Anime Boredom - Yoki Koto Kiku manga reviews

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Yoki Koto Kiku

Familiarity with a certain creator oftentime leads to an expectation of what that creator does with each release. Shirow Masamune? You’re expecting a GITS, Appleseed or similar work. CLAMP? If you are a real die hard fan of the best all female manga team in Japan you know what you’re expecting. And the list goes on and on. An expectation that once a creator establishes themselves in a set genre or style, regardless of the style, that said creator would stick to it without fail.

This is not a good thing, especially when that creator wants to branch out and do something different.
That brings us to the case of Koge-Donbo and his fascination with dark humor in this title.

If you are familiar with the workings of Koge-Donbo’s works then you might be surprised that Yoki Koto Kiku was even created. If you know his works (be it Di Gi Charat, Pitaten, or some of his other series) then you have come to expect a certain style and a certain way for his work to play out… so, then, you have just come across this copy of his latest English translated work, Yoki Koto Kiku from Broccoli Books, and you open it up expecting more of the same… only to find yourself strangely confused.

Departing in a sense from his usual style, Koge-Donbo works the dark side of the humor street with this story of the ancient House of Nekogami. The old patriarch of the house has gone and, like Mel Gibson’s career (allegedly), died unexpectedly. Now this should mean that the next person in line should take over, right? Wrong. Apparently that person is off to war somewhere, and suddenly it’s everyone for themselves as the three kids and maid/fiancée is out for the gold… through violence.

In a departure from his usual styling, Koge-Donbo has brought you a read where even the tight bonds of family can’t save these siblings (named, yes, Yoki, Koto and Kiku, like in the title) from being infected with the maddening paranoia to suspect each other in trying to kill them while plotting to kill the others in turn.
This becomes a bit of a theme as poisons, weapons of choices, and more are wielded in an attempt to become last family member standing in an attempt to become the family patriarch.

This would have been nice if the humor was… well… humorous. However the “dark” humor pretty much means you might only find this humorous if you find people attempting to kill each other, the misery of others, and things like the whole subplot with the Shinigami who first tries to kill one of the trio of siblings (and then gets involved with this soldier with a bitter story that doesn’t end well for him), or the fiancée slash maid who is there as humor foil and not much else… uh… funny?

Do you find people spitting up blood funny? How about the liberal use of trademark weapons (each have their own trademark tool of chaos that they wield effectively) in an attempt to spill blood (sibling or otherwise)? Or do you find the misery of others to be humorous? Is this all fun? If so enjoy!
If not… then this is the first time you may have found yourself bitterly disappointed with the works of Koge-Donbo. The title is abit repetitive, doesn’t really hit that humor and character lovability that his other titles have endeared in it’s readers, and… well… it’s a bitter little pill of dark that didn’t hit it off with me.
Breakdown already. Break-down…

Yoki Koto Kiku Bire Kaku Dowu… eh?
What’s Hot?
I guess if you are a fan of Koge-Donbo you’ll still find worth in this title. It’s not the worst I ever read, mind you, and it does have some merits… as long as you’re not expecting what you’re used to from Koge-Donbo and are ready for something different from this creator.

What’s Not?
However if you are a tried and true fan of his work and like his standard operating fare you will NOT become enamored with this title. It will not suit you, not in the slightest. Also if the idea of dark comedy is not your thing then maybe that’s another reason to be avoiding this.

Moments to Remember?
Uh… the dark humor? I guess that’s the memorable part no matter how you slice, dice, and poison this read.

What to Ignore?
Uh… the dark humor? Maybe the “cameos” like the strange detective, or the masked thief that looks like… I don’t know… Tuxedo Kamen from Sailor Moon? Him? Or how about the guy engaged to marry the maid slash fiancée who looks like he runs a Mobile Suit Gundam cosplaying society when he’s not doing whatever he’s doing. Uh… somehow it seems out of place in this dark (sometimes serious feeling) title, maybe as a compensation for the lack of the usual punch that Koge-Donbo works pack… still, out of place.

Overall?
It’s not the best I ever read of Koge-Donbo’s work, but it’s not horrible either.
A title striving to hit a home run falls short, and plows it right up the center to either homer or foul out.
So, as you can guess, the score goes right down the center line (just like the title).

Yoki Koto Kiku

Yoki Koto Kiku Reviews

Yoki Koto Kiku