Mr. Arashi's Amazing Freak Show

Surprised this manga doesn't have more reviews. Read this manga if you fall under one of these categories- 1. You like to explore weird stuff 2. If you like ero guro. There is nothing else here, absolutely nothing. It is a weird, revolting, and horrifying story that hooks you in till the end. It left me traumatized, but man do I want to read more of this mangaka. Personally, I like exploring the works of controversial figures, so I'll definitely check out his other work.If you're like me go ahead and give this a read, but be sure to have r/eyebleach on the side. You're gonna need it.

If you are new to the work of Suehiro Maruo, boy you have a big storm coming. 'Shoujo Tsubaki' is his most popular work, garnering attention as being known to many people as "The most disturbing anime/manga of all time." In my opinion, 'Brother's Conflict' and 'Papa to Kiss in the Dark' are FAR more disturbing than this, but I digress. To be quite honest, this story is actually more streamline and almost makes sense is comparison to his other work. That being said, there is almost no actual storyline to follow and does not make too much sense attimes. Things just happen and you have to roll with the punches. If you were hoping for actual plot and a resolved conflict, you will not be satisfied with this. What makes this manga special is the art; The stark contrast between the black and white without excessive use of screentones to mellow out those harsh lines. Instead of screentones, much of the shading is hatching, which just makes the art feel that much grittier to me. The best usage of hatching I found was on page 115, I can literally feel the hand cramp just from looking at it. I'd like to just reference some of my favorite pages, because I only really enjoyed this book for the artistic value. Page 84, the "Ant Scene.." go ahead and try to figure out what happens in the ant scene. Pages 106-107, which I would like to refer to as "An actual nightmare, OR a really good time!!" My favorite of all though was on page 111, where we see Midori standing in front of a cold night sky. It's not the most detailed or refined drawing, but it is just really nice to look at, when you see it you'll know what I mean. I am not even going to bother talking about our "lovely" cast of characters. There's nothing to talk about, other than the fact every character other than Midori is an ACTUAL PREDATOR and will not hesitate to bust a nut at any given second. But I will give credit to Muchisute for eating with his feet though, what a king. He can't play rock paper scissors but MAN he do be dressing well!! If you are a horror/guro fan and haven't given this a chance yet, literally what are you waiting for. Or if you're someone who simply wants to expand their horizons by reading something different or weird, I'd say give this a go! Keep in mind there are tons of explicit and disturbing scenes, such as r*pe, mutilation and murder. 'Shoujo Tusbaki' is a mere 1 volume, so a quick read that I would say is very much worth it :3c <3

Shoujo Tsubaki is Suehiro Maruo’s nightmarish version of the popular character “Camellia Girl”, but here what actually plays out is a display of hell. Midori is a young orphan girl who’s kidnapped and forced to work in a circus freak show. There, she goes through all kinds of abuse and trauma. Even though it features heavy themes, Maruo’s drawings are delicate, artistic and beautiful, which causes a grotesque, yet impressive contrast. Maruo is a true artist, a painter (it’s not a surprise that he won a prize for Panorama Toukitan). There are panels like the one in the sunflower field that are just so pretty thatit is difficult to take your eyes off. Well, now, about the story, I understand those who doesn’t like it for it’s grotesque nature, but I disagree that this manga is only about pure shocking value. Maruo is an intellectual, who can write horrendous stories, but with purpose, reflection, even poetry. I’m not saying that it’s not for shocking value – because it is! –, but it’s way more than that. And it’s important to mention that there are heavy triggers here that can really disturb the readers. I don’t wanna give spoilers, but it’s not an exaggeration when I say that Midori goes through all kinds of pain. The story shows no mercy and goes far beyond any boundaries. About the characters, there’s not much to say. Usually, Maruo’s characters are one-dimensional, because the focus is not really their development. They are more like assets to explore the themes that Maruo wants to present. In Shoujo Tsubaki, the characters are just cruel, without many relevant motivations. They are seen as freaks who are not allowed in society and live miserable lives, so they somehow embrace the hell they are living in and become part of it, dragging poor and innocent Midori into it. By the way, Midori herself is a character that impressed me. I was expecting the common scared and naïve little girl, but she shows a lot of attitude, despite her situation, at the same time that she is, indeed, very childish and sweet. She’s one of the keys for the story to work so well. Shoujo Tsubaki, just like other pieces of eroguro, presents the worst in human nature so we can reflect about it. It’s a study of how far can a person go when there’s nothing much left in life. The story doesn’t endorses or try to justify these attitudes, it only shades a light into the absolute darkness that lurks in the human nature. If we're gonna talk about manga that are written only for shocking value, that only relies in gore, we have Pumpkin Night for example. And if we’re talking about manga that sexualize abuse and violence, with cheap motivation to justify those actions, when the truth is that’s all about feeding perverts, there’s Kaifuku. Suehiro Maruo is not about this. His works have meaning, art, reflection, they are well thought and crafted. It is purposely not for everybody, but it’s definitely needed.