otakulys's manga / #murder(77)

Interesting so far. Not sure what my rating will be later, but I like the build up at this point. Definitely creepily obsessed with his older brother, but it's sad that his brother changed a few of the things he used to do out of embarrassment. That little moment when he quickly drops his younger brother's hand... I hope it stays interesting.

Haha, I like those weird, dark turns. Definitely a strange oneshot, think it could have benefited from being longer, had some clarity issues here and there, but it wasn't hard to understand. I appreciate that it wasn't a typical story.

Very sad, some more than others. I think this anthology showed strengths and weaknesses among the mangaka involved. Short stories can be challenging, writing something satisfying that fills in the blanks and makes sense in such a limited amount of space. The first story broke my heart into a million pieces. I was ugly crying and my cat came and forced me to hold him, which made me cry harder, so there's that. I was super bummed to see that mangaka has yet to produce anything else. I hope that just means she's new and we'll see a lot more from her in the future. Several stories were a little brief and rushed, but the ones that hit you hit you hard. Definitely a sweet but very heartbreaking anthology. Obviously, haha. But it was a good kind of sad. It felt real and emotional. The stronger stories, at least.

I really loved Demon Flower, which has a bittersweet ending itself, and I know this mangaka's style is to kill everyone as much as possible, especially sweet and innocent characters that stumble into the frame (I've never read a shoujo manga with so much graphic murder and torture of children), but the ending petered out so oddly. I've owned all four manga since they came out when I was in high school, but I only now read it on here, and I have to wonder if she'd meant to continue this but then it didn't work out, because even compared to her other abrupt endings, this was like she walked off a cliff mid-sentence. Plus, I hate it so much when a character is like, "You're all I care about! I don't have anyone else!" when friends of theirs are literally dying all around them to protect them. Seriously, bitch? You have no one else? The ending was a miss for me. It could have been more powerful, but in the confusion it just fell flat. 2.5 stars overall. EDIT: Apparently there's a follow up out there that she wrote in 2007. I had, in my delirious, sleep-deprived state, thought it was a continuation for Demon Flowers, though I'm not sure how that would have worked, and I got super excited. Now I'm a little sad, but I'm hoping it gets translated eventually, because this ending is so random. We need a follow up.

Kinda funny. That guy was a jerk and deserved it. The girl, though... Yeah, I get it, but have you ever heard of breaking up with someone? Did you have to let it go this far? If I had a dime for every person I had to stab so that they'd just tell me how they really felt...

Yeah, you can tell this was her/his first story. I like this mangaka's typical approach to dark humor and the sinister feeling underlying the other stories. This one was just clumsy and obvious. It was kind of funny, just the way that the characters start off, but nothing was ever explained, and there was nothing original here. Bummer. I wouldn't start with this one if you want to enjoy this author, though I have to say that most of the work is for those who appreciate the morose beneath the seemingly cheerful and innocent.

This is rather similar to a story I wrote when I was seventeen, haha. I like how pretty the uke is, and I like that you can actually see his penis. That's so rare, I was kind of surprised when it wasn't a weird, glowing orb. I'm sad that my biggest kink (purely fictional) isn't explored more in BL. I hate it in het. You'd think there'd be more stories where the seme is forced to watch the uke be harmed in some way. But maybe other people aren't quite as deranged as myself, lol. EDIT: Holy crap, I thought this was a oneshot! It was marked as complete at the time that I read it, at least. This was amazing! You NEVER see yaoi like this. And yes, this artist is messed up and depressing much of the time, but this was a very interesting story. Man, I wish more yaoi had supernatural action and factions fighting one another and stuff. Mooooooore. I want to read more set in this universe, damn it. All of the creepy things in the storage room, man... There's a lot of material there. It's still marked as incomplete, so maybe we'll get some extras? I'm just bummed that we don't get more of this world. I liked this story SO MUCH MORE than her other full length, Feeding Lamb, which was just disturbing as fuck. I mean, well-written, but mostly just unpleasant given the nature of it. I much prefer her supernatural horror to her serial killer/gore horror.

It's too short to be as impactful as it could be, and it's kind of confusing, but you get the gist of the plot.

WTF. This is so screwed up. ...But I like it. I'm just glad that one part was a fake out, or I would have had to rage quit. That's like the worst kind of violation of the bros before hoes code. Like, seriously? No piece of ass is worth letting someone eat your best friend. XD Anyway, this is obviously a kinkfest for the mangaka, as it squeezes in so many fetishes that aren't particularly common in yaoi. Not that I'm complaining, as a few of them are kinks of my own that I so rarely see. This story is definitely odd, and the cruelty of it is kind of getting to me, but I'm intrigued.

ANIMAL TORTURE WARNING! Not as graphic as the human stuff, but graphic enough. That being said: SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPER messed up. I don't believe another yaoi title can top this one. I've read some messed up crap--horse rape, cannibalism, a guy getting cut in half while another dude fucks his loose intestines--but this really takes the cake. It's sad and disturbing, definitely a miserable story. It's fucked up from beginning to end, with no relief, and it's hardcore to boot. I was disappointed in a few elements, mostly along the lines of nothing truly coming to a head with the case, and the ending felt too much like a final jump scare for me, especially when it's just a flash of him still as miserable as ever. Definitely not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. No happy endings here.