Arigatou
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Introduction:
Hidden gem. Is the words I would use to describe Arigatou, and the fact that this manga is rated only a 7.04 completely contradicts it's level of quality. To note the beginning chapters of this manga shows graphic depictions of sexual assault, and will have you going "what the fuck am I even reading" at times. But that being said let's move on with the review.

Story: 10
Arigatou is truly an intelligent manga which both satires and criticises Japanese society and it's culture, in terms of traditional family values, business culture, criminal justice system, obedience and submissiveness instead of conflict, (looking past the problem so everyone ... can stay happy) and their effect on the family & vice versa. This leads to the core of the story which is about a father coming back to mend his dysfunctional family which he has neglected in pursuit of his work. The absurdity of the situations this family get into is weirdly hilarious, given how dark the series can get and surprisingly has somewhat of a heart warming ending.

Characters: 8
The characters are quite realistic in terms of their personality and actions and honestly are quite funny with how self aware they can be. My personal favourite character is the father, even though he is quite stubborn, ignorant and just not the most morally good person. He still cares for his family and truly wants to help, even if it's not necessarily the best way and believes strongly in traditional values that he has to be the man of the house and solve all problems himself, not relying on society to help him.

Art: 7
Honestly the art is nothing really special, but it looks alright I guess. The character expressions are funny at times.

Enjoyment:10
Nothing much to say more I really liked it lol.

Final Verdict: 10
This is a must read manga for anyone, I would say it's most comparable to oyasumi punpun but I like this manga much more. So I guess all I can say now is please don't be turned off by the low score, this manga is special. "arigatou" for reading my review.

If I remembered correctly, they had some unrealistic elements to the story. But it's manga. I feel like it's an average run of the hill doujin of rape, except a more elaborate clarification on the aftermath of how victims reacted, and how it can affect family around them. There was some things that could be done differently, such as how characters reacted or their actions, however I'm not a psychologist.

It shows how dehumanizing humanity can be, and how little care we have to those. However, the only reason I give it a lower rating is bc of the lack of depth we were given to ... characters.

This manga was incredibly difficult to finish, not because of the brutal, nihilistic violence, alcohol abuse, cults, and mental breakdowns, but because of the father's repugnantly abusive understanding of family and family dynamics. The primitive digital art and the use of pixelation as a technique, didn't help either, even though some of the male character designs and their facial expressions are grotesquely pleasing.

Maybe this is where Arigatou differs from most manga of this ilk (the ones I've read, at least). Whereas in other series the patriarch's abuse would be presented in the most cliched way ever - through rape and impregnation of his ... daughters - here is the exact opposite. His overbearing love (represented in the manga through a heart literally brandished on his forehead) is shown through, quite physically, forcing all of the members of the family to stay together. Initially, he locks everyone in the house, later, he starts going to one of his daughter's school, to observe how others treat here. At one point, he even forces everyone to work together at a family restaurant.

Of course, it all has the exact opposite results of what the weak-but-willed patriarch expected. One of the daughters starts living with the boss of the gang that initially invaded her house and raped her sister. The mother joins a cult. The older sister becomes a hikikomori. And all this makes him even more overbearing and abusive, pointing, very weakly, though, to the evil that is the patriarchal system. Rinse and repeat with even more extreme examples until it all, very inorganically and anti-climatically, implodes.

There is a part in me that wants to read the manga as a consequence of the 1990's bubble burst coupled with the mangakas antiauthoritarian beliefs. The father never allows members of family to call the police or go to the hospital, or to have anything to do with any institutions. He hates all of them with passion and knows them to be corrupt, either trying to protect themselves and their image, or steal all of his hard earned money. He doesn't trust even his own company, and yet he abuses his position within it constantly. Until he is fired, that is, and even then uses the false authority he has over one of his colleagues. And if it was a critique of the post-bubble society, then what does this manga tells us? Well, not much, outside of the nihilistic surface level representation of contemporary society as broken beyond repair. Not that necessarily there needs to be a message, especially if there are compelling characters with novel or at least interesting arcs. But there are none here.