I am absolutely lost on why this is rated so highly.
This is one of those manga that makes me wish that anime fans weren't so quick to look down their nose at western comics, especially cape comics. I've heard this described as "Japan's Batman - done RIGHT!" But that's wrong. This is basically what happens if you have someone who doesn't actually read superhero comics ask, "Well, why don't they just kill all the bad guys?" try to apply that line of thinking to politics. This story thinks it's much smarter than it actually is.
The characters are laughably one-dimensional. Their either guys who would slice their bellies open before even thinking about screwing over the poor, innocent public, or they're over the top, disgusting looking villains (maybe they'll get one event at the last second to show why they're such bastards, but only if they're about to die).
Part of the problem is that characters like Akumetsu have already been deconstructed multiple times. You can't have people like him unless you're okay with living in a police state. The first story arc has him delivering something along the lines of "If there are more evil people, I'll just kill them. If there's more after that, I'll kill them too, until Japan is peaceful." Two problems. a) Sorry, who died and made him king? Who is he to decide who lives and dies, who is "good" and who is "evil"? I've never met a person who falls completely into one category. Luckily for us slower readers who don't need things like subtly or realism, 90% of the "characters" (I use that term loosely) fall into those boxes. There's a reason a jury box is filled with more than one person- One person should not be able to decide whether you're worth it. b) It's called a slippery slope. I'm not even sure half the time how Akumetsu directly correlates the actions of the politicians to the ruins Japan is allegedly in (newsflash: While a country being in a huge amount of debt is NOT a good thing, it does not mean you're in ruins). Thus comes the problem: How does he decide who gets to live or die? Okay, we'll say the first politician deserved it because he was an ass, embezzled, was one dimensional, and indirectly caused untold suicides. I don't agree with him being killed for that, but whatever. We know what the criteria for being murdered is now, indirectly killing others. Next arc: Bikers are being extremely obnoxious and scary, cops are doing diddly about it because they won't get promotions or something. And apparently this is also worthy of being murdered. Sorry, what?
This is where I had to start slogging my way through the rest. Akumetsu's philosophy is stupid. It's childish and stupid, and he's entirely to proud about his childish and stupid thinking. This is not something that will lead to a peaceful Japan. This is something that leads to innocents being murdered. Let me put it this way: It's okay to kill this politician, his selfish actions led to 30 people committing suicide-->It's okay to murder this policeman, he wasn't doing his job properly, which led to 30 people being pissed off every night-->It's okay to murder this biker, he should have been willing to die over breaking speeding and noise pollution laws-->It's okay to murder this 15 year old who clearly has problems at home because he's obviously going to be a nuisance when he grows up anyway, better stop it before it starts-->It's okay to murder this student, he continues to be late for class, thus annoying all 30 of his fellow students and his poor teacher
Where do you stop? At what point do you say it's okay to kill someone over this, but not okay to kill someone over this? Is terrorizing people into doing what you want (and that's what Akumetsu wants, not for you to follow the law, or even to do what you think is right, but to do what HE thinks is right) really how you want to live? Do you want a gun in your face every time you do something wrong? The author clearly agrees with the protag, and it's obnoxious to think someone thinks this is in any way not retarded.
I'm not saying that some people aren't straight up horrible. Hell, I'm even a bit familiar with Japan's political system, and I can assure you, it's far from perfect. Possibly even worse than the US. But that doesn't excuse the caricatures passed off as human beings in this. That doesn't excuse the low level writing, the immature way of thinking, the really terrifying when you think about it implications...There is nothing I would recommend about this. The art isn't that great either. The idea is nice, but the execution is awful and as others have said, self-righteous, even though the author clearly has no clue. I recommend you read Garth Ennis' run on The Punisher if you want to read about a somewhat realistic view of a guy who murders bad people that's entertaining, violent, and reasonably intelligent, even if you think you hate comics.
I got three volumes in before I couldn't take it anymore. And while that might not be enough for other readers, how many of you would read three books into a regular book series, hate it, then say, "gosh, I should read ten more volumes to be sure that it sucks." I recommend this only to people who don't read anything else but manga, and don't like to think past the exterior of a book.
(-3)
(+144)
