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嘘喰い
541
49
Finished
May 11, 2006 to Dec 21, 2017
9.3/10
Average Review Score
85%
Recommend It
20
Reviews Worldwide
STORY: 4 Meet Usogui the king of gamblers! He has an agenda and he is willing to bet his life to succeed. Along with his companions, his fate will cross a LOT of very colorful (read mostly psychotic) characters along Kakerou, a mysterious organization of game referees (and at the same time assassins because why not) that operates in the shadows of Japan. The story is a succession of high-stake 'games' that Usogui takes on to conquer power. Call the right number and immediately 30 guys in black suits show up to insure the game goes as it should. Each game is anything-goes as long asit's within the set of rules decided by the Kankerou referee. And then things get boring very rapidly as the same formula is repeated non stop over 49 volumes: 1 The nice guy starts the game with some super smart move. 2 However, the enemy saw that coming with an even smarter strategy that encompass all possibilities and moreover he is cheating using extremely convoluted ways. How evil! All hope seems lost! 3 But wait! The hero had an even more complicated strategy that includes all the possible actions of the enemy and had somehow anticipated for the treachery of the enemy and has used an even more cunning way of cheating. 4 There he wins! Oh but no! The enemy had a last, even more unrealistic and unlikely trick and it's over for the hero, who would have thought! 5 As despairs arrives, in an totally ridiculous twist (and after dragging for a loooong time), the hero ultimately wins because he had planned for basically all events in the universe (with flashbacks to explain how things truly went).. No wait nothing makes sense! Oh whatever, you will get tired of it quickly anyway. On top of this tedious adventure add (at the same time) a ton of tough characters that pop out from nowhere for testosterone brawls with constant power-ups and you have a boring, over-confident mess of a manga. ART: 5 As a half enigma and a half manly-fights manga, the focus is clearly on faces and bodies with some influences from titles like Baki or the Jojo saga. Lines are very detailed and show the experience of the author with some flexibility and ranges of emotions but the end-result is not that great. The main problem being that the approximate anatomy (the author is struggling with chins) makes the artwork feel weak. Everybody looks the same and we need haircuts, accessories or moles to keep track of who is who in the huge mess of characters. There is some clear skill progress along the many chapters, however, and a few nice panels, but globally the art self-seriousness fails as much as the story. POLITICAL POTENTIAL: 4 Kankerou, the shadow organization of game-referees has ramification up to the corrupt government or the police and.. that's it. Each of the too many characters has long tirades about justice, heart, power, but they mostly feel like incoherent babbling given the lack of consistence in the story. FEMINISM: 3 Here is a manga that loves men so much that the female to male ratio feels like it's around 1:30. On one hand you have men characters who engage in brutal violence just for the kick of it and you can feel that the author enjoys depicting those over-the-top fights where the feeling of manhood is more important than any attempt at realism. That glorified violence in Usogui, similar to the masculinist classic Baki, is so ludicrous that it seems to have been written by a 13 years old. On the other hand, the only two noticeable female characters are made into the 'femme fatale' trope: they are strong, beautiful and deadly. As often with this trope, they are shown as having a very active sexuality that makes them abnormal (which is a threat for men). And here you go, basically two women over 49 volumes. There is also one bad allusion to sex through the manga: in one episode, a grateful host wants to reward one of the heroes. He then gives him two girls for sex like if they were objects. That scene is purposed for comedic relief and does not succeed -_-. CONCLUSION: 4 Usogui is a failure of a cross-over between Detective Conan (for the crazy enigma) and Baki (for the ridiculously-strong manly-men lame fighting). Unconvincing in most of its aspects, sometimes unwillingly funny, it could have been so much better if it were 10 times shorter.
