Inu to Kuzu

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

This manga excels at keeping you on edge. While it has the vibes of a soap opera, I was thoroughly entertained by the tenseness of every reveal and would not say it’s melodramatic. Rather, it lacks the dumb twists I anticipated, subverting those expectations in place of ‘adult-like’ drama and suspense that culminated to something satisfying. The biggest mystery is discerning what every character is actually thinking or actually knows, like who’s to blame or who’s the victim, which pairs well with the subtle dialogue you can easily miss while flipping through every page thinking “What the fuck am I reading/is going on?”

Its short runtime ... works in its favor, helping avoid dragging most of its plot points. I wouldn’t call reading this weekly a fun ride, but it was very good at creating an apprehensive atmosphere. The conclusion—happy ending or not—ended this dumpster fire fantastically.

Spoilers below.

Among her yaoi oneshot and Dear Sa-chan, Iori’s art did not save their mediocrity. Serious subjects do not equate to a good narrative. Thankfully, this plot isn’t dogwater. Reika’s kid not being Shuuji’s plus his infertility, Miyu actually being a good character, Kai not getting murked, Sakuraba’s memory loss, Kamoshita needing meds, Ebihara not being a nutjob, Reika’s previous pregnancy and abortion—these curveballs worked unlike Shuuji’s balls because they didn’t break the plot and weren’t wacky. It was fun to imagine her as some gaslighting, gatekeeping girlboss, but that would’ve been silly. Reika was not some yandere mastermind, and Haruma didn’t have a split personality responsible for killing Shuuji. They just both suffer from trauma, were held down for years by that turmoil, and successfully found support in each other’s company. They found genuine happiness together in the end. Cliché as it is, it was the sweetness I appreciated from this bleak love story.

I didn’t enjoy how I knew the baby was Haruma’s by like Ch. 13, yet the author kept dilly-dallying. It felt painfully obvious as the manga went on. The only way it wasn’t his would be if some entirely different person was involved, and Ebihara’s arc did not persuade me at all. Anyway, I reread the flashbacks of Reika and Shuuji’s marriage while listening to Kendrick Lamar’s “We Cry Together” to soak in the inspo, and I’m glad I picked this up because Black Cat Scans were shilling it until their last* breath. This really was a dog and a scum. Yay!

Quick note: the manga has 41.5 chapters, not 43 as MAL has noted for some reason.
--
Onto the review: simply said, I feel this is a severely underrated manga. I'm giving it a solid 8.5/10 based on three main factors:

- The constant sense of suspense/eerily-thrilling-feeling
- The simply gorgeous art/drawing style
- How re-reading the first half after getting to the end gives you a completely new perspective on what's happening in the initial chapters

I'd add one more: brevity. The author doesn't milk the story; these 41.5 chapters are fairly short at 18-19 pages each. The story is compact, fillerless and straight to the point. Respect to Asaga ... Iori for that.

A lot can be written about the psychological portraits of each character. I don't want to write a spoiler-filled review when doing that, though. I suggest you lead your own conclusions; all I've got to say is that this is a refreshingly mature manga in the sense of exploring how flawed we humans can be.

Are there soapy bits? Of course there are, but I feel they're toned down to a healthy amount. Some plotlines/character appearances are a bit too forced, but not uncomfortably so.

Read this. It's short, rewarding, and will keep you on the edge. The beautiful art is a welcome addition.

At first i thought i may not need to write a side-story for Yukionna to Kani wo Kuu, but i would later change my mind.

Regardless, still a good read. The Art is Great --except for facial expressions which kinda lacked nuance.
A really good start, though things changed too much, and the whole become kinda "directionless" --By introducing new characters that contributed to literally nothing to the plot.

Overall, a 7 out of 10; a bit of fresh in the inundated world of High School Romantic Comedy. Yet i somehow felt like it could be better, perhaps if they focused more on developing the main ... characters and not trying to be all overeaching...