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人間失格 / Ningen Shikkaku #2
Крах людини. Том 2
Манґа-адаптація роману Осаму Дадзая.
Одержимий прагненням підтримувати образ, Йодзо Ооба вступає до мистецької школи, однак хлопця дедалі більше охоплює параноя. Навчання відходить на другий план, а мрії стати художником лишилися в минулому. Він марнує гроші направо й наліво. Невдовзі Йодзо замикається в руйнівному колі пияцтва й самозневаги. Підбурений іншим студентом, він починає безсоромно витрачати батьківські кошти, аби поринути в згубний спосіб життя.
У манзі наявні відверті сцени! 18+
Одержимий прагненням підтримувати образ, Йодзо Ооба вступає до мистецької школи, однак хлопця дедалі більше охоплює параноя. Навчання відходить на другий план, а мрії стати художником лишилися в минулому. Він марнує гроші направо й наліво. Невдовзі Йодзо замикається в руйнівному колі пияцтва й самозневаги. Підбурений іншим студентом, він починає безсоромно витрачати батьківські кошти, аби поринути в згубний спосіб життя.
У манзі наявні відверті сцени! 18+
176 pages, Paperback
First published February 9, 2010
8 people are currently reading
461 people want to read
About the author
Usamaru Furuya
100 books179 followersUsamaru Furuya (古屋兎丸) is a Japanese manga creator from Tokyo. His production covers a variety of art styles and genres, such as horror, humour, slice-of-life, erotica, sci-fi, always with a personal surrealistic touch. Society oppression and the human condition are common themes in his body of work.
Furuya showed an interest in comics making since elementary school. He graduated from Tama Art University, where he had studied sculpture and oil painting.
His manga career started in the alternative magazine 'Garo', in which he published a series of one-page comics called Palepoli (1994-1995). He then worked on Short Cuts (1996-1999), a gag manga serialised in the mainstream magazine 'Weekly Young Sunday'. Other short stories from the same period were collected in the books Garden (2000) and Plastic Girl (2000).
Over the years Furuya has created work for a number of manga magazines, underground and mainstream. Among his series available in one or more Western languages are: the dystopian The Music of Marie (2000-2001); the surreal horror Lychee Light Club (2005-2006), loosely based on a play by Norimizu Ameya; the post-apocalyptic 51 Ways to Save Her (2006-2007); Genkaku Picasso (2008-2010); No Longer Human (2009-2011), adaptation of a novel by Osamu Dazai; Amane Gymnasium (2017-2020).
Furuya showed an interest in comics making since elementary school. He graduated from Tama Art University, where he had studied sculpture and oil painting.
His manga career started in the alternative magazine 'Garo', in which he published a series of one-page comics called Palepoli (1994-1995). He then worked on Short Cuts (1996-1999), a gag manga serialised in the mainstream magazine 'Weekly Young Sunday'. Other short stories from the same period were collected in the books Garden (2000) and Plastic Girl (2000).
Over the years Furuya has created work for a number of manga magazines, underground and mainstream. Among his series available in one or more Western languages are: the dystopian The Music of Marie (2000-2001); the surreal horror Lychee Light Club (2005-2006), loosely based on a play by Norimizu Ameya; the post-apocalyptic 51 Ways to Save Her (2006-2007); Genkaku Picasso (2008-2010); No Longer Human (2009-2011), adaptation of a novel by Osamu Dazai; Amane Gymnasium (2017-2020).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
January 11, 2016
I liked this quite a bit more than the first volume. Well, it's a story about alienation, depression and suicide, so it can get heavy in places, but compared to the first volume this second one felt downright inspired to me. Which is not really all that surprising, considering that...
a) this manga is based on a classic of Japanese literature, and
b) my good friend David Schaafsma rated this volume 4 stars.
I'd say 3.5 myself but David is usually right, so there you go. I've even started to doubt my 2-star rating of the first volume...
a) this manga is based on a classic of Japanese literature, and
b) my good friend David Schaafsma rated this volume 4 stars.
I'd say 3.5 myself but David is usually right, so there you go. I've even started to doubt my 2-star rating of the first volume...
