17-21: Fujimoto Tatsuki Tanpenshuu
Tatsuki Fujimoto Before Chainsaw Man: 17–21

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Mod Edit: This review was originally posted for Shikaku (109435) and has subsequently been merged into 17-21: Fujimoto Tatsuki Tanpenshuu (141214).


I saw that there were no reviews for this so I will be the first.

Like many others before me, I came from "Chainsaw Man" and have inevitably worked my way through Tatsuki's numerous one-shots and full length animes.

This one follows the similar pattern of his stories in the sense that the story concludes in a sort of limbo; not really happy or sad. And while it may be a reach, his work is comparable to Ito and Lovecraft's.

In specific to Shikaku, I ... would refer to it as a "Reverse Romeo/Juliet" due to the ending. While there isn't much to discuss, the art is gorgeous, the characters are likable, and the overall plot is unique and interesting. It is only 1 chapter long, therefore I recommend anyone whose read Tatsuki's other work to give this one a shot. I promise you will not be disappointed, actually, you'll be disappointed- because it wasn't a full length manga.

Mod Edit: This review was originally posted for Koi wa Moumoku (108414) and has subsequently been merged into 17-21: Fujimoto Tatsuki Tanpenshuu (141214).


A short and sweet story with a wholesome ending. It gave me a laugh or two. The characters were simple but charming. The unrelenting resolve of the president against the incredibly bizzare circumstances thrown at him unexpectedly was a surprise but a welcome one. The art is good but not as polished as Fujimoto's other works, but the style is appealing regardless. Despite this being more light hearted in tone, the facial expressions are great and the serious atmosphere is captured very well ... for comedic effect.

TL;DR: If you're looking for a more deep and serious work, this isn't for you - but it's a good manga to read if you're interested in Fujimoto's works.

Sasaki-kun ga Juudan Tometa

This is my favorite manga ever. It's so incredible, it's honestly hard to even describe. Literally every line is either an insane and hilarious plot twist or an insane and hilarious philosophical aphorism. It's the perfect post-modern vignette.

Niwa ni wa Niwa Niwatori ga Ita

This manga is incredibly original. I can't comprehend the mind that comes up with something so insane. Fujimoto's work has a way of making you think what he makes is really deep and profound, even though it's hard to tell whether that is true or not.

This manga is very unusually composed, because there is just barely enough information presented ... for the reader to have any kind of idea what is going on. At some junctures there isn't enough information and it's hard to follow. That being said, the plot progression is so scintillating that I can't dock him too much for that; you can easily extrapolate a satisfying explanation for yourself.

The plot is very clever but the concept is a little too out there. Originality is a torus where something too original bleeds into randomness. However, I thoroughly enjoyed it, so I gave it an 8. The art is pretty bad but he was only 17 so I gave him a 6 for that aspect.

okay, this is my first review on this site so let gegin
i will be very positive.
I found each manga in this collection is very different
1. Niwa ni wa Niwa Niwatori ga Ita.
It definitely one of his weirdest oneshot, his art for this manga is very normal (it was his oneshot when he take a break when drawing fire punch and alot others oneshot), but the story is very interesting.
2. Sasaki-kun ga Juudan Tometa (Sasaki-kun Has Stopped the Bullet)
3. Koi wa Moumoku (Love is Blind)
These 2 is definitely the strongest on this collection, the story, the art, the energy i get when read these ... 2 oneshot can't be said by words, STRONGLY recommended

4. Shikaku.
Still remain my favorite oneshot on this collection. Very lovely oneshot.
It was drawn in 2014 !!! and you can clearly see the similar between Chainsaw Man and Shikaku.
The story and art is definitely good but 2 and 3 is better imo.
Hope you find this helpful
Also you can see that every Fujimoto work, all have love between human, familiar, brother, sister, etc,...
Love his work, felt like Junji Ito but the theme is Love instead of horror.

These four short stories really show off Tatsuki Fujimoto's wacky imagination and a bit of his dark humor. Shikaku he noted as being written from a fever dream. Initially the completely wild stories were amusing, but overall felt empty as I didn't really connect with the characters or found them that relatable. Sasaki Stopped a Bullet I feel is the best story of the bunch, but is still weaker compared to the stories in the second set of short stories in 22-26.

If MAL allowed half points I'd actually give this a 6.5. The imaginative stories makes this better than 'fine', but compared to other one-shots ... I wouldn't consider this set a solid 'good' rating.

It's genuinely unreal how Fujimoto's brain works. 4 absolutely great one-shots on par with his other one-shots, if a little lesser in content. There is no doubt a certain frequency that Fujimoto creates at, and these 4 stories are some of the earliest frequencies of this phenomena. Somehow, his words have their own aura to them. Even though these four stories are so vastly different in themes and art, the tones and messages feel so very... Fujimoto... that they could be placed in the same universe and I would bat no second eye. 3/4 of these one-shots feel actually life changing, hence the 9/10 rating. ... I have to talk about each and every one, so excuse the long writing.

