Fraction

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

My first foray into Kago Shintarou's work, as well as into the eroguro-horror genre in general. I picked this up late at night thinking: how bad can a manga really be?, at most it's just images on a page. Little did I know, this thought of mine would come full circle in my reading.

Turns out a few scenes in the eponymous story "Fraction" did send my heart racing. But guts and gore aside, what struck me more was the meta-commentary on the manga form itself. The story is presented as an alternating double narrative, between a serial killer's murders and a fictionalised Kago discussing his ... next project.

Even as "Kago" is walking his readers through common devices used in mysteries to create suspense, you still never in a million years could've guessed the plot twists. He gives examples to illustrate his techniques but they are almost tangential and serve only as oblique red herrings.

It reminds me of a riddle I heard in childhood, about a man at a funeral. Apparently if you solve it correctly it somehow "proves" that you "think like a psychopath". Except in this case I can't imagine *anyone* actually anticipating Kago's thought process. He reveals himself to be a perverse genius, as well as a perverse jokester;  his humour is evident even in the glossary inserted in the middle of the volume.

I'm also reminded of the many issues I had back when I first started reading manga. Small and/or unclear frames where I wasn't sure what was happening. Unattached speech bubbles where I wasn't sure who the speaker is. Manga has its own set of conventions and codes, which you learn implicitly as you stumble along.

In order to follow a manga's plot, on some level you need to suspend your awareness of the limitations of the comic-book format and subsume your attention wholly into the story itself. "Fraction" pulls you away from that. Its horror is hiding in the gap between content and form, waiting to ambush you unawares and gloat over the satisfying result of your dumbstruck manukezura.

I felt unexpectedly enlightened after reading "Fraction", if "enlightened" is the right word for this sort of anti-revelation.

The one-shots that make up the remainder of the book are a mixed bag. "The Returned Man" continues to subvert expectations. I couldn't help but read some kind of social commentary into "Collapse", perhaps a rebellion against the cultural edict to put on a brave face and soldier on in trying times. The final story, meanwhile, carries notes of the nightmarish confusion in Yumeno Kyūsaku's "Dogra Magra".

I can't recommend this book to everyone. But those who can stomach it, should read it. You might get a sense of how caged-in our realities are, and perhaps take a step outside of the box, discover hitherto unknown directions.

The first story in this is definitely what I expect from ero-guro artists this early into reading them. It's gory, it's messed up but it's also extremely clever in the way that Kago creates his world. The author even explains as he goes along how the manga is created, the tricks they are using to twist your mind and for them to see what they want you to see, but even still twists and turns fill the pages, making you question everything when you come to the end. It's an extremely clever use of literacy illusion throughout the manga.
With a well thought out storyline, causing ... you to question everything you first believe in when it begins, Fraction is, I would say, a small work of art. It definitely only gives you a fraction of what to expect and it's amazing in the way it does that.

The two extra stories - they don't quite hold up to the same content quality. The first one - Tremors is relatively boring. For a piece of work in a horror collection, I don't expect to come across something that's basically science fiction. Reading it was intriguing, but the story offered nothing much past what was happening on the pages. There was nothing explained, just people vibrating. It is an interesting concept but for how much was contained in the story, it just didn't get the justice it could have were it longer or a full manga.

The second one, however, was much more into the ero-guro style, and much more graphic. Returning to horror imagery that makes you curl your toes and itch at your skin, Voracious Itches is a story that some bug haters should probably avoid. This story finishes the collection in true guro violence and a story that has definitely left my skin positively crawling.

All in all, if you're gonna read this, I kinda recommend dropping the middle story out. It's not so much in guro style and was interesting but then boring as it gave us nothing past the mystery on the page - which was a shame. However, the main story and second short story were spectacular in their own ways and are definitely worth the read if you're a horror manga fan.

This manga offers an intriguing deconstruction of the conventions of the mystery genre, along with a fascinating metanarrative that defies expectations. It's surprising to see how Kago explores these themes in the context of eroguro, a niche genre. However, the rest of the stories in the anthology can be more predictable, focusing mainly on the grotesque, disgusting and erotic. “Fraction” isn't for everyone, but for those interested in a unique and thought-provoking narrative experience, it's definitely worth exploring. It's a good option for mature readers who enjoy slow-paced, thought-provoking horror with a mix of dark mystery, graphic gore and a touch of twisted relief and ... dark comedy.