March 16, 2020
In a minor twist, I've done the opposite of my usual: commonly, I would read No Longer Human to make myself feel shittier on purpose - today I was already feeling lugubrious (for no particular reason, as it goes) and so decided to continue reading Furuya's manga adaptation. I think some days ago I'd planned on finishing the manga at work soon-ish, and so probably I didn't have any other particular reason to read today, but I realized a moment ago that I might have developed a reason earlier this morning, unaware, and anyway that's not even remotely important, so I'll be vague enough that I won't remember what it was next time I read this.
This volume basically constitutes "The Third Notebook, Part One" from Dazai's original novel. We seem to have completely skipped over "The First Notebook" but for the brief flashbacks in the first volume of this manga.
I don't like how Furuya altered the circumstances around Yozo's leaving Shizuko and her daughter (whose name I just forgot, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't "Shigeko"). In Dazai, I like that Yozo steps out briefly and makes an attempt to head back to Shizuko's house, where he overhears mother and daughter playing with a rabbit they just bought, which they hope will please Yozo (whom Shigeko refers to as "Daddy"). In this version, Yozo fucks off and Shizuko and her kid go out looking for him. I'd say this twists the story a bit too much. Shizuko is already mistrusting of Yozo, more so than in the novel, or at least more than Donald Keene's translation. It seems too fast for Shizuko to seek Yozo out. In the novel, she was purer of mind, I think. She didn't expect him to actually leave. This is the value of the rabbit scene, that mother and daughter are blind to the truth of Yozo's character, that they know he's walked out but they still believe he'll return soon. But I guess good for Furuya for further establishing his own spin on the story.
I'm also a bit concerned with the way Furuya's been using Time. Yozo I think was already meant to be a university student when he first attempted suicide. He was kept too young in Volume 1. He's like 20 when he proposes to Yoshino. I read ahead briefly (I forgot Yoshino's name) and it seems he's 22 in the beginning of Volume 3, but he's meant to be 27 by the novel's end, and there's not much left to break Yozo down. Actually, Furuya's already set Yozo's third photograph at age 25, so I guess it works out, but I don't really see the point to moving Yozo's timeline around so much. Unless Furuya just really hated "The First Notebook" and yet could not justify setting the bulk of the story already deep into Yozo's older student years. Or something.
Furuya also makes Yozo dwell more on the attempted double-suicide, which I recall not affecting him too deeply by the beginning of "The Third Notebook." This, plus earlier references to Yozo's father, seems to be a means of fleshing out Yozo's character a bit more, ironing out wrinkles Furuya may perceive in the story, but it all seems extraneous... at least for someone like me who's read the novel too many times to the point of being confused at these minute changes.
I enjoy how Yozo's egoism makes him take advantage of people's kindness/ignorance to further keep himself afloat while still spiraling ever downward. This is not unique to Furuya's vision, rather I just don't feel like adding more to my Dazai review than I've already done (and even that was too much). People see Yozo as being kind. He disagrees. He expresses internal confusion at how they could be so wrong. He allows these mistakes to stand, so that he might gain from them. These elements work to set up what I consider the punchline of the novel, Yozo's being an "angel" (I'm curious to see how Furuya retains this element, as he already has his self-insert stumble upon Yozo's story rather than being handed to him by the madam of the club).
This has nothing to do with anything, but it came to my attention, for the first time in months, something I often forget, that at work when I have to walk around the floors of the office I find myself naturally slipping my left hand into my pocket, loosely gripping my keys, a finger or two brushing against a Wint-o-Green Lifesaver, and I continue moving as if incapable of removing hand from pocket. I like to think sometimes that this is a minor gesture of individuality, in the sense of a rejection of the masses, or something. Like, I'm keeping my off-hand in my pocket to look "bored" on purpose, or to emphasize further my (waning) youth, not unlike spending far too much time between haircuts or how I always wear cheap-ish polo shirts, some of which are intentionally a size too big, rather than looking more respectable in long-sleeve slim-fit button-downs (which, in fairness, I meant to buy over a year ago, keeping my polos only in the interim, but it didn't take long for me to fall out of interest in my job, to see it as little more than a source of meager income, and so I allow this mock-disdain to leak out ever-so-slightly, as otherwise I fear I might totally forget I have a job).