The first story, A Couple of Clucking Chickens were still Kickin' in the Schoolyard, on top of the absolutely wonderful title that could be the album name to a Japanese shoegaze band's magnum opus, is such a smart telling of a story. I continue to revel at Fujimoto's ability to tell such stunning themes under such short-page counts, and this is such an example. The main plot (not including the Tsundere alien bodybuilder girl) is one that can be summed up in a single phrase, "Remember that a couple clucking chickens were still kickin' in the schoolyard." Remember. Remember that true alliance ship cannot be found without cultural relativism and a self-reflecting "I don't know..." Truly a magnificent display and critique of culture, heroism, and transient understanding. Fujimoto wrote this at age 17. Unreal. The artwork is definitely a little crude, and the paneling is yet to reach the modern-Fujimoto standards, but it's aliens in chicken costumes man. I can't be too harsh.

The second story, and for sure the best one, is "Sasaki Stopped a Bullet" This story had me crying, a short, 30-some page one-shot written by a teenager had me crying. Sasaki, as a character, is one so strongly grounded in his morals that he will do anything to prove them right, because of course he won't know until he tries. It's just common sense, of course. Fucking awesome man, such a great story that intertwines anti-nihilistic philosophy with the mind of a silly little kid and a strong act of stubbornness. I love this one-shot, especially the final page and overall message, extremely relatable to my personal philosophies as well as just being emotionally powerful as a work of fiction. Let. Fujimoto. Cook.

The third one-shot, "Love is Blind" (not the reality TV show) is VINTAGE Fujimoto absurdism, with an extreme Dandadan feel. Everything from the art to villain design to characters just looks and smells like Dandadan, which makes me wonder how Fujimoto was assisted on this one (Dandadan author used to be a Fire Punch assistant if I remember correctly.) Serves as a simple and beautiful "Fuck you" to Shonen Jump's editorial district as well as a fun little love story. A 31 page confession scene, only one that a genius could keep interesting. A nagging supervisor, aliens, thieves, the end of the world, and you. Immensely based MC, as all Fujimoto MC's are, with an almost Love is War feel to the whole thing. The funniest one-shot of the bunch for sure.

The final, and in my opinion weakest one-shot is "Shikaku," a very goofy silly love story between an unforgiven all-too-cute assassin and a suicidal vampire. The vibes are immaculate, and this has to be the best one art-wise. Beautiful character design and setting shots. Once again, a simple story plot wise, but fun with a very cute ending. I think if any of these would have benefitted from a longer page count, it would be this one. Shikaku, given even just a "Goodbye Eri" level of exploration would've been an even better experience, one that could no doubt spawn a Spy x Family type of absurd romcom. Two bored individuals do things to become not bored. What's not to love!

Overall, there is much in these one-shots that simply feel intrinsic to Fujimoto's later work, as some were quite literally spawned in these short stories. My favorite thing about Fujimoto's one shots is that they don't bite off more than they can chew. He knows what type of story he is writing, plot and theme wise, and never tries to add fluff that might get the one-shot piloted into a full fledged series, at least that's the vibe I get from these 4. Self-contained masterpieces that deserve their own credit for being smart, unique, and, as the title mentions, Fujimoto before he decided to write full-length peak in the form of SJ published manga series.

If you enjoy manga, read these four one-shots. That is all. #FUJIMOTOSWEEEEEEEEEEEP

Mod Edit: This review was originally posted for Koi wa Moumoku (108414) and has subsequently been merged into 17-21: Fujimoto Tatsuki Tanpenshuu (141214).


*Disclaimer*
Just personal scratch.
Advised, possible spoilers.
Opinion & Informal

Art: 7/10
By the same author as Fire Punch, the art was just as good if not better since this was a one-shot. The anatomy and proportions of the human characters checked out and the non-human characters looked fine. There was nice detail in the backgrounds and supporting bits. Expressions and reactions looked good and the romance-y bits looked cute.
...
Panel Progression: 7/10
A lot of supporting tones which made the overall presentation look good. Dialogue was clear and flowed in an understandable way. Pacing was also fine. Good amount of flair in the form of layout choice and panel-cutting.

Characters: 5/10
Simple characters in a confession story. Male MC was forward and resolved. Female MC was a bit plain but was expressively cute in her reactions.

Plot & Development: 5/10
Plain confession setup but gets interesting about halfway through with the introduction of new characters and the development of wacky circumstances that try to interfere with the confession.

Conclusion: 6/10
A nice happy ending that felt right despite the craziness of the latter half of the story.

Overall: 6/10
A fine read in you're bored and coming off of Fire Punch.

