Kami no Kodomo

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an enjoyable aesthetic experience, but it's immediately clear that this is very much a matter of style over substance. you could call it a bitesize parable, i guess. although only in the framework of its own (a)moral code, it does have a moral to the story, a lesson to be learned.

points for an idiosyncratic style that is easy on the eye, but it was also much too easy on the brain, a cruise-control sort of read. perhaps this is inevitable, given that it's a one-volume work.

Don't overthink this. People may throw many many interpretations to Kami no Kodomo as a great and mature work of art. But what lies beneath is just edgy and shock factor material, that doesn't bring anything substantial to the table.

The story follows "Child's God", a kid who had a disturbing and lonely childhood, and grows to be a twisted adult years later. From property damage and killing to beating witnessing and abusing, Child finds himself surrounded by minor boys, whom learn "loving" through his visions, which of course, isn't nowhere to be find in the normal and sane area.

After a series of disturbances ... across town, he gets arrested by the same boys, along with one who escaped and had his girlfriend beaten by Child's orders. He then is murdered and eaten by hogs, disappearing from earth.

As stated previously, the manga relies heavily on poor shock symbolism because, you know... being gruesome is profound in the vision of a edgy Slipknot fan who uses Johan Liebert icon on twitter. It's just meaningless and becomes dull every time it tries hard to get itself serious. When actually very few interesting events actually occur in Kami no Kodomo.

The art isn't really outstanding, but it is good in creating a schizo atmosphere. That works, but not in the right way. The chapters are short, so that this manga can be completed in a course of 1-2 hours, depending of one's pace. After ending, a sense of weirdness comes. No deep messages are shown, but if you think about it in the child abandonment and violence critic, it can be something interesting. It doesn't last long though, since it just goes to the edgy side, and it becomes more and more evident as the chapters pass in story.

If only it had better use of its imagery, Kami no Kodomo could be way different. But if you like this kind of work, have a good read.

A more realistic re-telling of the manga 'Monster'.

People who haven't finished reading the manga Monster may not get this and in many ways the art and the story spoils the final plot developments of that manga, but it cannot be denied: this manga at least is shorter and is much more realistic in the sense that there's no hero to the horror and the timeline of the story is much closer to how long real life serial killers' careers last.

This doesn't mean this is realistic though. From the first panel onwards, it is clear this is meant to be more poetic than realistic. Those who ... dislike poetry and manga may even consider this hollow compared to the real life elements behind serial killings.

Still, compared to Monster, I have to consider the murders here more realistic and thus makes the brutality of the acts more "disturbing" and that is one of the primary hooks to Monster to begin with.

This is its' primary pros and cons though.

If you read Monster before, would you read a short re-telling of the same Monster?

If you haven't read Monster, would the immediate jump to a much more artistic artwork turn you away from the initial panels and settings?

I will say this: unlike Monster, the ending has a better pay off and it isn't because of it's short length either.

This manga could have easily been stretched although just like Monster - all it would do is make the whole thing feel more tedious as even here it already feels like it is dragging in the middle.

For those who don't care for Monster and would just like a straight up review: If you like a dark Batman and feel like Batman's origins wasn't as dark and didn't do justice to the man compared to some of the later darker twists in the caped crusader's canon (like the switching of the mantle between the first Batgirl and the 2nd one) - the ending clues in on how good it can be done. The characters and relationships of course are not the same but if you ever want to see how an average combination of poetic, manga, noir and fictional serial killing ending would formulate; this is one of those manga with such a quality of an ending.

huh, ig it's boycrime time

i wanted to like this, but the story was very lackluster. like oh no, he's a fucked up kiddo doin boycrime. which sucks because the start was very strong and intriguing, "I was born out of my mother's asshole" is a killer line. Idk, I was hoping for something that lived up to the unique art style but instead it goes where you think it will go.

Read it if you are looking for something visually interesting, it takes like 15 minutes to zoom through this. There are plenty of other manga that go this dark are more thought-provoking

The best thing about this manga is definitely its art. While I wouldn't say it's amazing, it is certainly aesthetically pleasing and unique. Although, where the art can fall a little short is in the story's depictions of violence, the lack of detail in the style being unable to create an image that is too graphic. This is also in part because these moments are not sold on the narrative end, which I will get into.
Where this manga is really lacking is its story. Most of the time it just comes off as trying to be edgy. It just seems ... to go down a checklist of taboos for the sake of shock value. A lot of these moments that are supposed to be scary come off as cheap because they just took it in a very obvious direction. This is paired with some very surface level social commentary, going no deeper than saying "society is bad".
So, while the art may be nice, it fails to save its lackluster story, resulting in an ultimately lukewarm experience.

Unlike most narratives with sympathetic villains, Kami no Kodomo doesn't try to justify the protagonist's actions. His descent into violence feels inevitable, fueled by a cocktail of childhood abuse, a twisted sense of entitlement, and a chilling apathy towards human life. The narrative is devoid of flowery justifications – the protagonist lays bare his motivations and depravity in a chillingly detached tone.

This lack of emotional manipulation is what makes Kami no Kodomo so unsettling. We're forced to confront the raw ugliness within the protagonist without the comfort of assigning blame or seeking redemption. It's a story that lingers long after the final panel, a ... disturbing echo of the potential for darkness that resides within us all.

However, in its biggest flaws, the manga is exempt in my concept, religious fanaticism goes very well with a bored idiot multiplying bread. The supporting characters are mere shadows, existing only to illustrate the protagonist's distorted view of the world.