I hardly notice it, but I think Yozo has infected my soul in a financial sort of way. I spend money freely, as if in a race to zero out. Yesterday, in the two hours between waking up (2:30pm) and getting out of bed (it would have been 4, but I fell back asleep) I considered the possibility of building a bonfire, and tossing into it all my books and things. This has less to do with No Longer Human than, say, the Hermann Hesse books I've been re-reading recently, but I felt I may as well put it here than elsewhere.
This volume basically constitutes "The Third Notebook, Part One" from Dazai's original novel. We seem to have completely skipped over "The First Notebook" but for the brief flashbacks in the first volume of this manga.
I don't like how Furuya altered the circumstances around Yozo's leaving Shizuko and her daughter (whose name I just forgot, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't "Shigeko"). In Dazai, I like that Yozo steps out briefly and makes an attempt to head back to Shizuko's house, where he overhears mother and daughter playing with a rabbit they just bought, which they hope will please Yozo (whom Shigeko refers to as "Daddy"). In this version, Yozo fucks off and Shizuko and her kid go out looking for him. I'd say this twists the story a bit too much. Shizuko is already mistrusting of Yozo, more so than in the novel, or at least more than Donald Keene's translation. It seems too fast for Shizuko to seek Yozo out. In the novel, she was purer of mind, I think. She didn't expect him to actually leave. This is the value of the rabbit scene, that mother and daughter are blind to the truth of Yozo's character, that they know he's walked out but they still believe he'll return soon. But I guess good for Furuya for further establishing his own spin on the story.
I'm also a bit concerned with the way Furuya's been using Time. Yozo I think was already meant to be a university student when he first attempted suicide. He was kept too young in Volume 1. He's like 20 when he proposes to Yoshino. I read ahead briefly (I forgot Yoshino's name) and it seems he's 22 in the beginning of Volume 3, but he's meant to be 27 by the novel's end, and there's not much left to break Yozo down. Actually, Furuya's already set Yozo's third photograph at age 25, so I guess it works out, but I don't really see the point to moving Yozo's timeline around so much. Unless Furuya just really hated "The First Notebook" and yet could not justify setting the bulk of the story already deep into Yozo's older student years. Or something.
Furuya also makes Yozo dwell more on the attempted double-suicide, which I recall not affecting him too deeply by the beginning of "The Third Notebook." This, plus earlier references to Yozo's father, seems to be a means of fleshing out Yozo's character a bit more, ironing out wrinkles Furuya may perceive in the story, but it all seems extraneous... at least for someone like me who's read the novel too many times to the point of being confused at these minute changes.
I enjoy how Yozo's egoism makes him take advantage of people's kindness/ignorance to further keep himself afloat while still spiraling ever downward. This is not unique to Furuya's vision, rather I just don't feel like adding more to my Dazai review than I've already done (and even that was too much). People see Yozo as being kind. He disagrees. He expresses internal confusion at how they could be so wrong. He allows these mistakes to stand, so that he might gain from them. These elements work to set up what I consider the punchline of the novel, Yozo's being an "angel" (I'm curious to see how Furuya retains this element, as he already has his self-insert stumble upon Yozo's story rather than being handed to him by the madam of the club).
This has nothing to do with anything, but it came to my attention, for the first time in months, something I often forget, that at work when I have to walk around the floors of the office I find myself naturally slipping my left hand into my pocket, loosely gripping my keys, a finger or two brushing against a Wint-o-Green Lifesaver, and I continue moving as if incapable of removing hand from pocket. I like to think sometimes that this is a minor gesture of individuality, in the sense of a rejection of the masses, or something. Like, I'm keeping my off-hand in my pocket to look "bored" on purpose, or to emphasize further my (waning) youth, not unlike spending far too much time between haircuts or how I always wear cheap-ish polo shirts, some of which are intentionally a size too big, rather than looking more respectable in long-sleeve slim-fit button-downs (which, in fairness, I meant to buy over a year ago, keeping my polos only in the interim, but it didn't take long for me to fall out of interest in my job, to see it as little more than a source of meager income, and so I allow this mock-disdain to leak out ever-so-slightly, as otherwise I fear I might totally forget I have a job).
