Super-Conductive Brains

For someone who enjoys dark humor and horror, but does not care much for "grotesque nonsense", picking up a Shintarou Kago is like playing Russian roulette. In this analogy, "Super-Conductive Brains" is a blank: you lose but at least you don't suffer any major consequence. This manga is not an avant-garde comedy -in the vein of "Dementia 21"- a reasonable reader might hope for, nor is it one of this author's more "extreme" works. "Super-Conductive Brains" is a short science-fiction manga for mature audiences, with a loose overarching story connecting various vignettes set in a rather bleak future. Granted, the manga is not for the faint ofheart -with plenty of gore and nudity- but it is all presented in an unceremonious and matter-of-fact way, which will not make it very impactful to horror/dark sci-fi readers. The inclusion of those elements might simply be a way to reinforce the theme of dehumanization and the overall dystopian feel of the setting. Since the visual presentation is rather dull in general, lacking the abstractions and creative compositions often seen in Kago's work, the focus is indeed on the story. This is where "Super-Conductive Brains" comes especially short. None of the vignettes bring any novel science-fiction concept to the table, and the overarching story suffers from Kago's usual issues with providing a satisfying conclusion to a narrative. The stories all revolve around the biomechanoids' ambiguous nature (human or machine) or some generic "dystopian future" plot without subverting those tropes outside of the tacked-on graphic content. Overall, the manga is simply not very engaging. The characters are fine and sufficiently developed within the story they appear in and -besides some overly busy panels- said stories are competently told. Still, it will not leave any lasting impression, because of the absence of Kago's (in)famous trademark visuals or comedy, and because it ends up being a collection of generic science-fiction stories.

This is another great work from kago shintaro, in short, it is a grostique manga by using actual human limbs as humanoid bodies. Similar to how machines are assembled and disassembled in our world, in Shintaro's world, human limbs are disembodied and reassembled into humanoid. As with other kago shintaro's works, blood and violence are all over the place, yet every scene is drafted in a really detailed and creative way. Can you imagine how an eight hands, giant humanoid would move, fight, or wrestle? Kago shintaro details every aspect of his grostique creation, from their movement to their interactions with the enviornment, every scenesis well crafted. While absurd, it still follow the fundermetal physical constraint of bodily movement. Beyond the visuals, the story itself is also engaging, which gives a challenging question to the reader: What is the distinction between a human and a machine? The manga is a thought-provoking experiment that asks if we can still consider our limbs and organs human when the brain is removed and they are used merely as tools. Should they be treated as creatures, or as machine? This is a topic worth considering, especially as modern technology advances at a pace unprecedented in human history. Overall, this is a challenging but wonderful read.