Skyhigh

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First review I'm writing, so I apologize if it's too short or lack of any information.

ART - 9
The manga has some pretty cool art, it's very dark and dirty like a pretty emotional sketch, different from every manga I have ever read.

STORY - 8
It is good but I thought it delayed too much to finally develop the "main story". It made me think about life, reincarnation and stuff.

CHARACTER - 7
Characters are pretty unique although their stories may be a bit rushed or kind of poorly developed.
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ENJOYMENT - 7
Art is cool as I said, unique, story is great with a different theme, but IMO lacks a bit of character development.

OVERALL - 7,5
Definatelly this manga is not a waste of time. Maybe if you never thought about life after death, the story can open your mind about this matter. Art is great but a bit dark if you are used to lighter drawings.

Tsutomu Takahashi is an extremely underrated mangaka. His works have only the smallest of niche followings in the west. This is in spite of the fact that not only did he mentor Tsutomu Nihei (who is much more famous than he is), he has produced a very large body of work over the years; unlike some artists who stagnate, relying on their old franchises and/or having any new projects be very underwhelming, Takahashi has arguably only gotten better and better over time.

Skyhigh is a short story anthology that focuses on people who were murdered or who have lingering feelings of resentment. The Guardian of the ... Gate of Grudges, Izuko, offers them three choices: they can go to heaven and be reincarnated, they can choose to roam the earth forever as a ghost, or they can possess someone and go and kill one person, at the cost of being sent to hell for all eternity.

Skyhigh is a seinen manga, meaning it's aimed at an older male demographic. As is typical of series in that demographic it's relentlessly brutal and griml. The stories are very often extremely tragic, featuring graphic violence and sexual content that really shows the dark nature of humanity. Often the people who end up at the gate are so full of hurt, rage and bitterness that they are unable to let go and end up choosing the third option, but the stories where the characters choose the other two are made even more memorable in light of this fact.

Skyhigh is a very good example of how important the art is to a series. The stories, by themselves, are decent and have good ideas, but it is Tsutomu Takahashi's exceptional draftsmanship and storytelling that brings them to life and gives them their power.

This is an older work of his, dating back to 2001, so it is not representative of his current ability, but even before I saw his more recent work, I was still very impressed by the art in Skyhigh. Takahashi has a very unique, instantly recognizable style, often referred to as being "sketchy" due to his frequent use of thin lines and thick blacks. This in no way is indicative of laziness or lack of talent however, it's merely a set of stylistic decisions. Indeed, Takahashi is much more skilled than the majority of mangaka; all of his characters look completely distinct, and his facial expressions are incredibly powerful.

If I had one complaint to make is that he goes a bit over the top at times, which in retrospect may make it hard to take the darker moments seriously. But that's pretty damn subjective.

Overall Skyhigh is a great read if you are looking for something dark and different with amazing art.

Non-spoiler part of review: Skyhigh is a short manga, so it is worth it to read since it ends quickly but recomended in the sense of being essential or worth it for the quality? No.

The story is episodic, following what the characters will decide after their deaths (following what is presented in the synopsis already) and their reasons. It is a type of story that is known for being told by jogoku shoujo, which by itself is good since it has the potential to make up for a good manga or anime. However, what makes Skyhigh very supbar and lackluster is how unintentionally dull ... and funny the stories are in a totally not intended way, ultimately ruining not only the atmosphere but the whole fun/quality of the manga. The reasons are mostly very weak and shallow, the attempts are telling a message are void of a context that makes them resonate with the stories (i dont care for deep messages and deepness at all, but it just feels forced when it happens here for no reason). The whole plot feels very boring, jigoku shoujo (anime) came after this manga and is a much better rendition of this type of episodic story with a main character that navigates through it, the reasons that lead people to use the services of the hell girl are way better and engaging (not to mention the atmosphere is charming and not wasted).

End of non-spoiler review. Now some spoiler mentions of the bad in this manga below:

In one of the stories, the man kills his fiancé because he thinks she doesnt love him for real.... but because he has money (though there is no context for that, he is ugly but she seems like she really likes him. Still a goofy start). He kills her and then puts her below the bed of the hotel room where he killed her.... then he commits suicide out of regret. Then on spirit she sees him doing that.... then, at the end of that story, a random couple borrows that room with the bed where her body was placed and they start intercourse... so instead of going to heaven this killed woman decide to choose eternal damnation to... kill the couple.... for "having fun on top of her".... then it ends with her with a creepy face going to hell and the purgatory keeper girl tells her how bad it will be there. As it can be seen, it was a boring, goofy story that intends to be very serious and the other episodic stories follow the same route of quality (the one from the nonsense vengeful school girls, the melodramatic pointless brothers, the guy that saves the "asshole" woman and etc). The last story was the only one that was slightly better, though still bad. So that is it. I do not know if the other manga sequels to it are any better but i dont feel motivated to read neither. I will still read other works by the author that are not of the skyhigh series.