumanization of the fetus, eugenics, genetic modification, alternative fuel, pointless disclaimers and the nanny state, sexual desires, transhumanism, the education system, gender relations, contraception, artificial insemination, Freudian psychology, children being judged as adults, social phobias, social programs such as welfare, human experimentation, general drug use, and euthanasia, among other things. Like I said, a lot is packed into this short manga even if not all of it is the focus of the entire thing. This ridiculous density contributes greatly to the grand absurdity and humor of the manga. Again, it is not an incredible and profound commentary on all of those things (that would be impossible in 16 pages,) it is more of a parody of them and things that do attempt serious commentary on them. It accomplishes this goal very effectively and only if read as a parody can it be properly appreciated.

It would be stupid to dislike this manga because you disagree with the beliefs it seems to support, seeing as it is an astounding satire regardless. It seems to poke a lot of fun at dense dystopic works of media, with its lengthy dialogues, general pretension, and ridiculous amount of footnotes talking about various laws in the future. When it comes to Kago Shintaro's futuristic manga, this stands as his coup de maître, but it is overlooked due to the fact that it (comparatively) lacks the supremely grotesque, scatological, and gory nature of some of his more popular works, which makes the reaction less polarizing and immediate, despite it still being extraordinarily disturbing in its own right. This manga is very clever and is not something the average mind could come up with. I found it to be very impressive and entertaining, with hilarious art and backgrounds, even if the characters are just means to an end. I would recommend it to anybody, and I think reading it can help the average consumer of manga understand what makes a work truly quality, and help them appreciate more off-kilter and unconventional manga, as well as discourage mindless droning against misunderstood things. I think an impartial and objective reader will find this manga to be very good. I certainly did, and I rank it among the best and most entertainingly multifaceted one shots I've ever read.

Story: 9/10
Art: 7.5/10
Character: 5/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Bonus: 8/10
Overall: 39.5/50 or 79%

We'll round that to an 8.

Ah, Kago Shintaro. I hate this man's work, but infuriatingly enough I can't call it bad, because it isn't. Kago actually has a rather imaginative mind into the possibilities of mankind and our future. So why do I hate his work? He doesn't care one bit about taste. Almost all of his work is tasteless, just like the one I will be writing about today.

Nouka Suitai is a one shot about a dystopian future possibility of mankind. And it is actually rather interesting. Kago does not skimp on information, and he goes into very in depth analysis of what he thinks laws and regulations would ... be like in this situation. The only issue is, he makes it incredibly less tasteless than it needs to be.

Two scenes in particular stand out here. First is a scene where a fat woman starts giving birth in an alley while standing up, takes her dress off, bends over, and has two teenage(?) boys pull it out with pliers. The other is a scene where mutant babies are being thrown into some kind of meat grinder. If those things are so integral to the plot, then tell rather than show. Or at least show in less tastelessly explicit ways.

There isn't much to talk about character-wise since the story just jumps from place to place as if to give a tour of this strange future.

The art isn't anything special. In fact, it is downright bad in some places. The machines and backgrounds are the only things worth mentioning, as they are so intricately drawn that it is made even more obvious just how in depth Kago's visions of the future can be.

Even though I could rate this a 1 on personal principles alone, I can understand the genius that Kago displays by giving us this detailed view of a future he sees possible. Because of that, and that alone, I give this a 6. Perhaps if you appreciate his lack of taste as a disestablishment of society's morals then you could give this a 7 or even an 8.

In the world of anime and manga, many fans have come to accept abnormal scenes, situations and characters in what we're enjoying. Perhaps a well developed character and engaging story might have taken an odd twist with its story to entertain us and establish a unique experience. Maybe the premise is so ludicrous and absurd that we can't help to laugh and enjoy it in a "That's so crazy" sort of way.

If I had to categorize An Inquiry Concerning A Mechanistic Worldview of the Pituitary Gland, I'd pick the latter. This One-Shot does not really have any sort of real premise to speak of ... and I understood this when I decided to read this work. In a world where babies pop out grotesquely and faster than you can count, did this bizarre tale entertain? Truth be told, no it does not.

The whole manga is just one big shock factor that does not try to establish any sort of theme and relies on grotesque images and scenes to try and gain a reaction from the reader. There's no clever writing or jokes either that made me enjoy this as I was just full of disgust when I finished.

The art is nothing to write home about as the art is not very detailed and the character models are quite simple.

If you're entertained or just amused by anything that's really grotesque and shocking, go ahead and check it out as it's fairly short. Other than that, I can't say I'd recommend this to anyone.