Dementia 21

Great manga I highly recommend it.

When I received this in the mail, I did not expect the manga to be so huge. It was a pleasant surprise and the quality of the cover is really impressive. The contents of the managa had me very bamboozled (In a good way). I really loved the unexpected turns the story took. There were some parts that were creepy enough to be considered horror. And the comedy really worked. 10/10 for me. Can't wait for the next one.

It was all good.

This was an excellent dark, absurdist comedy. This is a collection of stories about a woman who cares for the elderly and gets sucked into bizarre scenarios. For instance, one elderly woman causes anything she forgets to stop existing. One elderly man causes time to loop because of a manga he drew. One elderly superhero our protagonist is tasked with taking care of ends up meeting up with a bunch of aliens who are his old villains. All the stories have crazy premises, which I love. I saw one review which called this a psychological horror, which I don't agree with. There's an obvious Junji Ito influence, but I really don't believe this book is trying to scare the reader. Really, I feel like calling this a mix between Junji Ito's work and Monty Python sums it up pretty well. It's really goofy and it's really good.

Dementia 21 was truly like nothing I’ve ever read before. It had some horror and comedy aspects and always had me on my toes. If you are a fan of Junji Ito or Kazuo Umezz I recommend giving this series a try. It has a lot more humor than their works but the horror aspect is greatly reflected.

While the work may not immediately appear like what Kago’s work is most known for (asides from the covers) the odd storylines with bizarre outcomes will certainly reflect it.

The manga itself is really intriguing and wacky, and the art itself is amazing. Also the quality of the book itself is awesome, I loved it.

Shintaro Kago's send-up of the horrors of being a professional caregiver will open your eyes to its pitfalls and lunacy. The degree of insight amid the absurdity makes me think he had worked as a caregiver himself. But that's neither here nor there. What matters are the stories and art and they are wholly captivating. You could read these as allegories on obsolescence, exploitation, infantilization and revenge. There's one about infectious wrinkles that will stop even bullets (by wrinkling them on contact!), then the wrinkles take over the city, seeking young nubile flesh to corrupt. And another about elderly forced to kill each other on an island to win a spot in a luxury senior building and whose ending is literally out of this world. But my two faves are: the one where old folks keep pouring into a house our young caregiver works at and she's beyond overwhelmed by every little need of theirs, until she rallies them to find a most outrageous solution (shades of Clive Barker!). Then there's the story about old retired superheroes who are as tall as buildings and you can imagine the level of care they need — the size of the diapers alone! Thoughout the book I empathized with our harried young caregiver. But you don't need to have an aging parent to find connection. It's about an insecurity we all share: becoming helpless and at the mercy of others. I've heard this artist compared to Junji Ito, but I believe that's unfair. He's his own thing, going for the Darkest, Wildest Humor, pushing it all the way, till characters might even find themselves battling aliens in wheelchairs.

So awesome!! More Kago!!

Já tinha lido a série antes e, como leitor de Shintaro Kago, sou suspeito para falar desse volume, que compila a série inteira. O ero-guro dos outros trabalhos dá lugar a um tom mais humorado, narrando as absurdas desventuras de uma cuidadora de idosos em diversos capítulos sem ligação entre si. Acredito que seja o primeiro Kago lançado nos EUA, estando sugerido que a editora escolheu o título mais "fácil" do autor para experimentar a sua introdução no mercado.

Vorweg: Der Inhalt hätte 5 Sterne verdient. Der Manga ist eine Kurzgeschichten Sammlung, was ihn ideal für die kurze Unterhaltung zwischendurch macht. Die Geschichten sind alle völlig absurd, surreal und auf ihre eigene Art urkomisch. Auf allzu explizite Darstellung von Gewalt wurde verzichtet, weshalb das Werk auch für etwas zarter besaitete Leser:innen Unterhaltung bieten kann. Trotzdem ist der Manga nicht für Kinder geeignet, wegen den Darstellungen und sie mit den Geschichten nichts anzufangen wüssten. Den Einband finde ich besonders klasse, da es sich hierbei um ein Zwischending aus gebunden und Taschenbuch handelt. Ich würde es als "flexiblen, gebundenen Manga" bezeichnen. Da er sehr groß ist (fast DinA 4!) liegt er am Anfang etwas gewöhnungsbedürftig in der Hand, aber sobald man die ersten paar Kapitel geschafft hat bessert sich das schnell. Einen Stern Abzug gibt es für den Zustand des Manga. Ein neues Produkt, dass ich direkt aus der Verpackung nichtmal mehr den Zustand "sehr gut" auf dem Gebrauchtmarkt geben würde ist eine Schande.

I found Kago after reading a lot of Ito, and it's a wonderful transition. Kago is a lot more bizarre and psychedelic in his stories and illustrations and this is a brilliant book to show that.

Temas morbidos, hilarantes y graciosos en un solo lugar, un manga que definitivamente se tiene que comprar