Shoujo Fujuubun
Imperfect Girl

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Author stand-in characters are nothing new. Even before the dawn of film, writers were obsessed with being writers and wrote stories about being a writer writing stories.

One of what I think the biggest media to be about a topic like this was by a little-known horror author named Stephen King and his novel and film called "Misery". This story was about a professional novelist getting saved by his "biggest fan" after suffering a car accident before he was about to publish the last book in a highly popular series. To make a long story short, the fan became really possessive and controlling of the ... novelist, to the point where she basically held him captive in her house while he couldn't escape and forced him to write the ending of her favorite series the way she wanted it to end.

Ever since then, we've had stand-in author characters like that one guy from Jojo's Bizzare Adventure Part 4, that weird gorilla in Gintama, Light from Death Note, and basically every other character in NisiOisiN's Forgetful Detective series.

The reason why I bring up both Misery and author stand-in characters in this review isn't necessarily because both of them are relevant. It's because when we compare NisiOisiN's "Imperfect Girl" to both, you wind up with wildly different interpretations of the same basic ideas.

Misery is an easy one to contrast Imperfect Girl with.

UU, our main female protagonist and the scary loli on the cover of each volume, isn't a fan of our MC's work. But she is the one who changed MC-kun from an aspiring author, to a professional author that passionately delivers on his work. After UU, a fifth grader, kidnaps our MC, a college student who happens to be an aspiring author, we are treated to a unique interpretation of how this would inspire or perhaps punctuate a creator's will to create. In contrast to Misery, when the novelist finally escapes from his biggest fan's grasp at the end of the film, though this left a traumatic experience on him, he used that experience to finish writing the last book in the massively popular series in a satisfying way.

The difference in interpretation is clear. MC-kun is someone who constantly struggles to get off the ground, to no avail, before this incident. While the novelist in Misery was merely uninspired when writing the last installment of his series.

By the way, believe it or not, I am avoiding telling spoilers for Imperfect Girl. A lot of the end results of each incident, including the end of the story, is given away basically at the beginning. Also, a lot of "foreshadowing" is told to you, the readers, whether it will be important or not. It's not there aren't twists, but because there are some things that are never followed up on, this works to the narrative's benefit to just tell the reader nothing will become of this red herring.

Imperfect Girl is basically about an accomplished author telling a story (10 years in the future) of when he was kidnapped by a 5th grader and how he and the girl come to grips with their current lives and their individual futures.

Just by being in each other's company, for their own spoilerific reasons, they soon learn to recontextualize themselves as they realize that the situation is ultimately pointless in justifying their goals. Though the kidnapping and subsequent pretending to stay kidnapped are ultimately pointless, they do wind up making a huge impact in each other's lives... aaand I've said enough about that. The story itself can also be construed as a criticism of Japanese society, social expectations, and child-raising.

But more than any of that, as blatantly meta as it is, Imperfect Girl was written as a novel by NisiOisiN to celebrate his 10 years writing as an author. This is where I believe I should make the distinction between what MC-kun is, and what an author stand-in character is.

Rather, that even though MC-kun IS a stand-in for the author, as in he reflects the author's philosophy, thought processes and assumedly share a similar backstory (not that I would know)-- he is still entirely his own character and one that I can relate to very much.

Going to college, going through the motions in society like a robot, but going home every day so he can work on his next story, but being rejected, time and time again every time he tries to submit. Except for the last part, and as an aspiring author myself, I felt as if I was that guy.

An artist is someone who can tell the truth by lying. By extension, authors write tales, ultimately lies, but perhaps hold even truer than the real thing. Autobiographies and fiction can be wholly indistinguishable; autobiographies written as fiction can be fascinating, while fiction written as autobiographies can be inspirational.

That said, amateur writers, or "aspiring authors" are not people who can tell the truth by lying. In pursuit of being a professional, often does an aspiring author lie, without giving their fiction real weight.

In other words, most aspiring authors haven't really experienced life and giving our MC-kun a real experience would benefit him... was where I thought the series was going with it, initially. Though I won't deny that it probably has some part, it really isn't so simple. In fact, I believe that relates more to Misery than it does Imperfect Girl.

