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Two Manga I Can't Believe Exist




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Snomaster1
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 5:11 am Reply with quote
In the days in which places like Blockbuster Video and Hollywood Video existed,I'd go out and look around them. One reason was a normal one. I wanted to get a movie or something else I wanted to see. But,there was another reason. I'd look around and see if I'd get an inspiration for a story I wanted to do. In amongst the cartoons,comedies,and other things like that I'd like to watch,there were other things like for example,certain anime and things like slasher films and the like that I could hardly believe ever got greenlit much less made.
For me,I couldn't understand who'd want to watch such gory stuff. I knew those people were out there. I just didn't understand why they'd ever want to see things like that. Similarly with things like horror comics and other things like that. I just never understood why anyone would want to read such bloodsoaked material. It just made me queasy and the closest thing I got was looking at the covers or just looking through a few pages before putting it back on the shelf.

Recently,I heard about two manga drawn by the same guy,some of which I can't believe got published. The first one is called "Satanophany." And,what I've heard from ANN,it's entering it's final part. If you're wondering what it's about,I'll tell you. But,be warned. It's very disturbing. In this manga,there's a disease that turns ordinary girls into homicidal maniacs. One day,a girl who doesn't suffer from this disease ends up in a prison that makes Andersonville seem like Club Med. In that sort of environment,you can easily imagine scenes like from "Dante's Inferno" happening on a regular basis there.
There's another manga that covers much the same territory as this one does. It's called "Deathtopia." In that one,a college student gets involved in a traffic accident that damages his eyesight. It gets repaired through surgery but not without an unexpected side effect. He seems to have gained the ability to see strange apparitions around him. On top of that,a deranged serial killer with a desire to collect eyeballs is going after him. Fortunately for the student,a group of beautiful girls are going to try to protect him as well as go after the serial killer.

This thing is a harem manga only with a serial killer running around. Both manga are done by a man named Yoshinobu Yamada,a man who seems to want to be the Steven King of Japan. But,to be honest,a lot of Yamada's stuff would give him nightmares. As I said before,I saw some of his stuff before on another website and boy,oh boy. His material can be very unpleasant. How unpleasant? Let me say this. If Ted Bundy knew about manga,these two would be on the top of his reading list.
From what little I have seen of his work,Yamada seems to dish out buckets of blood in the stuff he does. I can hardly believe stuff like this exists much less gets published. What amazes me even more is that his earlier manga,"Deathtopia" got an English release on digital. That was probably Kodansha USA's wisest move. This thing would probably cause a lot of protests wherever it showed up in print. It would have to be in clear plastic wrap and I think a lot of places wouldn't want to sell something like this.

Honestly,both these manga would make stuff like "I'm Not Starfire" or "America Chavez" seem like viable books. In fact,I rather read the worst that DC and Marvel currently have over these two gorefests. Yeah,they may be utterly stupid and cringe-inducing but the worst that would happen from them would be I'd end up writing a scathing review of those comics. On the other hand,these two manga would give me night terrors for months after I read them. There's little to recommend them other than to gorehounds.
Although stuff like "Berserk" can be extremely brutal,it does have some good points, Some of the artwork seems to be good and it seems to have a solid story. What does stuff like "Deathtopia" and "Satanophany" exist other than just pure nightmare fuel? Why would anyone want to read stuff like this? Or do I really want any answers to those questions?


Last edited by Snomaster1 on Fri Aug 13, 2021 12:57 am; edited 7 times in total
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Alan45
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 7:30 pm Reply with quote
The answer is simple, personal preference. Well done gore or horror can cause a variety of emotional responses. These likely cause the release of chemicals into the blood stream and tighten up the old pucker string. Some people enjoy that.

Like you I don't care for either genre. However, that doesn't make me question its existence. I know that stuff I like will bore some readers to tears. The bottom line is that you can't and shouldn't try to read everything. As long as they continue to make manga that I like, I don't care what they make that I don't like. Those manga I would have avoided based on the title alone. Surely you knew they were not in your taste after a few pages. Why continue beyond that.

A lot of titles get shrink wrapped. Usually for graphic nudity or sexual acts. To the best of my knowledge it doesn't impact the sales of a title. For what it is worth, I've seen manga every bit as bad as what you described. I didn't read those either. As far as complaints go horror gets less bad press than sex. Regardless we can't refuse to allow publication of something on the off chance that someone might object.
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Snomaster1
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 1:36 am Reply with quote
Well,thank you,Alan45. I appreciate your response. Here's the thing. I don't really want to read stuff like "Satanophany,""Deathtopia,"and "Berserk." I usually leave those titles alone or after reading the summary of them on the back cover. I'm not a big gore fan. What amazes me is that it does exist. I know there are people who like this stuff. I'm not among them but that's just me.
For me,there are stuff that seem so extreme that I can't read it or watch it. While I know that there are people who like this stuff,I'm honestly confused as to why it exists. I remember some years ago,I saw a manga called "Giant Spider & Me." It's about a little girl who befriends a giant spider in a post-apocalyptic world. I kinda liked it. It was cute and sweet. Now,there are people who'd find this sort of thing lame but again,I liked it.

In a way,I can understand why something like that exists. Likewise,I can understand why something like "Berserk" or "Game of Thrones" would exist as well. While there is blood and gore in it,it seems to have some point to it. It's not just there to stimulate some dark part of people or repulse others into not buying it. I can also understand why stuff like the harem and isekai genres exist as well. They may seem trashy or stupid to others,but I've never had a problem with either genre.
On some level,they act as a wish fulfillment thing for people who don't have a lot. They want to be that guy who has girls around him a lot or going out on some grand adventure on some strange world unlike our own. While I agree that not all harem or isekai stuff is great but there are enough good product out there to at least give it a chance.

In many ways,I can understand why those genres exist. What I don't understand and never really have is why stuff like "Satanophany" or "Deathtopia" exist in the first place. I don't get the appeal of seeing people hacked to pieces or having pages covered in gore. I don't really understand that or why anyone would want to read or watch it. There seems to be little value to it other than just watching horrific things happen. It's something I've never fully understood. I know there are people who like this sort of thing. I and many others don't. I guess it's a matter of either taste or a strong constitution,both of which still confuses me. I just don't get the appeal. There's not much to enjoy in stuff like that. It's probably one of those things that someone like me will never fully understand.
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Alan45
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 6:54 am Reply with quote
Snomaster1 wrote:
Quote:
I know there are people who like this stuff.


You more or less answered your own question. There are people who like to create this stuff and people who like to read it. Apparently there are enough of the latter that there is a market for it. As long as the publishing industry perceives there to be a market for anything, they will attempt to fill that need. It is the same way you get the stuff you do like. That is how we got anime and manga that is strictly made for the Japanese market. People here noticed that there was a market for it in the US and set out to satisfy that market.

I'm retired so I have a lot of spare time. However, I find that there is enough translated manga and light novels that look good that I could spend all my time reading and still not read everything. If you add in the stuff that is digital only it becomes overwhelming (and that is just the titles that are legal). I see no sense in worrying about the titles I don't like. Someone must like them or they wouldn't be there. Different strokes for different folks and all that. Don't sweat the small stuff.
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Snomaster1
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 10:37 pm Reply with quote
Thanks again for the response,Alan45. I appreciate it a lot. I guess personal preference is as good an answer to my question as any. There are a lot of things that I like that others might not or something similar but for a different reason. Everybody has different tastes,including stuff like manga and anime. Thanks again for the response. I like seeing them even if it's something I may not like.
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