before this i read a lil american comics & before that years ago i had skimmed a bit of the MHA manga after watching the show, when i decided to rly commit to reading manga recently i started by reading a couple my hero volumes from the top since it was easy, but after that this is the first manga i ever started & completed. i chose it bc i wanted to check out chainsaw man & realized it would be cool if i checked out tatsuki fujimotos lil back catalogue, i realized the importance of wanting to understand a specific artist's style & purpose, ... i would do it in any other artform so why wouldn’t i do it for manga yknow? & from the top i do rly appreciate this cool format of artist origin one shot collections, or at least how these specific stories were readily presented, i guess it would just be like an anthology right? but yea at least for beginners of reading a big name artist it’s def a nice convenient way to get a real sample platter to get to know a mangaka by having them so easily accessible & in order from the beginning, & yea this first volume decent, it's cool i mean there were some cool kind of sharply cutting writing in the stories & i like the sharp style of violence he uses also, how its portrayed almost instant & nonchalantly at times but at the same time so extremely violent lol. the chicken story prob my most memorable, i kept thinking about it randomly after reading this volume, on second read i can confirm that i do like that story even if the art is kinda ass a lot of times in it lol. but i mean he was a kid making it so it's not a big deal. love is blind was rly funny, on second read it's rly confirming that the main character reminds me of iida from MHA with the funny seriousness. but i like that one too it's a feel good funny one. other than that shikaku had a couple cool drawings, but it felt kinda basic & sasaki stopped a bullet was my least fav, it's not that terrible or anything, it's just messy i feel & the message just doesn't quite come through that well by the end.

it's a weird position reading these bc its simultaneously my first experience with one shots/short stories, which i’m loving, prob just the satisfaction of being able to finish something right away creates an environment of no pressure & a guranteed relief, either a relief of closure/completion, or a relief of simply being able to move on to the next story, but i’m trying to balance that with also seeing fujimoto for the first time & i’m trying to seperate the two, but hopefully if i end up liking chainsaw man or anything by him in general, this will all feel cool that i was able to read this

High art this is not, but if you care about Fujiyama's art and how he got to where he is now, this collection provides some valuable insight. I personally love to witness artist journeys and seeing the progress they make in their craft over the years, so this review is more about what these four stories are when compared to his later work, rather than an unbiased review of them and them only.

1. Niwa ni wa Niwa Niwatori ga Ita.

This is the most "I'm a 17 year old boy and this is the coolest idea for a comic ever" manga and I love it so ... much for it. Don't get me wrong, the story isn't anything special, there's barely any character in these characters, the art's wonky and the panels are all shaped like boring blocks. This is a very mid one-shot that didn't win a manga competition it was submitted for and to no one's surprise, but you can still see Fujimoto's unique tastes peek through the jank. Niwa attempts to tell a serious and emotional (? potentially?) story via humorous and absurd characters, but it doesn't really work here. A lot of the jokes and facial expressions here give off a very "random XD" vibe, and, therefore, don't really land - I'm not sure if they just aged poorly or if they had never worked to begin with. However, it's cool to see that this was his chosen storytelling style from the start and he had gotten so much better at it.

2. Sasaki Stopped a Bullet

It is honestly insane just how much better this is when compared to the previous work. First of all, the artstyle now looks much closer to what we now know as Fujimoto's signature one, and it's very clear that a lot of effort went in to perfecting the visual part of his works. The paneling is also much more interesting and dynamic, with some very lovely choices here and there. Visually, this already looks like s "serious work" when compared to Niwa's "amateur look". And when it comes to the story, what came into my mind somewhere around the first ten pages was "this was inspired by Asano Inio (the creator of Oyasumi Punpun), wasn't it?". Now, I can't confirm nor deny that that is the case, but the surrealism combined with weird sexual overtones combined with religious cosmic powers felt like something out of Nijigahara Holograph. I personally was not a fan, I think Fujimoto handles all these themes in a much more interesting and unique to him way in his later works, but for what it's worth, this is a very interesting second project.

3. Love is Blind

Finally, a oneshot I wholeheartedly LOVED! The humor was amazing in its absurdity and the characters were surprisingly adorable and heartfelt. The facial expressions got much better at conveying emotion, the protag's body language was top notch and the speech bubbles had a lot of character to them. The presentation still isn't perfect - the hatching's kinda wonky - but finished product as a whole reads as very good to me. I would totally be down to read 100 chapters worth of a romcom like this one.

4. Shikaku

Who would've thought that out of the first four works Fujimoto has created, two of them would be romance? And both painfully sweet too, I want a proper Fujimoto romance manga now lol. The artstyle got a bit wonkier and messier than it was before - if it's because he was in a hurry or if it's growing pains I can't say. It's harder to read than the two previous oneshots, but in exchange it looks much closer in artsyle to what Fujimoto's works usually look like. This work continues with the "real life in the real world until some crazy insane bullshit starts to happen" theme established by the previous to works, which I love - feels very on brand. Other than that, I don't have much to say - it's just a sweet little romance thing, a bit less interesting than the previous one but still plenty cute.

And that was Fujimoto, aged 17 to 21! In that time he's established the general aesthetic his storylines follow and developed his own unique brand of humor. Nothing so far has been truly "great" (except for maybe Love is Blind, but I might be biased), but I really feel like we're getting there!

At this point in time, Fujimoto is defined by his already released works (Chainsaw Man, Fire Punch and the one-shots), but it’s good to see how he was before that!

This volume contains a collection of one-shots before he became famous. You can see that even now, he uses the same humour and style. Which is a good thing, because even when he became famous he staked true to his style.

If you’ve already read his other series and one-shots, you might be surprised to find some call-backs to these one-shots here in terms of character names, designs or concepts.

I’d describe this a great anthology of stories ... that manages to take a glimpse into Fujimoto’s mind before he became famous.