I don't really know what to call this story other than a bitesize truly disturbing experience with some good really unique art, which in the end fails to really say or do anything of substance in it's runtime.

I didn't gain anything from this experience nor did I feel much enjoyment in my short read time, perhaps as a result of the short length of the work as well as the low average amount of content per-chapter due to most of it being taken up by the admittedly good art it fails to establish a coherent plot or purpose/message for all the disturbing violence that goes ... on in these 11 chapters aside from maybe the notion that people like the main character will continue to be born into the world as long as society exists but that as far as I'm concerned isn't a statement of much value, it doesn't offer any commentary for example on how disturbed individuals like this are viewed by society or how their actions effect others. Because of that I find it hard to visualise what the goal of this work was, and hey maybe there wasn't one and the violence on display is simply meant to shock which it definitely succeeded at.

I wouldn't say I hate this work however rather in terms of it's quality I would argue its rather inoffensive and in terms of it's themes it fails to say anything of substance and it's simply carried by the art and the shock value that keeps you interested. Just a thoroughly average work.

The review will be the first part in English and the second in Spanish: D

English:
Strange and disturbing, Kami no Kodomo is a manga that exploits Christian symbolism, while criticizing certain aspects of today's society. But, and still, these two elements in the protagonist's mouth are distorted, until you only have the image of a boy who has a deep sociopathy and who, in addition, is capable of transmitting his fascination with crime to others ( Collective insanity or some other form of global delusion?). What we are left with is a deeply unpleasant story, although, unfortunately, a highly credible one. Plus, the disturbing drawing style ... helps create that sense of disgust that keeps the whole story alive.
It is clear that it is not a story that anyone can see. So think long and hard before entering the mind of this disturbing individual.
The main character is related to the antagonist of "Monster" Johan. If you liked Urasawa's manga, I highly recommend this manga!

Spanish:
Extraño e inquietante, Kami no Kodomo es un manga que explota la simbología cristiana, a la vez que critica ciertos aspector de la sociedad actual. Pero, y con todo, estos dos elementos en la boca del protagonista se distorsionan, hasta que solo te queda la imagen de un chico que tiene una profunda sociopatía y que, además, es capaz de transmitir su fascinación por el crimen a los demás (¿Locura colectiva o alguna otra forma de delirio global?). Lo que nos queda es una historia profundamente desagradable, aunque, por desgracia, muy verosímil. Además, el perturbador estilo de dibujo, ayuda a crear esa impresión de repugnancia que te mantiene en vivo toda la historia.
Está claro que no es una historia que cualquiera pueda ver. Así que, pienselo mucho antes de introducirse en la mente de este perturbador individuo.
El personaje principal lo relacione con el antagonista de "Monster" Johan si te gustó el manga de Urasawa te recomiendo mucho este manga!

Does the beautifully surreal and creative art style excuse the sloppy plot? Personally, yeah. It is still worth experiencing. The characters are shockingly vile, but the story itself becomes pretty contrived. Starts out solid, great attention grabber. It’s nauseating and yet you can’t look away. After the burst of visual stimuli, there’s not as much to sink your teeth into. Due to the art style, the explicit scenes aren’t too visually gross but the discomfort comes from the reactions and implications. The short length does make it an enjoyable read and as stated earlier, the art and paneling is delightfully unique. This had a lot ... of potential. But for what it is, I still think Kami no Kodomo is a great read just for visuals alone. And if it wasn’t obvious, stay clear of this if you cannot handle sexual violence and other disturbing themes.

This manga is/was disturbing, but still somewhat intriguing. It being a quick read makes it difficult to put down because you're immediately drawn in and want to know how more fucked up it could get or if it would at least redeem the main protagonist but (spoiler alert) it never happens. There are only 11 chapters

The main reason why I read it and what initially drew me in was the art. The art is beautiful and unique. Its sort of a minimalist gothic style, to be honest that's the main reason why most people probably picked it up.

This manga is basically a case study of ... a psychopath, from birth to adulthood, that's all you need to know before reading

The best thing about this manga is the artwork, easily. The cover is what convinced me to read it, the protagonists design is simple and haunting (I mean, just look at his eyes). But that's the only positive of the Manga. And even then, I feel the surrealism style isn't pushed far enough to compensate for the lackluster plot and themes.

None of the characters have names, few have motivations, and little happens in the grand scheme of things. I read the manga in about thirty minutes and I feel nothing. There are shock factor elements, but if you have ever read anything with purposeful ... shock factor then you know exactly what's going to happen. And there isn't enough build up in between these moments to justify anything about the series.

There isn't any set up going on, everything is announced immediately before it happens meaning there isn't any tension. And because the art style is so simple that there isn't actually anything keeping you engaged for most of the manga.

Just read Litchi☆Hikari Club, it's basically the same plotline with a more traditional art style and character's developed enough to have their own names and relationships.

This manga feels very one note and on the cusp of exploring interesting ideas in regards to how society reacts to absolute atrocities as well as the inherent hypocrisy of people like this.

But instead of exploring that side of everything it just reads as deprave torture porn.
Although it doesn't explicitly show a lot of the sexual acts explicitly, the sheer amount of them that dominate the middle to ending chapters really do just feel like the author wanted to just write torture porn, instead of wanting to dive into the mentality of society and depraved individuals.
Which is the only thing I think this manga ... would of had going for it apart from the art style which is very interesting and I would have loved to see in something with more of a world to explore.