Have you ever finished reading a volume of a manga where you just feel unnerved by the end? When I first picked up Watari-kun's ****** Is about to Collapse, I was expecting a semi-tragic story about two siblings trying to persevere in a new environment after losing their parents. What I got is a series that feels like it's trying to be psychological horror, with almost every character featured being just a little bit off. Yet, I can't tell you exactly why, because this is a story that plays its cards very close to the chest. It won't give away all of its secrets right away, but it does just enough to make you realize that things are probably less OK than they originally appear. Either that or the book does such a fantastic job of gaslighting me into jumping at shadows when there aren't any.

Our protagonist and titular character is just doing his best to be a reliable older brother, even though he skews the line into overprotective territory. That makes sense given the fact that he and his sister have bounced around a bunch of unreliable relatives after their parents passed away. The story does a good job of establishing that, and while the relationship between him and his younger sister is leaning towards codependency, it is completely understandable. With a similar setup and different tone, I could see this as a coming-of-age or uplifting story about gaining independence while still respecting the bonds of family.

Instead, I'm not really sure what story this one is trying to tell. The character on the cover of the book is a complete mystery to us because it's clear that she's hiding something despite having a falling out with our protagonist at some point in the past. However, it's hard for her actions to stick out as the quirky weirdo when almost everyone in this volume exhibits some uncomfortable personality shift. Even the fourth grader has these little hints of going off the rails. None of this is displayed in the writing itself, as it's not like anybody necessarily says anything that gives things away; rather, it's all about the tone and the presentation. You're not sure if a character is responding to things in a natural way or if they're responding to things in an overly uncomfortable way. I will give the series a lot of credit for doing a fantastic job of making me very unsure of what was going on.

The presentation is incredibly basic, but that makes the moments where something is done a little bit differently stand out even more. This is a book that very much relies on the idea that less is more. Sometimes you don't need a detailed backdrop to convey specific emotions. Sometimes you just need a blank, black background to portray an uncomfortable character realization. Sometimes you just need to hollow out the pupils in the eyes for somebody to come off as vaguely threatening. The character designs are generic, and the overall presentation is nothing to write home about. But this does feel like the writer is setting up for something far more sinister than what was originally presented.

This very much feels like the story is potentially playing with a lot of taboo ideas like incest, but at least in this volume, it doesn't cross any lines. We're still very much in slow-burning thriller territory with this first volume, but I can see us reaching a point of return in future volumes. This book felt like I was watching somebody slowly wind a guitar string. I can't tell if they were winding it because they were naturally tuning the guitar or if they were winding it because they wanted the wire to snap, and it's that uncertainty that the story excels at. I need to read more in order to get a better grasp of the story being told. If you're looking for something more unnerving and chilling with a relatively simple premise, then this is worth checking out. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next.