Complex

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This title might be the most fitting one for a manga, ever. Because complex it is. And absolutely frickin' amazing.

This work proves the proverb that one shouldn't judge a book by its cover.
Literally.


It's been on my (huge and constantly growing) read list for many years. I added it because of the raving reviews but I just haven't been able to muster up the motivation for reading it--since the cover of volume one was so extremely offputting to my taste in comic art.
But in the name of research for recommendations to others--I decided to finally get it over with and read it.
I ended up ... reading all four volumes in one go, in the middle of the night.

SUCKERPUNCH!

It's official, I'm a shallow idiot.



I have never been so floored by a manga. (Except for Dokuro Yaryuu's "Endless World". Do NOT miss that one either.) The emotional rollercoaster it took me on, was so massive that I couldn't stop crying for a good while after finishing it. It's truly one of the best mangas I have ever read, all genres, and there is no doubt whatsoever that this is a 10/10 for me.
At the very least, I can confidently say, that this is one of the most BEAUTIFUL stories I have ever come across.


Before straying into my very long and philosophical review, I want to start by saying that reading this manga, one has to make the choice to overlook a couple of very disturbing things--but I still think that it's an absolutely essential read.

This work has one MAL's highest ratings among BL mangas--8.44/10--and it deserves an even higher one. It has some flaws, but as a whole, I can't call it anything but a masterpiece.



Before explaining why I think it's so amazing (my thoughts about the general stuff concerning this piece, are below this long pondering upon the content of disturbing elements);

I need to properly address the one thing that I find disturbing and wish wasn't there--but which also is the thing that leaves me brooding over the reason it's there in the first place--if I'm misinterpreting the intentions of the mangaka.

Pushing for this title is a rare exception to my moral standpoint of never recommending anything that involves shota in general--and sexual abuse of children in particular. However, when an artist chooses to include these types of things, it's a question about the intent, IMO.

I always hate seeing it, but there's a big difference between it having a valid reason for being in the story--as opposed to being exploitative and gratuitous. It's a very heavy subject and it needs to be handled in a serious and responsible way. I can't even begin to describe the disgust and anger I have towards the people who appreciate, read and support shota manga and anime. All people have their kinks, but when that kink is the actual sexual abuse of children, the fans need to take a serious look at their preferences.

I dislike any manga/anime art where characters of legal age look like children if the work contains even the smallest hint of sexual content, but I can take it as long as it's made clear that the characters are of legal age. But "real" shota is an entirely different story.



*** MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD--plus a trigger warning. ***



(HEAVY TRIGGER WARNING for graphic sexual abuse of children, in two chapters:

Vol. 1, ch. 1: Sexual abuse of children (11 year-olds), by a teacher. The disturbing content is connected to the chapter, so kind of a need-read. Skip those particular more graphic pages, if you're really disturbed by it. The whole incident is unnecessary but at least it's depicted as a crime. (Although taken far too lightly, IMO.)

Vol. 2, ch.7: The same teacher, at a later time, sexually abusing a very young boy (we're talking, like five-six years old...) My advice is to skip this chapter altogether if you can't stomach it. It has absolutely no point for the main story so you won't miss anything crucial. It's just a one-shot with the teacher.)


So--what about the intent of these elements?

At first, I was pissed and raging about the discomfort of having something so disgusting tainting this wonderful piece. My opinion was that this mangaka did not justify the content of abuse, but I still felt that I was willing to (reluctantly) overlook it since it's only a very small portion of the story and to condemn this amazing manga on the grounds of that one (albeit huge) minus, would be unfair and simply put: a huge loss.

But then, when describing it to a friend, I started thinking.

It doesn't make sense that a storyteller that can create a story with such depth and complexity, would haphazardly shove in gratuitous, disturbing child pornography. But she did. Why? There has to be a reason. All the more so, considering how graphic the abuse is. It's revolting.
So why the heck is it there?

I haven't got the slightest clue if my intuition might be on to something--but I started thinking about those scary misconceptions that some homophobic people have. That tiresome old thing about not wanting gay men around your children, because you're convinced that they're all child molesters and pedophiles. (No, a pedophile and a child molester are not the same thing. Far from all pedophiles ever even touch a kid. Google it.)
The teacher is portrayed in a humorous way, but it doesn't in any way mask what a lewd predator he is. The way he expresses himself is frighteningly unabashed, giving us detailed descriptions of what he wants to do to kids and how his schemes will allow him to do it.

The more I think about it, the more I get the feeling that Manda wanted to show how fucked up it is to compare abusive monsters, to normal men who just happen to be attracted to other men, by shocking the hell out of us--contrasting this teacher from hell with the loving, gentle main characters.