I hardly notice it, but I think Yozo has infected my soul in a financial sort of way. I spend money freely, as if in a race to zero out. Yesterday, in the two hours between waking up (2:30pm) and getting out of bed (it would have been 4, but I fell back asleep) I considered the possibility of building a bonfire, and tossing into it all my books and things. This has less to do with No Longer Human than, say, the Hermann Hesse books I've been re-reading recently, but I felt I may as well put it here than elsewhere.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 17, 2022
Original review at: https://balostin.com/no-longer-human-...
Osamu Dazai is considered a classic in Japanese literature. I have had no idea, because I didn’t study Japanese literature. Also, the book I want to talk about today is the manga adaptation of the same novel, No Longer Human. So, please bear in mind I am not familiar with the original content and anything I say may not be completely correct.
No Longer Human by Usamaru Furuya, adapted from the same novel by Osamu Dazai, deals with some unknown mental disorders that are possibly what makes us human. The title of the novel is actually ironic in that the same thing that alienates us is the only thing that makes us human.
The protagonist in this novel/manga is an arrogant, narcissistic guy, who at the same time hates himself for not being able to interact with other people at a simple level, without overthinking everything. It’s an oversimplification on my part. There are some explanations for his tendencies because of parents demanding perfection. The only thing Oba Yoza, our protagonist, understood in childhood is that humans (and him) should hide anything less than perfection.
After repressing his identity during college years, Oba managed to find a way of living by seducing women and using them to pay for his life, in a surprising twist of reverse gold digger.
No Longer Human is a story of alienation, depression, and suicide, therefore plenty of triggers. And yet, on some strange level, I empathized with Oba. The lack of meaning, the search for an identity, the constant criticism from society, these are actually things that make us humans.
Oba Yoza couldn’t cope with these demands and turned them inside out, perverted them, and became alienated in the process. Easily addicted, first to women, then to drugs, Oba became a tragic figure who wants to die but is too afraid to fully commit to suicide. Despised by society, judged by his friends, he becomes one of the creatures among us that are no longer human. Ignored and despised, they delve into the corners of our polished society, where nobody asked for their story and don’t want to give them a chance to explain their actions.
It seems that I gave away the plot, yet in these types of novel the plot is not important. There is no psychological twist here, no science fiction, no mystery. It’s a simple slice of life that deals with heavy topics that we prefer to ignore. After all, there is a side of us who wants to rebel, to take advantage of others, to give up and seek refuge in activities that would make us no longer human. We hide that part and keep going on, for various reasons.
Yet a slight change or a missed opportunity and who knows what our lives would become? The human mind is frail. Can we cure extreme narcissism? Or should we ignore it? Should we treat people who don’t even want to help themselves as no longer human?
No Longer Human is an interesting attempt to explore the dirty hidden secrets of humanity, to explore the dark side and try to understand it. Reading it, I was shocked and outraged by the choices the protagonist keeps making. He never made the right choice. And yet, these things happen. One wrong decision spiraled into another and another. It’s easy to judge when I’m here, comfortable reading a book.
I heard there is another manga adaptation by Jinto Ito that gained more attention. Or if you want to read something about an anti-hero or an unlikeable protagonist, I recommend even the original novel. These books are usually hard to read because two reasons. Firstly, it’s hard to empathize with the protagonist. And two, if you empathize with him or her, then you may find yourself being revolted by this idea.
Because we don’t like finding dark stuff in us.
And No Longer Human
is full
of
dark stuff.
Osamu Dazai is considered a classic in Japanese literature. I have had no idea, because I didn’t study Japanese literature. Also, the book I want to talk about today is the manga adaptation of the same novel, No Longer Human. So, please bear in mind I am not familiar with the original content and anything I say may not be completely correct.
