Jiraishin
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Written by the author now most famous for Alive and Skyhigh, thanks to successful film adaptations, this manga easily surpasses both, such is the fate of masterpieces forever burdened with the 'underrated' label.

Tsutomu Takahashi's crime thriller Jiraishin is a decisive step away from most manga tropes and conventions. It feels more like a manga adaptation of a gritty US TV series in the vein of NYPD Blue, or to go even further back, like a Japanese take on TV series The Equalizer.

What we have here are an array of very disturbing cases involving a variety of depraved yet fascinating characters who usually leave dead bodies ... in their wake. The imagination on display in the set-up and pay-off of each case is bold and assured, there are moments that will shock you, captivate you and repel you from the graphic imagery and storytelling in these pages.

The cases are mostly set in 90's Japan, superbly recreated thanks to quirks of the decade like gigantic brick cell phones and the fashion of the time. Some cases occur in other countries, so the locales visited are varied and show the dark side of other corners of the globe.

Speaking of dark, there's the main character Kyoya Iida. Never was there such a brooding cop in all of manga. Cold, economical, to the point, blunt. Not to the point where we can't identify with him however, as there are very subtle indications of emotion behind that tough exterior. We don't need to see our hero shed tears when the shit hits the fan for him personally, we just need excellent scene composition from Tsutomu, and we get it in spades.

Jiraishin just looks stylish as hell. Do not let the early 90's time period fool you into thinking you're going to be seeing outdated aesthetics. The manga is dripping in a dirty kind of beauty, and it has to because its dealing with dark crimes of passion most of the time. Criminals crazed with emotion, wild-eyed without any, calculating with greed, suffering through disorder, this manga runs the gamut for compelling motivations for doing crazy shit.

You will see plenty of crazy shit. Crazy in a real kind of way, this isn’t another MPD Psycho with fantastical corpse-arrangement. This is Jiraishin. Dark quakes reverberating in the underbelly of society; rippling up to the surface; tsunamis rolling across the lives of the innocent.

Well, I really didn't like this manga.
If you ask me why, I would say cause I finished reading and I felt something like disgusted and sad with the world. Well, maybe that's what the autor wanted.
Kyoya gives me the impression that he's not human. I don't like him.
But, just to say something different, the art is really good.

I prefer manga with good psicological stories and something that I can learn in the end (ok that's cliche but its my taste). So, if you're searching something twisted and creepy, take your time and read Jiraishin, you'll like it.

Visible, apparent improvement from an artist always leads to a fulfilling experience. People often forget how much one has to truly grow as a creator to create a masterpiece. Experiencing the first works of my favourite storytellers has motivated me to keep writing. While Takahashi Tsutomo isn’t one of my favourites, he has a distinct style and skills. He may not be consistent, but he wrote “Bakuon Rettou”, which shows that he knows what he’s doing.

At one point though, he didn’t. Before “Bakuon Rettou”, “Blue Heaven”, “NeuN”, or anything else, Tsutomo created “Jiraishin”. Honestly, what’s here doesn’t differ from mainstream episodic cop shows like ... “Criminal Minds” at its core: Episodic mysteries with some detective work and action, most of which have little continuity with each other. Even from the outset though, “Jiraishin” separates itself from shows like that because it never really pulls punches. Moral characters will die, evil acts are never cut away from or sugarcoated, and our protagonist Ida rarely shows empathy or remorse for others. Of course, none of this is innovative, and none of it prevents “Jiraishin” from feeling underwhelming in its first half. Ida isn’t particularly interesting and doesn’t really develop as a character, and the unmemorable supporting cast doesn’t help either. The art gets the job done, but the soft style doesn’t fit gritty story. The episodic plots range from good to alright, and few have any actual mystery angle to them. “Jiraishin” starts out as an average manga with few unique elements.

However, something interesting happens. This should be apparent to the detectives reading, but “Jiraishin” improves. A new character appears, and Ida’s dynamic with her is far better than with other characters. The art not only becomes more dynamic and detailed, but also more fitting of the gritty tone. The plots of each case begin to tackle more interesting concepts and moral questions. Dialogue also improves a lot. “Jiraishin” becomes a pretty good manga, even held back by its slow start. Ida still lacks compelling characterization, and commentary on his role as a loose cannon could’ve been taken further. Even still, “Jiraishin” works well as a cool detective story and should be read by those who’ve enjoyed Tsutomo’s other works.