Instead of being trapped by society's walls, he is now trapped inside actual walls. He is forced into the room, but he can easily get out. But instead, he gets to the bottom of what caused this situation and his perspective changes.

Meaning is given to him by the end of the series on WHY his stories should be told.

As I'm basically MC-kun, writing this review, I relate soooo much with his struggles. As an aspiring novelist-- I constantly try and doubt myself over the quality of my work. And ultimately, I am also guilty (and have repeatedly caught myself) writing imitations of novels, instead of writing tales that reflect myself. I feel, however, that once I do find purpose in WHY I want to write my stories, they ultimately come together in a way that I can be proud of, or at least in a way that I don't think it's broken just moments after writing it.

It doesn't help that I gain so much inspiration from NisiOisiN, honestly. When I hold him to an ideal standard, things only go uphill from there... Though ultimately, I still do my best to keep up with him because fiction itself is a means to contextualize oneself, kind of like how the characters in Imperfect Girl are to each other.

While MC-kun is a hard-worker and really does aspire to make it big, he doubts his own work will ever make it, even though he keeps saying "maybe next time" over and over again. He starts to believe he doesn't have talent as a writer but goes through the motions anyway because "that's his dream". By the end of the series, though he never says he's proud of his works-- rather something way more spoilerific-- the end goal is accomplished and spoilers essentially become his inspiration.

I also relate a lot with UU's character and her situation in many ways, but... that requires spoilers so...

To wrap things up, Imperfect Girl may seem very VERY unusual at first, but it's concepts at its core are masterfully executed and Mitsuru Hattori does a fantastic job retelling and breathing new life into it with her artwork. The first few panels alone got me hooked and I binged all three volumes in about an hour. And I literally finished it like an hour or two ago-- which might say something.

Honestly, the story is short enough (let alone good enough), and the aesthetic is Shaft enough for me to crave a movie adaptation or something in the prospective future. If you're a Shaft or Monogatari fan, you will be pleased with basically everything in this manga. Even if you're not one or either of those, I see no reason why you shouldn't find something equally as valuable in what this series has to offer if you choose to stick with it to its conclusion.

Story: 9.5/10
Art (normally): 8/10
Art (in impactful scenes): 10/10
Characters: 9/10
Music: 11/10
Enjoyment: 9.5/10
Overall: 9.5/10

No human being is perfect, and when a human being tries so desperately to be perfect, that alone will expose more imperfections. Why the obsession with being perfect?

(Light Spoilers).

This fantastic manga is about a 20 year old man that witnessed an elementary school girl get hit by a truck and sees her friend turn off her game before running to her side. He then gets kidnapped by said girl because she noticed that he saw her. This manga is amazing because it slowly paints a picture that makes you realize that you shouldn't judge people, or this manga, at face value or right off the bat. I believe that there are various things that this manga also tries to teach you, mainly the fact that people's situations can change and how ... they act isn't always their fault. I truly enjoyed this manga and believe you should read it too.

I wasn't certain what to expect going into this story, but I absolutely loved what I found. Imperfect Girl is a short and sweet psychological thriller with some interesting underlying themes. While the core narrative may not be particularly original, it's conception and execution are excellent. The art and panel design are great; they really enhance the presentation of the story and help create an intense, captivating atmosphere. This is one of the few manga I've read to date whose ability to tell a story with illustration left a notable impression on me.

The story is more character driven than narrative driven, concentrating on the protagonist's ... interactions with the girl he nicknames "U." He strives throughout the story to discover who U is and why she's doing what she is, and in doing so also uncovers pieces of his own character. Regarding the latter point, we get an interesting look into the mind of the protagonist as he uses this experience to reflect on his failure as an artist (and perhaps as a person more generally). However, I think there is more here than just the story of a broken girl. Early on a question is posited to the reader. "... what's the difference between an author and an aspiring author?" I would recommend that prospective readers keep this in mind as they make their way through the series. The question and its answer (not only the explicit answer we receive, but the implicit answer we can perceive in the stories events) are what I think to be a rather profound commentary on the social utility (i.e., value proposition) of art, and perhaps also the necessary qualities of an artist.