No Longer Human by Usamaru Furuya, adapted from the same novel by Osamu Dazai, deals with some unknown mental disorders that are possibly what makes us human. The title of the novel is actually ironic in that the same thing that alienates us is the only thing that makes us human.
The protagonist in this novel/manga is an arrogant, narcissistic guy, who at the same time hates himself for not being able to interact with other people at a simple level, without overthinking everything. It’s an oversimplification on my part. There are some explanations for his tendencies because of parents demanding perfection. The only thing Oba Yoza, our protagonist, understood in childhood is that humans (and him) should hide anything less than perfection.
After repressing his identity during college years, Oba managed to find a way of living by seducing women and using them to pay for his life, in a surprising twist of reverse gold digger.
No Longer Human is a story of alienation, depression, and suicide, therefore plenty of triggers. And yet, on some strange level, I empathized with Oba. The lack of meaning, the search for an identity, the constant criticism from society, these are actually things that make us humans.
Oba Yoza couldn’t cope with these demands and turned them inside out, perverted them, and became alienated in the process. Easily addicted, first to women, then to drugs, Oba became a tragic figure who wants to die but is too afraid to fully commit to suicide. Despised by society, judged by his friends, he becomes one of the creatures among us that are no longer human. Ignored and despised, they delve into the corners of our polished society, where nobody asked for their story and don’t want to give them a chance to explain their actions.
It seems that I gave away the plot, yet in these types of novel the plot is not important. There is no psychological twist here, no science fiction, no mystery. It’s a simple slice of life that deals with heavy topics that we prefer to ignore. After all, there is a side of us who wants to rebel, to take advantage of others, to give up and seek refuge in activities that would make us no longer human. We hide that part and keep going on, for various reasons.
Yet a slight change or a missed opportunity and who knows what our lives would become? The human mind is frail. Can we cure extreme narcissism? Or should we ignore it? Should we treat people who don’t even want to help themselves as no longer human?
No Longer Human is an interesting attempt to explore the dirty hidden secrets of humanity, to explore the dark side and try to understand it. Reading it, I was shocked and outraged by the choices the protagonist keeps making. He never made the right choice. And yet, these things happen. One wrong decision spiraled into another and another. It’s easy to judge when I’m here, comfortable reading a book.
I heard there is another manga adaptation by Jinto Ito that gained more attention. Or if you want to read something about an anti-hero or an unlikeable protagonist, I recommend even the original novel. These books are usually hard to read because two reasons. Firstly, it’s hard to empathize with the protagonist. And two, if you empathize with him or her, then you may find yourself being revolted by this idea.
Because we don’t like finding dark stuff in us.
And No Longer Human
is full
of
dark stuff.
November 8, 2020
5 Stars
A masterpiece of literature, adapted brilliantly into manga. Art work is pure brilliance.
A masterpiece of literature, adapted brilliantly into manga. Art work is pure brilliance.
February 22, 2022
•[⭐ 4/5 ⭐]•
Compared to the previous volume, i like this one much better. I can atleast see Oba Yozo's sweet side for once (even though it probably wouldn't last long).
Compared to the previous volume, i like this one much better. I can atleast see Oba Yozo's sweet side for once (even though it probably wouldn't last long).
April 11, 2022
Phenomenal take on the original story and beautiful art to follow, a dark and twisted tale that parallels / amplified the mental health struggles of many people.
Well worth a read.
Well worth a read.
September 24, 2024
Блискуче. Емоційно. Відверто.
Якщо в першому томі мені було дуже шкода Йодзо, то тут його персонаж місцями викликав відразу...
Фінал тут вийшов дуже неочікуваний, шалено чекаю завершальний том
Якщо в першому томі мені було дуже шкода Йодзо, то тут його персонаж місцями викликав відразу...
Фінал тут вийшов дуже неочікуваний, шалено чекаю завершальний том
April 5, 2023
Yozo's beauty is really undeniable.
July 23, 2017
[Content warnings: this volume includes on-page sex, and there’s a deliberately disturbing sequence in which a children’s manga character is given an enormous penis, has sex, and is then killed and left to be eaten by birds.]
