 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | DARK HORSE | | | ▪ | ADAPTATION / ART: | | SHO-U TAJIMA / EIJI OTSUKA | | | ▪ | FORMAT: | | JAPANESE / B&W | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 184 | | | ▪ | RATING: | | 18+ | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 02/27/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 05/25/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | SCOTT CAMPBELL |
MPD – Psycho is a manga series with a very prominent maturity to it – both in art style and in story telling. This horror masterpiece is presented unabridged and uncensored in all its controversial glory. Eiji Otsuka’s inventive murder cases are violent pieces to a larger puzzle – which becomes more complicated with each volume – and Sho-u Tajima’s stylishly slick artwork evokes moments of pure terror that are alarming, arresting, and unforgettable. MPD-Psycho volume four is an even more grisly affair than any of the previous volumes by a long-shot. It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye as they say… and lets just say that someone does end up losing an eye. The violence in this volume is notably brutal and frequent, so again MPD – Psycho is not for the timid reader. Feeling the weight of personal and professional rejection, stylish one-eyed reporter Toguchi embraces his dark side in this fourth volume. The horrors he's both documented and participated in haunt him also, and a "perfect storm" of frustration and anger builds until he resolves to pull off a violent "performance art show" in order to get the widespread attention he feels he deserves. Unfortunately, this involves killing a lot of people, transforming the happy-go-lucky guerrilla journalist into a modern monster! Crazed Toguchi also makes some sensitive information public, enraging Zenitsu, another unbalanced villain with a knack for murder and a resistance to pain. Kazuhiko Amamiya arrives at the scene a little too late, but Amamiya - our favorite multiple personality detective - feels that there's some hope yet, and he risks his life to negotiate with Toguchi. The visual style of this series is just beautiful – really dark and cold, but always with purpose and a high attention to detail. Characters and their actions are often very violent and frightening, thus the art helps to bring out these emotions – making them real within the realm of the situation laid out in this book. In a way it almost looks like the ever popular Death Note – and readers of that series looking for something a bit more mature might find interest in this series also. If it isn’t obvious already, MPD – Psycho is not for the light of heart. It contains a lot of disturbing visuals and concepts, including a lot to do with suicide relating to cult activities and brain washing. It isn’t mindless in a way that seeks to just sensationalize on such things though – it really is an intelligent read relating to crime drama, investigation processes, and putting together the pieces of the puzzle that make up the many mysteries in this book. An added plus is that it also manages to never be slow or boring – the pacing is perfect, and the amount of information the reader is given is a snippet at a time. This manga is a guaranteed page turner for horror and suspense fans – you can really cut the tension with a knife.
IN SUMMARY:
MPD – Psycho is just that: sort of psycho. It delves into the minds of people we would hope to never make acquaintance with, but whom are horridly interesting to read about in a fictional manner such as this manga. This series is the true dark side of manga horror, hands down. |