Taking risks is a part of human nature, and to gamble means to risk losing something important in the pursuit of obtaining something greater. However, the world of gambling is neither welcoming nor forgiving, and some will lie and cheat to win. Therefore, a powerful organization, "Kakerou," exists to ensure that all bets maintain a semblance of fairness. Baku Madarame, often referred to as "Usogui," is a genius gambler willing to bet more than just money. Putting his life on the line, he faces off against psychotic opponents in deadly psychological games. With his cold and calculating nature and high level of intellect, Baku challenges the liars known as gamblers while aiming to seize control over Kakerou itself. [Written by MAL Rewrite] Included one-shots: Volumes 12–15: Igyou Tobakusha Usokui Volume 25: Yakou-san
Usogui is an amazing manga series full of exciting story telling and psychological trickery. There were times I found myself reading Usogui and feeling so lost in the atmosphere and intensity. The art is so unique and amazing in its own ways. The expressions displayed by the characters and the brutal fight scenes depicted in the art are awesome. The symbolism and inferences portrayed are so deep and subtle, you get lost in the plot. The gambling tricks and crazy scenarios are reality shattering. This is one manga i could never put down because of how exciting it was and how hooked, just like ifyou were gambling, I was to the story. I definitely recommend any manga reader to check this book series out cuz its insane!
*I'm not a native speaker, thus I apologize for any grammatical errors that might appear in this review* Usogui is a criminally underrated piece of work in the West, sadly. It was serialized in the popular seinen magazine Young Jump (Tokyo Ghoul, Kingdom, etc) throughout the time span of eleven years, and is nothing short of a masterpiece. I'd say that anyone with an interest in the world of gambling or in the psychological genre should absolutely read it. Although Usogui's premise may not seem very creative at first, the manga actually delivers a masterwork in storytelling and world building. Gambling and fighting is just such anunexpectedly good mix, and the way both of these elements are implemented in the narrative is just perfect. With the exclusion of the first arc, I'd say that every arc is very well written, with the last ones being absolutely flawless. No overstatement here. The characters are also really good and have a great sense of depth to them. Almost every single character gets proper attention and development from Toshio. Baku and Kaji's extravagant personality contradictions make up for a great MC duo, and all presented antagonists have real purposes and ambitions. I do need to say, though, that this is nothing like other psychological series such as Kaiji. This isn't a deep analysis of the human psyche, where gambling is used as a pretext in order to analyse the state of mind of people submitted to extreme circumstances. Sometimes Baku is way too perfect for his own good, but that makes sense from a storytelling standpoint and is also the factor that makes him unique (making another parallel with Kaiji, the thing that makes it's titular protagonist stand out are his glaring flaws. In Usogui, it is exactly the opposite). As for the artwork, it's just godlike. Seriously. Well, I must admit that the early art style is really awful, but it's just for the first 50 or so chapters. It keeps on evolving from time to time, and each story arc features it's own, unique style, giving Usogui a sense of variety that's not usually seen in the media. The latter panels are INSANELY detailed. In the end, I can't stress how much I love this piece of work, and I hate the fact that my man Toshio isn't getting the recognition he deserves, since he's an incredible writer and artist.
*What a gift it is to read this manga!! I am beyond grateful for having had the opportunity to read 'Usogui'. And I'd recommend it to anyone interested in Seinen *CHARACTERS: The characters are each brimming with personality. I've personally never been so attached to a fictional character's story. There is a metric ton of adrenaline pumping action in this series and three metric tons of suspense. Baku-sama is a god among men and his story is one for the record books. *ART: The art is beautiful and it evolves to an outstanding degree throughout the length of the series. * PLOT: The path tothe end is a spiral road of chaos and death that could only be navigated by a miracle.The plot is perfect, to the point that in the end of it all, no matter what happens, it's a win/win for the reader. *Thank the heavens I was able to read the series at my own pace instead of having to wait for weekly/monthly releases. I would not have been able to tolerate the suspense. *Possibly my favorite manga I've ever read
Greatest of all time. Zenith of the medium. Hallmark of media. Gold standard of storytelling. Apogee of creativity. Vertex of invention. Crest of ingenuity. Acme of imagination. Pinnacle of innovation. Epic of epics. Legend among legends. Peak fiction. One above all, peak creation, lonely at the summit, goats above goats, grandiose masterpiece, impeccable perfection, too exquisite to exist, unbelievably marvelous creation, spectacularly bewildering and stupendous imagination, work of god. Groundbreaking and foundational, his sense of development is a deconstruction of employment segregation and the powerful performances are truly comprehensive of their poignant themes while the nuance in the direction complements a layered screenplay. Pure elegant,exquisite, endeavor. I can't put my finger on what's wrong because there isn't anything, masterful character-making from a masterful person. Top of the decade. Top of the century. Top of my life