This volume picks up where the previous one left off. Yozo has survived his attempted double suicide with Ageha. The idea of being punished for her death gives him the sense of purpose he craves, but this is snatched from his hands by the police’s decision to set him free and deliver him to the hands of one of his family’s former servants. Yozo blames his father and stews in his own bitterness while essentially living trapped in the former servant’s home.
Yozo manages to escape one prison only to end up in another. Having no other place to go, he ends up living with his friend Horiki's editor, Shizuko. She dotes on him, seeing his pretty face and nothing else. Although outwardly things appear to be going well for Yozo - he now has a roof over his head, a job as a children’s manga artist, and somebody willing to fork over money anytime he wants to go out and buy booze - he feels stifled by Shizuko���s love and her young daughter’s wish for him to be her real father.
By the end of the volume, Yozo has finally found something like happiness. Will it last? Ha ha, of course not.
I think I’ve finally accepted that this isn’t so much an adaptation of Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human as it is Dazai’s plot and Usamaru Furuya’s Yozo. Although I still end up comparing the two works a lot in this review. Sorry.
My interpretation of the original book and Furuya’s interpretation continue to differ wildly. Furuya’s Yozo is less sympathetic than Dazai’s (who, granted, tended to be pretty terrible), more likely to blame his father for his own problems, and more calculating. Rather than just sort of being taken in by Shizuko, he does his best to manipulate her into offering to take him in, making use of both his good looks and his abilities in bed.
Yozo isn’t a likeable guy. He’s prone to self-destructive behavior, doesn’t think things through, and then wallows in bitterness rather than accept the consequences. He was even more disgusting than Book Yozo when it came to life with Shizuko and Shiori. I remember Book Shizuko putting up with more from Yozo than I thought was wise, but I’m pretty sure the undressing scene was entirely invented by Furuya, and it was awful. The inclusion of Dazai’s “Papa is...too good of a person” scene afterward was bizarre, since both Shizuko and Shiori had just witnessed Yozo being very much not a good person.
In some ways, I’d argue that Yozo’s brief period of time with Mama at the bar was probably the best period of his life, even better than his “romance” with Yoshi at the end of the volume - this was vastly different from how I felt while reading the original book, by the way. I think Furuya’s Mama was a more fascinating character than Dazai’s.
Mama was an older woman who, for some bizarre reason, was fond of Yozo but also well aware of his problems. She didn’t expect anything from him, and her happiness certainly didn’t depend on him. There was one scene I particularly liked that I think Furuya invented (I don’t recall it being in the original book). Mama was acting as Yozo’s nude model and asked to see Yozo’s drawing of her. She accused him of being too kind and told him to redo the drawing, this time including her wrinkles. I loved that she not only refused to accept flattery from Yozo, but also that she seemed to genuinely love her own body. Here’s her description of her wrinkles: “These are my growth rings. Each stands for a love and a parting.” I don’t recall having any favorite characters in Dazai’s No Longer Human, but Furuya's Mama was wonderful.
Had Furuya broken free from the constraints of writing an adaptation, I imagine his Yozo could have stayed with Mama long enough to finally gain something resembling emotional maturity. Or maybe she'd have eventually gotten tired of him and tossed him out. At any rate, the story moved on and continued to follow Dazai’s original plot. This was another instance where I felt that Furuya’s changes to the original story were an improvement upon the original. Furuya’s Yozo was younger than Dazai’s Yozo, which meant that his Yozo was also closer in age (only 20) to the
As happy as he seems to be by the end of the volume, this series is pretty upfront about the fact that things do not end well for Yozo. If I hadn’t already read the book, and if it were just bad things happening to Yozo, I might be tempted to read on. However, I’m going to stop here.
I prefer main characters who inspire me to root for them, or who at least interest me. Furuya's Yozo, a loser who hurts and/or drags down most of the people around him, doesn’t appeal to me. That said, I did think this volume was better than the first.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
This volume picks up where the previous one left off. Yozo has survived his attempted double suicide with Ageha. The idea of being punished for her death gives him the sense of purpose he craves, but this is snatched from his hands by the police’s decision to set him free and deliver him to the hands of one of his family’s former servants. Yozo blames his father and stews in his own bitterness while essentially living trapped in the former servant’s home.