Well, no matter the reason for the disturbing abuse scenes, I still urge others to not miss out on this story, since it's absolutely unique in its narrative.



STORY AND CHARACTERS:

This piece starts where other romance stories usually are close to their conclusion. "Fall in love, confess, some trouble comes their way, things work out, happily ever after."

But that's when "Complex" really gets into a higher gear. We get to follow these guys throughout their whole lives. As children, as teens, as adults, as aging men--through all the stages of a human life. The dreams of a kid; the careless teens and the buzz of first true love; the exciting first steps into independence and finding your path in life; maturing and shaping into an adult when trying to handle life-altering choices and their consequences.

It addresses all those things that are so easily ignored in many BL stories--confusion about your sexuality, figuring out how to adapt to a relationship that deviates from the societal norm. Coming out, facing not only acceptance but also prejudice. The heavy decisions and sacrifices you eventually will have to make, no matter with path you choose, in a society that won't allow you to have both your sexual preference and a family of your own, nor bend the rules of convention: you made your bed, you have to lie in it--no room for a middle ground. (I can't explain that last part closer than that, without spoiling a major part of the plot.)



But more than about gay relationships, it's about human relationships. Romance, family, friends, colleagues, children, and parents. We love, we hate, we fight, we break up--and sometimes find our way back. No matter how much we love someone, we can make mistakes and hurt them. We can find ourselves loving more than one person--in different ways, but none less than the other. Sometimes things don't go as we would have wished for, nor planned--sometimes shit just happens. There are love and joy, there are grief and loss. Life has its ups and down and things aren't as simple as they are in manga... We can just try to make the best of life--since we only have one.

We should be thankful if we have the privilege of getting to walk through this one life together with people who love us as we love them. Family by blood--or family we have chosen.
If we are lucky, we might find someone to hold our hand--that someone who only comes along once in a lifetime--and experience that unconditional love that seems to last through every storm and never fades, no matter how much time passes or how many times we part ways and find our way back.



Another thing I really appreciate is how this story has a different take on the whole thing about labels and how a person's sexual preferences and feelings can overlap in different ways--or not overlap. Where goes the line between friendship and romantic love? What is it, exactly, that ultimately decides which way we go when the feelings are in the grey zone?

Here we see a different version of the "gay for you" thing. Here, it's not a cop-out to avoid being labeled "fag," but rather about love so strong that it could've gone either way--friendship or romance. In one instance, it tilts one way, in another, it tilts the other. And both are fine.


Also, I commend the fact that this story allows for something that's rarely seen--the right to change your mind. Or rather: the right to discover new things about yourself-- whenever in your life it might happen. Not everything is written in stone. This is something that I've noticed is totally taboo, both in the straight and the LGBTQ community, but especially so in the latter.

It's much more accepted that a (thought they were) straight person realizes late in life that they're actually gay or bi--than for someone who has always identified as gay, to realize later in life that they are actually bi. (I can't really imagine that it's very common that one would identify oneself as gay from a young age and then suddenly come to the insight that they're straight, considering the heteronormative society we all live in--it's a completely different thing to feel sudden attraction to the other sex later in life, if you've exclusively been attracted to the same sex, before.) It's kind of a "you traitor!" mentality. This is prejudice and bigotry--and this from people who really should understand how it feels to be prosecuted for whom they happen to love.

I personally have known several people who've always considered themselves to be gay, but suddenly fell in love with someone of the opposite sex. One of them, a "used to be" gay man, got a lot of flak from many around him, when he, at age 35, married a woman and got two kids. Although seldom being able to agree about anything, here, the LGBTQ people and the straight people all said in unison: "He's faking it, he's a fag, you can't wash that out--he's just trying to be normal."
He himself simply says that "I just didn't know that I was bi since I until then had never before been in love with, nor felt attracted to, a woman."

What you know at one point, might change at a later time, because you just don't know what the future brings. Of course, I don't mean that it's impossible to know for sure--many do. Perhaps even most. But not everyone.



Obviously, a manga consisting of only four volumes could never depict every minute of a whole human life, but somehow, this story manages to catch all those moments that build the frame, letting us fill in the blanks. The years roll by fast, but it doesn't matter since you feel the time between those glimpses.

The chapters are named by their age at that specific time, and it feels like looking through someone's photo album, all the moments that were important enough to be caught on film. Picture by picture, they grow up and age, every single snapshot carefully is chosen to highlight different defining times in their lives, to convey just about every single possible human emotion. The character development is nothing short of amazing--most likely thanks to the unique narrative. One would think that by showing only anecdotal moments of their lives would give less insight into the characters, but instead, it's the opposite.

