|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||
|
|
Reviewed by Steven Mortiboy What would you do if the kids at school constantly called you “Tako” (octopus)? What if they then held you down, while the largest girl sat on you til you puked? Then to add to make matters worse, they force-feed you a live octopus? Now I’m guessing that your answers to the above questions are violent, maybe even deadly. But they are nothing compared to how Takako unleashes her revenge…. After her live sushi lunch something strange happens to Takako. She is plagued by nightmares, then she awakes to find that her body has been transformed into an octopus. However Takako soon sees the upside as her thoughts turn to murder. I won’t ruin these next scenes, as they need to be read first hand. If there is one thing I hate its when a popular culture character is described as like another, but "on acid". It just bugs me and there must be a better way to describe anything. However, I must say that in describing Octopus Girl, I can’t help but say Spongebob on acid. It just makes me smile and then laugh. This volume does remind me of a children’s cartoon (I may be very ill), I think it’s due to the innocence of the lead character, the adventures she goes on and the friends she makes. But I need to emphasise just how this book works; Octopus Girl does make friends with her rival as you would expect if this was a kid's cartoon, but as an unpleasant yet highly amusing turn, they continue to try and eat each other. For example, when they first meet: “ your hairy mole! The hair” “…it’s bad luck to cut mole hairs…” At this point I should make it very clear, this book is in no way for children or in fact people in general. It’s easily as graphic as Uzumaki, but played for laughs, it reminds me of the American comic Johnny the Homicidal Maniac or Happy Tree Friends. The artwork is what makes Octopus Girl so damn funny. Without the graphically grotesque scenes being so well framed and timed the humour wouldn’t work.. The art really is just gross (I am sure there’s a better word for gross). In one story Moray Eel Girl bites the face off her unrequited love. To be fair the guy deserves it, given that he turns her into a moray eel from the neck down in the first place. The book I found fantastic but I could see how other people would find it fatuous. The humour is pitch black but could also be described as immature. The plots are simple, which is perfect if you have a thirty-second attention span so they do lack depth. Within this volume Octopus Girl fights a Vampire grandma, falls in love, enters a talent show and mocks Shojo Manga and I’m sure there’s more but I am now blind from the things I have seen in this book. If you laughed at the really violent bits in Battle Royale then this books for you but if you prefer your plot a bit thicker like say Deathnote, then maybe give this a miss. Comment on this review of Octopus Girl v1 on the Manga Life Forums. |
6 October 2009
|
||||
 |
| home | reviews | news | features | about us | advertise | privacy policy | contact us |