Yozo manages to escape one prison only to end up in another. Having no other place to go, he ends up living with his friend Horiki's editor, Shizuko. She dotes on him, seeing his pretty face and nothing else. Although outwardly things appear to be going well for Yozo - he now has a roof over his head, a job as a children’s manga artist, and somebody willing to fork over money anytime he wants to go out and buy booze - he feels stifled by Shizuko���s love and her young daughter’s wish for him to be her real father.
By the end of the volume, Yozo has finally found something like happiness. Will it last? Ha ha, of course not.
I think I’ve finally accepted that this isn’t so much an adaptation of Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human as it is Dazai’s plot and Usamaru Furuya’s Yozo. Although I still end up comparing the two works a lot in this review. Sorry.
My interpretation of the original book and Furuya’s interpretation continue to differ wildly. Furuya’s Yozo is less sympathetic than Dazai’s (who, granted, tended to be pretty terrible), more likely to blame his father for his own problems, and more calculating. Rather than just sort of being taken in by Shizuko, he does his best to manipulate her into offering to take him in, making use of both his good looks and his abilities in bed.
Yozo isn’t a likeable guy. He’s prone to self-destructive behavior, doesn’t think things through, and then wallows in bitterness rather than accept the consequences. He was even more disgusting than Book Yozo when it came to life with Shizuko and Shiori. I remember Book Shizuko putting up with more from Yozo than I thought was wise, but I’m pretty sure the undressing scene was entirely invented by Furuya, and it was awful. The inclusion of Dazai’s “Papa is...too good of a person” scene afterward was bizarre, since both Shizuko and Shiori had just witnessed Yozo being very much not a good person.
In some ways, I’d argue that Yozo’s brief period of time with Mama at the bar was probably the best period of his life, even better than his “romance” with Yoshi at the end of the volume - this was vastly different from how I felt while reading the original book, by the way. I think Furuya’s Mama was a more fascinating character than Dazai’s.
Mama was an older woman who, for some bizarre reason, was fond of Yozo but also well aware of his problems. She didn’t expect anything from him, and her happiness certainly didn’t depend on him. There was one scene I particularly liked that I think Furuya invented (I don’t recall it being in the original book). Mama was acting as Yozo’s nude model and asked to see Yozo’s drawing of her. She accused him of being too kind and told him to redo the drawing, this time including her wrinkles. I loved that she not only refused to accept flattery from Yozo, but also that she seemed to genuinely love her own body. Here’s her description of her wrinkles: “These are my growth rings. Each stands for a love and a parting.” I don’t recall having any favorite characters in Dazai’s No Longer Human, but Furuya's Mama was wonderful.
Had Furuya broken free from the constraints of writing an adaptation, I imagine his Yozo could have stayed with Mama long enough to finally gain something resembling emotional maturity. Or maybe she'd have eventually gotten tired of him and tossed him out. At any rate, the story moved on and continued to follow Dazai’s original plot. This was another instance where I felt that Furuya’s changes to the original story were an improvement upon the original. Furuya’s Yozo was younger than Dazai’s Yozo, which meant that his Yozo was also closer in age (only 20) to the
As happy as he seems to be by the end of the volume, this series is pretty upfront about the fact that things do not end well for Yozo. If I hadn’t already read the book, and if it were just bad things happening to Yozo, I might be tempted to read on. However, I’m going to stop here.
I prefer main characters who inspire me to root for them, or who at least interest me. Furuya's Yozo, a loser who hurts and/or drags down most of the people around him, doesn’t appeal to me. That said, I did think this volume was better than the first.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
May 15, 2014
Mi sta garbando sempre di più! Non vedo l'ora arrivi Giugno per poter avere fra le mani, e leggere, l'ultimo numero.
