In his second collection of short stories, Mohiro Kitoh recounts the tragic fates of people living in a half-futuristic, half-fantasy city whose inexorable structural decay seems to be mirrored in its citizens’ hearts. 6u3g6e
1 Volume (Complete)
I guess you'd like this if you're the average male or a particularly unsympathetic female, what with the pretty little underage waifs who show up naked all over the place. (Manga Erotics F doesn't have a demographic, so please don't say: "It's seinen, what did you expect?") In my case, there was way too much lolicon and fast romance/sex involving said lolis for me to be able to appreciate the psychology behind the stories. I added the 'lolicon' tag to the genre field, but in case it's ever removed, let this serve as a warning to anyone of similar mind.
I wouldn't even have written this comment if the underage nudity/sex/sexual exploitation were featured in 2 or 3 chapters, but in all but one of them? That was overkill. It would also have been okay if the stories specifically focused on the moral degeneracy of this futuristic city that has made adult x child sex commonplace, but... None of them were in any way dealing with that; they were focusing on entirely different issues. So why on earth were all the females involved ~12 or thereabouts? If the mangaka so badly wanted every story to have a romance element and sexual content, why couldn't he have made the girls women? There was no logical reason, so I can only assume that it's because Kitoh Mohiro himself prefers to draw younger females in sexual situations as opposed to older ones. And as a reader, I see no reason at all to approve of that if it doesn't contribute to my enjoyment or to the good of the plot.
On top of that, the mental/social/existential issues brought up, while quite thought-provoking, are not so earth-shatteringly unique that I'd recommend reading Kakutoshi no Yume at any cost; they're dealt with in most well-written works that feature dystopian futures, so any one of them would do.
Tl; dr: An okay quick read, but left an unpleasant aftertaste that restricted my ability - or, for that matter, desire - to speculate or dwell on what I'd read for too long. Which is quite the flaw in a collection of psychological one-shots, if you ask me. But if you like/don't mind loli elements... Enjoy!
... Last updated 10 years ago
There wasn't any rape in this from what I recall. The stories aren't "edgy" in the least.
The character art is simple,yet pretty. The background are is amazingly detailed and fun to look at.
This manga has some pretty interesting ideas that I would like to see Kitoh expand upon.
... Last updated 13 years ago
a great manga for a short read and a long thinking. the only drawback here is the art where everyone look the same but the hair and clothes, but since these are short, standalone stories you don't feel confused at all.
As with all of Kitoh's works other than his very earliest, this collection leaves a bad taste. It's just another mediocre collection of mediocre seinen stories at a psychological level exactly equal to all the rest of them. The only difference this one has is that it's trying extremely hard, inserting "edgy" topics like child rape and murder as if that would make these stories any good. They aren't.
A thought provoking, often beautiful read. Though nothing particualry stand-out and many of the stories could benefit from a little extra explanation, as well as some more on the actual world they are set, it's a decent seinen that leaves a notable impression on the readers mind. I'm really confused though, as it seems like there is a core message and something linking them together that I just cannot grasp.
