otakulys's manga / #dark(197)

Wow, I've been meaning to read this forever, and I can't believe it took me this long. This was not at all what I was expecting. I hate that I have to wait now. I hope it updates more soon. But seriously, I went in expecting way more cliches and shallow character motivations. This is an intense thriller, not just plotless smut. I'm always looking for stuff like that, but rarely does it bay off in this way. Plus, gorgeous art. I'm scared it's gonna have a sad ending, or a bittersweet one, and I'm pretty sure at least one of the characters I like will die, so that sucks, but I'm hoping it's all worth it in the end.

Suuuuuper messed up. But it was psychological and fascinating like everything Harada does. I don't typically read doujinshi, and I've never seen this anime, but I love Harada, so I thought I'd read it regardless. I feel like I got everything without knowing the backstory, just from the context of this oneshot. I've heard this one described as the most disturbing yaoi, but it's not even in the top ten. Definitely messed up, but nobody got eaten alive, or raped by a horse, or disemboweled during sex, so it could have been worse. XD (And has been!) If you like mind rape and twisted stories, especially violence and torture, this is the manga for you. Otherwise, maybe go read something fluffy.

Very short, but a creepy little tale about love and obsession, and the unhealthy, disturbing behaviors that might lie beneath the surface of people we love. I liked it.

Really sad. I read this ages ago, and it broke my heart. Pretty and tragic. I guess it's one of those things where, if you're going to be separated eventually anyway, you may as well have a moment of happiness. Can't read this again, though. I'll just cry.

Hmm.... Interesting, I suppose. I feel like there's something a bit clunky about each story. The fur one was really gross, but it was supposed to be. I hate animal suffering. I wish it had ended with some people paying for being so cruel. Despite that, the fur one, chapter four, was the only one that was really creepy. The end of the grandpa one was definitely eerie, too. They were clever concepts. The other two were okay, also. Not the worst I've read. I'll keep reading, at least. ETA: Lol, I don't now if the fifth story was supposed to be deep or what, but... It was pretty mean-spirited, but it was an interesting idea, like most of the others. I've thought about that before, the assumption that we're the main characters of our story. Kind of a miserable, nihilistic approach, but hey. At least the bikini ended up making sense.

Lol. Short and weird, but a girl has to make a living, I suppose. Of course, when I carry around a suitcase full of fingers, suddenly it's "disturbing" and "against the law."

Strange little slice of horror. Might end up being interesting. Maybe someone else will pick it up eventually.

Hm, interesting and odd little take on the afterlife. Surreal and sort of intriguing, but it dragged on a bit with no clear direction. I get that that was intentional, but it didn't really work for me in this instance. Still, it was an interesting concept.

Very, very odd and quite gross manga. It was interesting, and I liked some of the exploration behind the psychology. I do feel like something fell flat near the end, though. I kept waiting for him to kill one of his boys. He kills things that he loves, doesn't he? The whole thing was bizarre, as it should have been, but it never quite reached the point I was looking for. Also, there was no real punishment here, nor is his fate satisfying, because his children are monsters who may continue this stuff, so... But yeah, I would have liked it more if it had expanded beyond that little group of creeps. Also, despite all the murder, it's always animal death that gets to me, so I had to mark it down a bit for that, too.

Oh god, that fifth story made me dry heave. So disgusting. The other stories weren't like that, so it was kind of random how sick it was. Anyway, these were all interesting little concepts with some occasionally creepy as hell art. The biggest downside is that almost every story would stop in the middle of the situation for some long, bizarre moment of exposition, where a character would fill everyone in on what was going on. It disrupted the pace, but it was also just awkward, like, "Oh, by the way, here's a long retelling of the history of this horror show. Just thought you should know that I'm being held against my will and you're gonna die. Lol, kay, have a nice night, folks." I actually started reading because of the nightmarish face that finally appears in the fourth story. That was an interesting one, though it had the same issues. I liked the sixth story, about the earth bound, though I guessed immediately what the cause was both in general and with the boss. Still, I would have liked to seen more on that one. I like how the artist draws certain people. They have an interesting approach. Kinda wish they drew BL, too, cause some of these boys were pretty. Maybe the fact that I was thinking that while horrible things were happening to them says something not-so-great about me, but hey, lol.