January 12, 2018
Didn't like this one as much as the first. Probably because while I could relate to the protagonist in the previous volume, I feel that he becomes much more unlikable and much less sympathetic in this one. After the tragedy from the last book, he's surviving in the only way that he knows how, but he just can't shake bad habits and keeps getting in his own way. This is a man who cannot face his own problems, is self-destructive, and continuously uses then abandons people when things get tough. The story takes a very dark and grim view of humanity, but there are some bright points too, like the Mama at the bar. Yozo also finds some professional success in this one, and it seems like he might actually get his life back on track. But alas, the ending to this volume suggests that good things can't last with him...
December 15, 2023
İlk cilte göre daha hoşuma gitti.
Orijinal hikayeye göre de kadınlar arasında geçiş yaparken yazar çok aceleci davranmışken, mangada bu geçişler karakterin psikolojisine ve ilişkiye göre daha anlamlandırılmıştı.
Belki de aceleci davranmasının nedeni aslında o kadınların bir önemi olmadığını birbirlerinin yerlerini kolaylıkla doldurabildiğini gösterebilmek içindi. Japon erkek yazarlar kadın karakterleri çok iyi de yazamıyor o da bir açıklama olabilir.
Orijinal hikayeye göre de kadınlar arasında geçiş yaparken yazar çok aceleci davranmışken, mangada bu geçişler karakterin psikolojisine ve ilişkiye göre daha anlamlandırılmıştı.
Belki de aceleci davranmasının nedeni aslında o kadınların bir önemi olmadığını birbirlerinin yerlerini kolaylıkla doldurabildiğini gösterebilmek içindi. Japon erkek yazarlar kadın karakterleri çok iyi de yazamıyor o da bir açıklama olabilir.
November 30, 2024
This manga perfectly catches the downward spiral of the protagonist Yozo Oba. Being from such an influential background he disregarded everything and anything, had no value of human lives , surrounded himself with the wrong company which in time compounded in the complete demolition of his life in each and every aspect.
January 7, 2022
Good, expected a bit more
June 6, 2022
am i really happy or not ?
October 20, 2023
جميل جزء فيه شيءٍ من الإيمان والسعادة في هدف قادم ..
February 4, 2024
Se sintió como la calma antes de la tormenta.
March 14, 2024
İyiydi ya
May 19, 2024
old habits die screaming
March 29, 2025
Cảm giác trong truyện tranh, nhân vật chính có cảm xúc con người hơn là trong tiểu thuyết.
August 15, 2025
5/10 ⭐
January 24, 2021
The story while made to reflect the postmodern era, still holds much of the essence of the original book.
The artwork in this second volume is even better than the first one.
The artwork in this second volume is even better than the first one.
June 3, 2014
Parte centrale di questa angosciante e strepitosa parabola sul malessere di vivere. Yozo arranca fra stenti e incertezze, vivendo di tormentata quotidianità. La sua incapacità di trovare un ruolo all'interno della società è una spirale nera come la pece che assorbe l'altruistica positività di quanti lo circondano, la corrompe e trasforma in un percorso votato alla completa distruzione. Nota di speranza in conclusione, alla quale è proprio impossibile credere. I personaggi sono talmente veri e tridimensionali da farmi sentire un po' colpevole nell'averne spiato le tristi gesta. Semplicemente fantastico.
December 11, 2011
Part 2 of three parts of the manga "No Longer Human" based on Osamu Dazai's novel of the same name. And when we left our hero from volume one he survived a suicide pact with a lovely - and now how does he live and go on? Well he does of course, but without ruining others and himself as well. Usamaru Furuya is perfectly matched up with Dazai's obsession of life among the edge of total failure. So far part 2 is like watching an accident as it happens. Very enjoyable!
April 9, 2025
If one is going to read a manga edition of No Longer Human, this is the definitive one. Furuya's beautiful and otherworldly art-style compliments the subject matter perfectly, and he portrays it with both realism and exaggeration when necessary. But at no point does his fantastical, metaphorical art diminish the reality of the story.
June 18, 2013
Not as good as the first volume but still interesting. It's interesting see how the main characters life isn't just terrible but he also has good moments.
September 19, 2013
As good as the first one.
February 3, 2015
The second entry follows Yozo's downward spiral. His self-destructive tendencies get worse, if you can believe it.
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