This story was interesting but obviously horrifying if you continue on with reading the story. It basically shows a fed up 20 year college student who while on a bike ride to college, meets two little girls walking the road and then suddenly one of them dies in a road accident. The little girl who survives the incident then breaks into his house and kidnaps him all the way through her own home….with a friggin knife! She locks him in a laundry closet and he spends a good number of days. Then as soon as he gets to know her more and that she is ... oddly enough comfortable with him, dark secrets surrounding the little girl start to unravel.

Overall it was unexpected like don’t get me wrong, it is rather odd for a man in his 20s to let a young girl kidnap him but the interaction between the characters seems rather intriguing in a way. Some might find that part of the whole thing uncomfortable so bare that in mind!

Shoujo Fujuubun (manga) 7/8/6/7/7

First things first. My "reviews" system is explained on a blog entry. Which can be found through my profile.
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✦Story✦
What can I say. A rather enjoyable story about depressed writer and a very edgy kid. I found the premise rather interesting, but as well a rather confusing and conflicted. But considering how the story went along and ended. I found it a good read. It was a bit grim and a rather unique thing to read. But since it's rather short it has quite some shortcomings, which most come from lack of explanations. Plus plenty of rather questionable elements of the story that ... felt way too suspicious. Mostly from lack of reaction and action of other adults. At least ending was rather sweet.

"7" is a probably praise. But I enjoyed it. It was unique and edgy.

✦Art✦
Very nice Art. Nothing else to say. Simple enough, but as well rather amazing.

✦Character✦
I mean, aside the edge and uniqueness. I found the characters themselves rather..."meh"? Not sure what about them didn't impress me, but for some reason i felt that too many things were simply out of place. But it was a rather sad story/life for both of them. Especially for the little girl, considering how she turned out to be in early age.

✦Enjoyment & Overall
Sad, edgy little fun Manga. I enjoyed it, thus liked it. Meaning it was good enough for me.

tl;dr: A strange story featuring essentially only two characters with a weird relationship told in an an incredibly interesting fashion.  

This manga had a strange but very interesting story that worked very well with the way the story was told. In essence, there are only really two characters in this work, the guy and the girl. These two characters are such a focus of this work, that it doesn’t even give them names. Rather, the work is told pretty much entirely in 1st person from the point of view of the protagonist who refers to himself as I, and who refers to the girl as U. This ... results in the story having a very interesting feel to it, where the readers are really brought into the mind of the protagonist, and wherein things are very slowly revealed to the reader as they’re revealed to him. As for the two main characters, I thought they were both really interesting, and though neither of them is likable at first, with the protagonist seeming really dumb and the girl seeming downright creepy, their minds gets fleshed out over the course of the manga, with a really interesting dynamic being born between the two, and in the end I was very invested in what would happen to U. It is related to that that I felt somewhat of a disappointment, in that I felt the resolution and ending were somewhat disappointing. They weren’t bad in terms of what actually happened, but rather, it was a matter of framing, wherein as previously stated we only see what happens from the protagonist's point of view. However, the protagonist isn’t really involved in it at all with the resolution to U, and hence as the reader doesn’t really see what happens to U either. There is a scene at the complete end dealing with the aftermath that sort of tells you, but it only shows you a glimmer, which is nice in its own way, but especially due to how the reader couldn’t see how things were truly resolved before then, I really wish we got to see more of the aftermath which could provide a bit more closure. The art was pretty good and worked well with the atmosphere.

“Remove everything pointless from an imperfect life, and it'd lose even its imperfection.”

“Ten years ago. I was a college student at the time, and I had been kidnapped and imprisoned by U, a young girl in elementary school.”
(Such a lovely premise for an odd, peculiar, strange, yet, sweet and inspiring tale.)

NisiOisiN-sensei and another penned art of wonder – an obeisance. Needless to introduce. This novella, as bizarre as it is, is exquisitely enough interesting and charming, captivating in its own unique and intrinsic way. The story and narrative presents, and devotes, itself in the most dramatic and profound fashion, making the reader keep turning ... the page.
A 20-year-old student, an aspiring author, is kidnapped, knifepoint, by an abnormal middle school girl, U.U, and imprisoned for 6 days. And that’s it. Save, of course, all the quaint mystery encrypted, and the progressive unfold and unravelling story behind a little girl’s dark past. A mellow relationship between abductee and abductor; a strong and gentle will to comprehend and rescue a crumbling heart; an uncanny fish and a silent broken home; a solitude sovereign, and withal, the same abnormal and picturesque insufficient girl, U.U. With mild funny moments, thin thoughts and dialogues that seem to erupt out of an inhospitable prospect, still, a deepening drama, both psychological and tragic, is kept intact, alongside a sober and ascertained story shape.

