Dojin Work

The dojin (self-published comics) scene is Japan is huge. With some artists selling multiple thousands of copies of their work it’s virtually a self-sustaining business within the world of manga. The lure of fame and fortune can be strong, particularly for protagonist Najimi who think it an way to sell out and make an easy living. Failing to take into account that drawing a comic is hard, let alone trying to actually sell your stuff, especially if your artwork stinks, we follow Najimi into a world populated with geeks and freaks.

A quick flick through a volume of this series won’t reveal a thing about this manga. The unglossy artwork does well to keep its hilariously jaded and mean sense of humour well under wraps from the passing eye, making the joy of reading this manga stronger as anyone seeing you read won’t have a clue to the filth being discussed within it. It’s no big secret that some dojin comics are porn, of which Dojin Work shows nothing. However the psychological impact on a creator making their first porn comic is hilarious (‘it’s like masturbating in public’ we’re told).

As time goes on Najimi’s sales steadily rise from single figures to double digits, against her friends who all regularly sell in the thousands. She gains a rival who issuitably awful and the two battle it out to get the best sales. Best character of all Tsuyuri who is comfortable with her status as a pervert and subtly manipulates her friends into making the worst and most embarrassing decisions on their creative journey. The whole thing is totally understated, but out of all the yon-koma available in English this is probably my favourite.

Of the six volumes, Anime Works only published up to the 4^th one and exists as one of my biggest wants of unfinished manga. They did also release the 12 episode anime series which is worth checking out as an emergency backup. If you’re familiar with the Comiket scenes from the likes of Genshiken and Lucky Star, you might be tempted to take a cynical glimpse at this anti-Bakuman series.

Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo

You kind of have to wonder sometimes how a series is pitched to publishers, especially if your idea has little plot, wobbly artwork and virtually no sense of direction. But despite being in this predicament, Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo (that’s 7 lots of ‘bo’) somehow got itself a gig and went on to spawn 21 volumes, an anime and a further sequel series.

Running almost as a stream of consciousness, Bo-bobo is takes every typical fighting manga cliché you’ve read and then stamps all over it with loving prejudice. Bungee fights, attacking with nose hair and screaming special moves such as ‘Fist of the Wild Dance of the Infuriated Jelly’, there’s much to take in but little genuine content. Reading a single chapter requires a surprising amount of headspace to keep up the its random and destructive tendencies, and many will be put off by its constant juvenile stupidity with little else to back it up. There’s a guy with a turd for a head also. The quality of the series? It just. Doesn’t. Stop. Most pages have more ideas than most series run in a chapter. Quite what the mangaka’s inspirations are is anybody’s guess, but I doubt it’s anything legal.

Imagine if you were suffering from food poisoning, had taken laxatives and were high on laughing gas - This is manga diarrhea at its most violent,. I’ve yet to even finish the first volume… is that even a recommendation?

Note: Doing a little research for writing this it seems that the US release of this is pretty confusing. A solo volume was released a few years ago which actually turns out to be volume 9 of the Japanese release. If you buy volume 1, you’re actually starting at volume 11 and carrying on from there.

Life

So far there’s been a distinct lack of shojo-styled manga on this blog - time for a change of pace! That said perhaps not, as this is one of the more disturbing titles I’ve ever had the ‘pleasure’ of reading.

Ayumu’s an everyday high school girl with average grades and modest personality. Her best friend Shinozuka is the top of the class and they decide to study together to help bring her grades up. All intentions are good and Ayumu’s grades steadily raise, but things are a little too close for comfort for Shinozuka who begins to feel her position as the better student threatened. Only Ayumu passes her finals, causing the two to go their separate ways, but not before Shinozuka’s bitter resentment is passed on, causing Ayumu’s confidence to nose dive… and there ends chapter 1.

If by the title we’re to assume that this manga really represents ‘Life’, then I’d be terrified to ever go to a Japanese school. Early volumes contain scenes of self-harm, public humiliation, kidnappings and sleazy blackmail - even a scene where a group of girls try to force Ayumu into swallowing needles. It’s pretty grim stuff. What makes Life so difficult to read is that there’s no real reason for Ayumu to be so perpetually victimised aside from the insecurities of the absolute psychopaths that she seems to attract.

From volume 6 the age rating jumps up to the 18+ mark and goes further with the intensity. Our heroes are kidnapped again, tied to a bed, sexually assaulted and left for dead with the building on fire. School kids don’t do this! The drama is so overblown that is risks becoming pure melodrama, which to be honest would offer real respite to the horrendous sequences of events. But that it is able to reign in its intensity makes this uncomfortable and gripping reading throughout.

Unfortunately, and somewhat mercifully, Tokyopop wasn’t able to publish beyond volume 9 when Kodansha pulled all their licences from them. Some sort of resolution or sense that there could possibly be a happy ending to all this suffering on the way would be very heartening. But without this conclusion this series exists as one of the most twisted and venomous titles out there. You have been warned…