Was this manga good? No, not really. But was it entertaining? Yes!

It's pretty creative gore porn with an emphasis on CBT and other sexual torture, the CBT which I guess was just to make it extra visceral for the perceived largely male audience. Ichi was interesting and complex, as was his gay yaoi lover enemy, because this manga was gay as fuck. Sorry guys.

It's a riveting, uncomfortable read for anyone into pulp manga. I'm not saying it's well-written (it's not) or that it will challenge your preconceptions of justice and righteousness (it won't), but it can keep you hooked. Art is good, if an acquired taste, and the gore is innovative enough to be unique and nasty. WorldendDesignator is exactly right; this manga's entertainment value certainly comes from reading it as a black comedy as opposed to something actually serious and meaningful. From that perspective, it's quite engrossing — with the emphasis on "gross".

and that's the main draw of it. Koroshiya 1 makes crossing lines a sport, the sheer degeneracy of the violence in this work is damn near unparalleled and somehow it gets so absurd at times you'll end up laughing even though you're looking at a pile of slaughtered, defiled bodies. You almost feel guilty for reading. Sadly, the psychological element falls completely flat. The characters will often go on nonsensical rants that just make them look even more out of their mind but maybe that's the point of it. I recommend not to approach this as a psychological character study or a thriller and more treat it as a pitch black comedy.

I love Ichi as a character so I wanted to like this manga more than I actually did. Ultimately I felt the plot was pretty weak, Kakihara's character imploded in the last few volumes, Kaneko's existence was ultimately meaningless, and we were never given a truly believable motivation for Jii-san's actions. I'm still giving it an 8 due to Ichi and some great moments.

it is a very long time until i nerve myself up to read this manga. i always want to read a manga with a hero that is not too kind/good/perfect ect, i want someone on the bad side of life. but when i started out, i cannot bring myself to read something with a lot of torture scene so i left this alone for a year or two to amass more experience.

and dang i am glad i read this after loads of other manga. i can now fully immersed myself in their story without getting squicked out, getting to know the characters and their perversion, i even find their love story so funny i really laugh out loud. kakihara is really one of a kind, his Cheshire smile is a sign some nasty shit is about to get down. ichi has quite funny personality, and his 'smile' is so ugly to look at it tickle my disgust and funny bone at the same time. the old guy is quite good too, i like thinking and manipulative characters like that. i wish a sequel for this with the new boy, i want to know what else do this guy will do to amuse himself.

this is recommended, but only after you experienced some of the darker side of manga. it wont do if you read manga for 10years but only shoujo. and well, this isnt even as horrifying as a cum-eating protagonist in homunculus, at least you can accept this conventional S&M couple.

The manga was cool i thjink , it has it moment of twisted and sick shit that i had never dream of . The character are bunch of sick fuck which it make me amuse in a weird way , Sadly the story of the story could have been better , but ..the ending ,it like the author is trolling me or some thing .

The plot isn't insanely deep l, but it is there. On the other hand the characters are one of a kind.... and that's a good thing for the world. If you EVER ran into someone like these guys in rly.... well I was going to suggest running but honestly that would probably be useless. Death upon death upon agonizing death, along with some rape, and a whole population psychiatric care facility running amuck is basically what you're looking at. Don't read this for any bit of happiness... I'd say it goes frwom bad to worse, but I think it basically idles in the worst possible the entire way through. Also don't even hope for a shred of humanity, dignity, or sanity among the protags or antags.

this story has a really nice plot, but the extreme detailed graphics of torture and such kinda disgusted me. I had to stop reading after nearly every 5 pages...
If you like gore and the likes, then this is for you. Don't read it if you're a sensitive person; because once you do, you will be intrigued by the plot and won't be able to leave the manga alone, even if you really want to. This is what has happened to me.

To sum it up this manga is about a manboy who is retarded and bullied and pervert goes killing people

U know, a manga is like a mirror to the mind of it's creator, not in the general theme, but in that insignificant details and characters' thought

And I can say that the creator of this manga is one sick messed-up beach boy

But the thing bothers me so much is how can 1 slice people in half and door locks with that tiny blade. U can give a cut with that blade but not slicing people in two and especially not cut metal locks!

I understand how people can hate this series while others totally love it as well. Upon reading it, I don't know if I want to throw up while reading this or start laughing my head off, but this is really good. There is so much explicit material such as violence (which borders on mindless) and sex (primarily on the topic of SnM applied to males).

The ideas portrayed in this manga do have some depth, although they aren't thoroughly explored which is all too good because the pacing of this manga is just too fast for slow scenes to mull over ideas but it's also not too hasty. There is a linear storyline, which is really not for anyone who doesn't enjoy an ending where everything is peachy at the end. Lastly, the characters all have some psychological condition that's quite not normal. Everything about this manga just makes it real good.

If you're looking for a unique, unapologetic read, this one would not fail to disappoint. Just don't read it while eating.

... Last updated on April 10th, 2010, 2:31am