Epic and grand, again, in its own unique and ethereal realm, named “imperfect” by an obsessed writer, obsessed, back then, with being a writer, this is a story within a story, retold and wrought, with deft art (subtle, but rigorous), by Mitsuru Hattori, with a shady human predicament. Complex interaction, symbiosis and behaviourism. Ambitious and desperate, perhaps an irony forged by fate, the storytelling of a genius, the accentuation about human adaptation (or, maybe, the absence of such), pain and courage. Idiosyncratic and graciously sad, an incident, a meeting plunged onto oblivion to try and reach into the heart of one another.

Development:

The story takes place after a landmark event in the lives of the main characters, which lead them into an unusual situation, the main female character kidnaps and holds the male character captive.

Script:

Despite showing a certain shocking event in the beginning of the work, it develops, addresses and deepens in some points such as:

Loneliness, submission, control, conformism, Escapism, self-analysis, suicide, empathy and apathy.

We can observe an analysis and construction of character, focusing on both parts that are opposite to each other, an empathic being and an apathetic being. We can see a behavioral study on how people with different personalities relate to each other ... and how each individual shapes and interferes in their way of living.

In addition, the main character wants to be a writer. The work in question was created by NISIO Isin, who is known for his famous novels, with this in mind, when we see certain passages that deal with the theme "Writing stories or being a writer", we can interpret it as a form of auto biography and/or a psychological self-analysis of the author himself, and also a criticism of the theme.

Art:

The art of the characters is quite simple, occurring only the use of simple lines and light and shadow games.
The art used in the environments is also very simple, not occurring the use of great ambiences. I think that this use of simpler art is to give more focus to the script.
The great use of closed environments and darker colors are to transmit the sensation of loneliness, giving a more depressing feeling to the work.

Summary:

A different work than usual that has as the focus social relationships between two opposites, a good work for those who want works with psychological content or focused on intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships.


Final note:
7/10

Spoiler free!

A gripping short story that constantly had me on the edge of my seat.

I stumbled upon this manga and instantly saw the name NisiOisiN and then questioned how I hadn’t heard of it before then. I did my research and found that it was a light novel adaptation, that raised a few red flags in my mind as certain things don’t translate well into imagery and speech bubbles. Sadly there is no way to read the light novel (in English) so I bought the manga.

Sadly my worries came to fruition as I thought they would. A novel can express the main character's ... thoughts easily without it being excessive, however, in a manga doing that same thing can be. Reading the main character's thoughts on nearly every page became annoying after a while and sometimes took some of the mystery out of the story. Other than that the story is unique and intriguing to the very end.

It takes you on a thrilling adventure exploring some serious topics along the way. I read it all in one sitting, taking small breaks between each volume to try and piece together the mystery that is the girl nicknamed “U.U.” as the true meaning behind her actions slowly reveal themselves.

The art is nothing to write home about. Hattori did a decent job with it. Some parts can be hard to follow due to the style, but nothing so bad you can’t tell what’s happening. On the other hand, certain panels look stunning but there is only a select handful that I can say that about.

As far as short manga go, this is one of the best ones I’ve read, so I highly recommend this to anyone who’s looking for an interesting read.

I stumbled upon the first volume of the series at my local Book Off and picked it up on whim. Having flipped through the pages quickly, the detailed art drew me in and the vague synopsis confirmed my impulse purchase.

This story packs a big punch in just three volumes, easy to read in one go. A beautifully dark journey from beginning to end that explores horrors of the real world. It takes certain tropes that are common in manga and completely flips by the end. Your views on the two central character change as the story quickly progresses, I sometimes found my brain having ... trouble keeping up with my eyes.

Highly recommended to fans of psychological horror and beautiful art. Really enjoyed it :)