Having read a total of 56 chapters of this manga, I think it's okay to look back on my surreal experience with it. It is nearing the end anyway.
Man, what a mess this one is. And mind you, not a good mess at all. The surreal experience that I am talking about wasn't due to the manga itself; rather, it was me wondering how in the world did it tumble its way down to an edgy story full of weirdos, when it started with brutal themes like power imbalance and revenge. On top of that, the decline in quality was so steep that I'm
...
surprised to have not put this one down yet.
The synopsis gives a clear idea of what the plot is about as well as the themes that serve as bedrock (or at least did in the beginning). Our main guy, Eyama, is a victim of severe bullying at school. Horrible bullying, in fact. His bullies are shepherded by Aya, our main girl, who is loved and respected by everyone.
But the fate of our hapless mc takes a turn when he is given power by the "Captivity Game." The power imbalance between Eyama and Aya does a 180, leaving the bullied in charge of whatever happens to the bully. For one month. Literally, whatever happens. The game puts Eyama in a position of power that is even higher than Aya's, free to do whatever the hell he wants.
And this is where the story starts... only to take a rather bizarre and embarrassing route for its journey. [No spoilers ahead]
I think it is stupid to judge a story based on what message it's trying to give (if it's giving a message at all). But every story does start off with some themes that carry some meaning behind them, irrespective of what the message is. Therefore, it hurts to watch this manga throw away its former, imo better, themes and replace them with something shallow and out of place. And it has adverse effects on all the elements.
In the beginning, the plot was really promising. There is a scene in Chapter 1(?) where Eyama is bullied by Aya and her gang. And damm if that scene doesn't feel real. Eyama's horror and Aya's ruthlessness are clearly felt in this scene. Beyond this, there are also some interesting plot points that broaden the plot to something more than just "Bully bad, bullied victim." (I won't mention them as they might be considered spoilers).
But the interesting stuff did not shine for too long as it quickly got buried under a pile of bad decisions that that were progressively worse. Flippant, thematically ineffective, crass, these are the perfect descriptions for most of the events that unfold after, say, Chapter 10. And by the end of Chapter 56, we have a hotchpotch of meaningless plot-twists and revelations that won't make you bat an eye. Bullying, power struggle, all are forgotten as major themes. They are only used to further a storyline that is more an edgy drama than psychological horror.
And the main perpetrators of this edgy drama are the characters.
I swear to god, most characters feel like they are suffering from bipolar disorder. One panel, there is a dark shadow over their devious faces. And right after that, they transform into chibis, cracking lame-ass jokes. I understand if it was the artist's intention to portray them as hiding behind a fake smile, but it doesn't feel natural to me. It's clumsy, it breaks the tension and flow of the story. It's like they have a mood switch to become serious or chill in an instant.
This department also suffers from the same problem the plot does: good things not lasting long. Aya and Eyama had a good thing going on during the first week of captivity. It was something akin to Light and L in Death Note- a psychological battle where if they break, their life will be forfeited. Both had the potential to become very interesting characters. Playing the Captivity Game with their lives on the line, Eyama and Aya exploited each other's shortcomings as people in order to come out on top.
But guess what happened when one of them did mentally break later on? Yes, A WHOLE LOT OF NOTHING. Nothing and a whole lot of dumbfuckery, which includes:
1) Flashbacks that highlight just how unnecessarily idiotic the characters are
2) Moefication of all female characters
3) RoMaNcE
....As for the side characters, they are not really worth talking about. There's one Arakawa-san, though, who is kind of a poor (and bipolar) man's Kakashi-sensei. (imho)
The art is good, honestly. There are a bunch of wallpaper-worthy panels of Eyama and Arakawa-san. But the art can't do anything when other elements are so inconsistent and bad.
Other than all that, this manga has edge. Bucketloads of edge. Edge that will cut right through your cringe tolerance and make you feel embarrassed for a bunch of people who clearly think that their edginess is badass. It's not; it's bad. It's painful.
There are a lot of gory and disturbing scenes as well. Although for me personally, they weren't that disturbing since I had little to no emotional attachment to anyone or anything.
Finally, I wish I could say that this work had potential. If I could, I would have given it a 5. This manga doesn't have any potential, though. And that's because it threw away all the good things it had to offer very quickly and replaced them with story elements that had no rhyme or reason to them whatsoever. Elements that were distasteful and disappointing and had no impact on me.
I will finish this one out of sheer morbid curiosity ( that's a plus, I guess) but I don't recommend it to anyone else AT ALL.
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Mar 29, 2021
Prison Lab
(Manga)
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Having read a total of 56 chapters of this manga, I think it's okay to look back on my surreal experience with it. It is nearing the end anyway.
Man, what a mess this one is. And mind you, not a good mess at all. The surreal experience that I am talking about wasn't due to the manga itself; rather, it was me wondering how in the world did it tumble its way down to an edgy story full of weirdos, when it started with brutal themes like power imbalance and revenge. On top of that, the decline in quality was so steep that I'm ... 
Mar 11, 2021
Shelter (Music)
(Anime)
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Two days ago, I would have given this short film/ music video a 5 after watching it twice. I felt like there was barely anything in there to attach my emotions to. Sure, I got the plot, and that ending does catch you a little off guard, but it was all too short and the pacing was too fast. The anime does not give enough time to absorb Rin or her woes. Consequently, I just decided that it is an average anime that, while full of potential, is restricted by its short run time.
But then the soundtrack got stuck in my head, even hours ... |