When you're there, you're really there. At moments, Manda tells whole stories with just one single panel--cleverly chosen to convey so much more than the picture itself. The way the mangaka has weaved all these little pieces of a puzzle together--is visual storytelling at its finest--true craftsmanship.

The beginning is quite choppy and a bit rushed, but the story grows for every chapter, pulling you in more and more--maturing in pace with its characters. (And its creator.)


Towards the end, it's among the finest pieces of drama you will ever encounter. If some of the last chapters don't leave you in tears, your heart is made of stone.
Any reader, of any age, will appreciate this story, but perhaps one needs to have a few years of life experience, to fully comprehend the weight of some of the themes.



ART:

The art is... well, it's ugly. Super classic 90's shonen manga art--in all its glory.
You'll feast on people that all look like they have hydrocephaly and underbites, hair that grows in ways that defy all logic, yaoi chins and eyes the size of saucers.

In all fairness, the art does get nicer along the way. A lot nicer. And when you think about it, you realize that the style, for the most part, probably is an artistic choice. Because it is pretty realistic further on in the manga. In a distorted kind of way. Manda does know her way around anatomy and proportions, fairly well. But it's never exactly... pretty.

But it's okay, the story makes up for it a thousandfold.



WHY YOU HAVE TO READ IT:

I don't think any manga I have ever read, has affected me this deeply, on so many levels. I have read other amazing stories, that have made me bawl my eyes out and touched me deeply--but "Complex" is in a class of its own. It makes me laugh, it makes me cry, it breaks my heart and it makes me incredibly happy. I'm there, every step of the way, throughout the lives of Junichi and Tatsuya--loving, laughing and crying with them.

Even with its (small) flaws--this is nothing short of an epic.


This isn't just a slice of life--it's a whole lifetime. So it's complex.

When I started to read this manga, until I got through the first chapter, I thought that it was absolutely horrible. I expected that the storyline will go on like that, following whatever happened in the first chapter. I said to myself, "There's no way I can read 24 chapters of this!" and wanted to drop it. Now I'm glad I didn't.

The story of this manga is, according to the title, the most complex story I have ever read. No other manga ever followed the main characters through their entire life as this one did.
The main thing this manga shows is life. In only ... 24 chapters, the author was able to picture two human lives, crossing each other than parting ways only to meet again sometime in the future. It shows moments of happiness and sadness of various kinds, goals and purposes and a never ending love.
In many works, being in love is idealized - not here. Complex intercepts that not all days are happy and everything has its pros and cons.

It made laugh as well as cry several times. I got the feeling that I actually know the characters. I thought I understood them; I've grown attached to them and was hurt when they died. I can't even express all the admiration for Manda Ringo for managing this.

I have to say I especially love this kind of art. The bodies and sceneries are very realistic, nothing is prettified. It makes an individual realize that what makes things unusual or beautiful are the feelings connected to them.

this story is not for everyone. For example (though I sincerely doubt such people would even be on this side of myanimelist) if you're uncomfortable about gay people existing as human beings and not inherently deviant, you might not want to read this. However, if you're someone who's made uncomfortable by the depiction of homophobia in general, you might not want to read this either. You also don't want to read this if pedophilia is something you can't stomach, because the author is pedophilic (she draws shotacon in the first chapter and in a bonus chapter), and expresses that in her work. rest of the ... review is somewhat spoilery, but very light.

I don't know what else to call it - it is a direct representation of life as a homosexual. Neither Tatsuya nor Junichi is ever able to quite commit to the relationship they have, not just because of fear of coming out but an internalization of the messages subliminally given to them since birth - that their love might not mean much, and could just be a phase, or just shouldn't happen at all.

That plays the biggest role in Manda Ringo's work. Of course, Junichi and Tatsuya have goals and hobbies and friends that are glossed over mostly, but the primary focus of the story is on how they exist as two men who are in love.

this is a beautiful depiction of what it's like to be a gay boy and man, and revived my belief in an author who knew how to write about people. I definitely want to read more from manda ringo. However, she is a pedophilic person, and drew shotacon that frankly, the story would be better without in my view. Tatsuya and Junichi could have a similarly scarring moment that bound them together that wasn't so gratuitous, trying to make the viewer be aroused by the disgusting situation of a child molester blackmailing two children. And the bonus chapter is unrelated entirely to the story. I can't in good faith say you must read this, and that it's the best thing ever written because good story or not, pedophilia is disgusting to read. if you decide you want to read it, skip chapter 7 of volume 2, it's unnecessary to the plot and it's pedophilic.