Ode to Kirihito

A lot of strange diseases roam this world, with scientists trying to find remedies, but to no avail. In the case of Ode to Kirihito, a bizarre disease that turns people onto dog-like creatures, yet retain their human consciousness, is found in an isolated village. The doctor Osanai is sent to the village to investigate the case, yet everything is not as it seems: be prepared to explore the unknown as well as the bureaucratic world of the doctors. The premise of Ode to Kirihito may seem nothing outstanding at first glance, yet shines in its presentation; by introducing the Monmow disease suddenly as most illnessdo, it creates a believable setting, while at the same time maintaining a well paced story. Needless to mention, Monmow degrades people's life gradually worsening to the point of causing the death of the affected. The hardships people have to endure are well displayed through interactions with characters and events that happen. Other great aspect of the manga is how it displays the world of scientists/doctors, including the explanation of medical terms, through the characters and narration of the different events that take place, be it a medical conference, or diseases patient suffer. There is however a negative aspect to the story; to make it darker and cruel, the author introduces incidents that happen to the characters, ranging from unnecessary rape scenes and deaths being some examples. This is not bad on its own, yet it is badly executed thus having no impact on the story, likewise having near to no consequences at all which makes it totally redundant to the storyline. The characters of Ode to Kirihito are varied, each with its own personality. Tatsugara the ambitious doctor that refuses to accept a theory that opposes his own or the not so talented Urabe. Being merely 800 pages long, character development for the characters is scarce, Kirihito being the exception. He undergoes serious changes to the point of looking like a total different character due to all the events that happened to him, ranging from humiliation to enslavement. The supporting cast is well done too, yet is difficult to find any attachment to them due to the short duration of the manga. The art style of Ode to Kirihito is at first glance simple and off-putting, yet its characters design fitted well with their personalities, as it was making it very easy to convey their beliefs and behaviours. Panel placement is well done too, giving it a "cinematic" feel to it. In addition, the backgrounds are stunningly well drawn, matching perfectly with the atmosphere it tries to portray. However, the character design is immersion breaking and doesn't fit the story at all: it is difficult to take the manga seriously, which is a shame, as it would have made this manga better. Overall Ode no Kirihito was a very enjoyable read, yet the "edgy" things that happen in conjunction with the characters design, made the story less realistic and less enjoyable than it could have been. Nevertheless, its presentation, narrative, and characters made it a very interesting read that kept me wondering what would happen next. Recommended to anyone with interest in the psychological genre. Thank you for reading.

For someone credited as the godfather of manga, with a good number of classic works under his belt, you’d expect Osamu Tezuka to be more of a classy writer, at least that was the expectation I brought with me when deciding to discover more of his work. It has however become apparent to me that Tezuka was not above inserting all kinds of depravity into his more adult stories. Having taboo elements in a story obviously doesn’t automatically make something bad, but it should be said that I hope any writer keeps themselves to a high standard when exploring them. Ode to Kirihito sadly canonly be described as clumsy in its execution. Sometimes a rape scene will have actual purpose when exploring the twisted psychology of incredibly flawed characters, made greater by creative use of the artwork and pages that are designed to be read in a distorted way. But other times a rape scene will literally pop up from behind a bush with little to no purpose other than shock value. What Ode to Kirihito deserves most credit for is in its theme about appearances and the value we put in them. Our main hero ends up being distrusted because of how his appearance changes from a human to a dog, despite being a respectable doctor. The main villains are obsessed with appearing smart and dignified to the point of using their positions of power to bury the truth. A few scenes of blatant racism spotlight how judging people by appearance allows ignorance to grow. Although once again, this praise is balanced out by twists that come out of nowhere, tragic events that are so numerous that they feel unnatural, and worst of all hospital politics that are an absolute bore to read through. Overall, Ode to Kirihito ends up being a mixed bag. Every well executed element is balanced out by an equally baffling element. I might still recommend Ode to Kirihito to big fans of Tezuka who wish to see his growth as an author as this was written around the mid-point of his career. For the casual reader though this one could easily be skipped, especially when there’s plenty of other mangas from Tezuka to explore instead.

Two doctors, the young, passionate and well-liked Osanai and the veteran, ambitious Tatsugaura, are both investigating the mysterious 'Monmow' diesease, found only in one remote village, which causes bizarre bone deformation, making its victims take on a beastlike appearance before their deaths. Osanai is sent to the village by Tatsugaura to see if he can find a cause for the disease while also treating the victims to the best of his ability. But in reality, Tatsugaura is scheming against Osanai and intends to infect him with the disease in order to clear the way of any obstacles of presenting his own research, and thus gaining highprestige and rank in the medical world.

Osamu Tezuka is often considered as the god of manga and once you read his works you can genuinely understand where they are coming from.Ode to Kirihito is a very underrated work of his and I found it to be one of his best. The plot of the manga at first look may look disposable but Osamu Tezuka’s writing is what makes it so intriguing.This manga revolves around a mysterious spreading disease called the Monmow Disease.This manga does a brilliant job in creating a believable setting surrounding this disease and the fate that the patient of the disease has to suffer.There’s also a fantastic aspect ofthe plot where they show the dirty politics of medical world.Don’t wanna give anything more due to the chance of it being spoiled. Ode To Kirihito has a variety of characters and each character are given their own different personality and struggle against the disease regardless of the fact if they have the disease or if they are curing it.every character plays a crucial role in progressing the plot.That being said the characters and the way that they progress can be questionable and this is not the first time I faced this problem while reading an Osamu Tezuka.No one can doubt his ability in writing but he certainly has a problem progressing characters with the plot.He sometimes changes character motivation without any prior development.There’s a part in the manga where a person marries someone and it’s shown that they love each other without zero to little development between them.The same problem goes with his other works like Apollo’s Song,Budha and Ayako.But the characters still had enough depth for me to overlook this problem. The art style of this manga is fine but nothing more than that.To be completely honest,I am not the biggest fan of Osamu Tezuka’s art.This art style is fine for Astro Boy but with a plot that is so dark and mature,it really doesn’t go that well.Though I loved the art and character design of Doctor Urabe.Especially in the later half of the manga where he goes through a lot of psychological distress. Overall,Ode To Kirihito is a fantastic manga with a really good plot,interesting characters,good thematic values and a pretty nice conclusion.It may come of as a bit to dark for various character death and physical violation but if you can handle that than give this manga a read.