Kami no Kodomo

Unlike most narratives with sympathetic villains, Kami no Kodomo doesn't try to justify the protagonist's actions. His descent into violence feels inevitable, fueled by a cocktail of childhood abuse, a twisted sense of entitlement, and a chilling apathy towards human life. The narrative is devoid of flowery justifications – the protagonist lays bare his motivations and depravity in a chillingly detached tone. This lack of emotional manipulation is what makes Kami no Kodomo so unsettling. We're forced to confront the raw ugliness within the protagonist without the comfort of assigning blame or seeking redemption. It's a story that lingers long after the final panel, adisturbing echo of the potential for darkness that resides within us all. However, in its biggest flaws, the manga is exempt in my concept, religious fanaticism goes very well with a bored idiot multiplying bread. The supporting characters are mere shadows, existing only to illustrate the protagonist's distorted view of the world.

huh, ig it's boycrime time i wanted to like this, but the story was very lackluster. like oh no, he's a fucked up kiddo doin boycrime. which sucks because the start was very strong and intriguing, "I was born out of my mother's asshole" is a killer line. Idk, I was hoping for something that lived up to the unique art style but instead it goes where you think it will go. Read it if you are looking for something visually interesting, it takes like 15 minutes to zoom through this. There are plenty of other manga that go this dark are more thought-provoking

A more realistic re-telling of the manga 'Monster'. People who haven't finished reading the manga Monster may not get this and in many ways the art and the story spoils the final plot developments of that manga, but it cannot be denied: this manga at least is shorter and is much more realistic in the sense that there's no hero to the horror and the timeline of the story is much closer to how long real life serial killers' careers last. This doesn't mean this is realistic though. From the first panel onwards, it is clear this is meant to be more poetic than realistic. Those whodislike poetry and manga may even consider this hollow compared to the real life elements behind serial killings. Still, compared to Monster, I have to consider the murders here more realistic and thus makes the brutality of the acts more "disturbing" and that is one of the primary hooks to Monster to begin with. This is its' primary pros and cons though. If you read Monster before, would you read a short re-telling of the same Monster? If you haven't read Monster, would the immediate jump to a much more artistic artwork turn you away from the initial panels and settings? I will say this: unlike Monster, the ending has a better pay off and it isn't because of it's short length either. This manga could have easily been stretched although just like Monster - all it would do is make the whole thing feel more tedious as even here it already feels like it is dragging in the middle. For those who don't care for Monster and would just like a straight up review: If you like a dark Batman and feel like Batman's origins wasn't as dark and didn't do justice to the man compared to some of the later darker twists in the caped crusader's canon (like the switching of the mantle between the first Batgirl and the 2nd one) - the ending clues in on how good it can be done. The characters and relationships of course are not the same but if you ever want to see how an average combination of poetic, manga, noir and fictional serial killing ending would formulate; this is one of those manga with such a quality of an ending.