Happiness, Vol. 2

ハピネス [Happiness] #2

by Shuzo Oshimi

Makoto Okazaki is changing. Having turned his former bully Yuuki into a strange kind of friend, he’s been forced to help confront Yuuki’s own tormentors. But even if Makoto’s bizarre new physiology might solve one problem, it is creating others. And behind all of Makoto’s problems lurk horrifying questions: Who was the girl who attacked him? What is happening to his body? Why is he still so thirsty?

Genres: Manga, Horror, Vampires, Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Paranormal

210 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 9, 2015

About the author

Shuzo Oshimi (押見修造, Oshimi Shūzō) is a Japanese manga creator.
Drawn in a realistic art style, his comics tend to be psychological dramas exploring the difficulties in human relationships and often touching on disturbing situations and perversions.
Oshimi debuted in 2001 with the manga series Avant-Garde Yumeko, appeared in Kodansha's 'Monthly Shōnen Magazine.' Most of his works since then have been published by Kodansha and Futabasha.
Among his first successes the single volume manga Sweet Poolside (2004), later adapted into a live-action film, and the series Drifting Net Café (2008–2011), also adapted for TV.
Oshimi reached international acclaims with The Flowers of Evil (2009–2014) and Inside Mari (2012–2016), both adapted into successful anime. Other notable works are Blood on the Tracks (2017–2023) and Welcome Back, Alice (2020-2023) .

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Changes is the name of this second volume, which does not advance the plot much in this vampire manga series. Makoto Okazaki is changing. His former bully Yuuki is now a friend, and he's interesting, with a sad past. The artwork is the feature of this largely wordless volume, and I like that it focuses on the images to tell the sometimes spooky story. I have heard this gets better and better, so we'll see. It does get a bit violent in this one. And we still need to know more about the girl that bit Makoto.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series just went from 0-100 real quick.

Love the frenetic art when things start to go wrong. Very interesting and unique style that goes along with the story perfectly.

I saw someone else compared this to Let the Right One In and it totally has that sort of feel to it.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just as his nascent vampire powers are starting to improve his miserable existence at high school, bigger bullies and a new vampire threaten to take Okazaki to new depths of misery as his afterlife spins out of control.

[Alec Costa · Rating 5 out of 5]

PYTA MERDA!!!!!!! bom demais, bem mais intenso e CHEIO de momentos de AAAAAAAAA e BOOOOM e FUH

[Sarah ♡ (let’s interact!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was worrying this volume was going to be too slow, but right as I thought that, the action kicked in and the storyline really ramped up. It’s surprisingly gory at times!
I love the mysterious character, Nora and we see her again at the end.
The art style is truly gorgeous here, one of my favourites in all of manga, and I’m excited to see how this series progresses! ☺️🖤

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Los personajes me están gustando, esa atmósfera que se está generando, entre oscura y trágica, me está atrapando un montón.
El camino e incertidumbre que hay en la historia hace que quiera seguir leyendo.
Y el dibujo me gusta, sobre todo cuando aparece en primer plano cierto personaje, que es lo mismo que me pasó en el tomo uno, lo enfatiza mucho más que al resto en cuanto a detalles.

En general está bien entretenido.

[Floripiquita · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 estrellas para la historia en su conjunto, una de las más perturbadoras y oscuras que he leído en mucho tiempo. Como ya ha apuntado alguien por aquí, este manga tiene un aire que recuerda a “Déjame entrar” aunque la historia bebe de un montón de referencias. La trama se sumerge en una espiral sangrienta que alcanza su cenit en un par de capítulos tan heavies que me han dejado tal que así 🤯😱🤯😱 y me han dado muy mal rollo. El final me ha gustado bastante y, más, las referencias pictóricas a Picasso y Van Gogh.

[daph pink ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

We have vampires flying and sticking to the poles, so the volume is quite screwed up. It will be Okazaki's internal struggle to restrain his desire to harm his pals. Yuki's blood is the best drink I've ever had that expression is looking weird. We now have a new girl named Nora who, for reasons unknown, licked Okazaki.

Some of the panels were a little foggy, but I'm used to that with Shuzo Oshini's novels because it's how he portrays perplexity and dilemma.

[Keiko, the manga enthusiast ♒︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

We're in for a blood-fest

This is so intense! And that cliffhanger was the best! Thank gee for Yuuki! The water drops are still ringing in my ears though. This is crazy and I love so much!!

[Tayjah · Rating 5 out of 5]

My new favorite manga series omgggg. It’s literally Tokyo Ghouls but vampires and the art style is so beautiful 😍 now I need to buy the other volumes

[The Artisan Geek · Rating 4 out of 5]

13/12/19
Wow I have really gotten into the series, really liking where this is going! It reminds me a bit of Tokyo Ghoul :)

You can find me on
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[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first chapter is nice and chill. Like hey, come, let us all be friends.

THE EVERYTHING GOES WRONG. Kidnapping, abuse, murder, vampires vs vampires, and more. It all comes into crazy fighting, emotional bonds form and break, and even a blowjob stuck in there. This is a much quicker paced volume than 1 and lots of brutality but I'm already sucked in. This author might turn his best work here. A 4 out of 5.

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well that was unsettling...

I want to continue the series, but I didn't realize it was only the first two that are on Kindle Unlimited. The other 8 books are between $6-11 each and since the first two only took me about 20-30 minutes each to read I'm not sure I want to spend that sadly...

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh myy, things are picking up! I want more now! :(

[Victoria ✮⋆˙ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really loving this series I can't wait to see where it goes!

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tries to be gory, tries to be erotic at parts (for what reason I can’t fathom), tries to be really scary. Yes, it did towards the end. Glad that some things are happening in this volume.

[Alex Fyffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artwork continues to breathe life into a mostly straightforward story. Oshimi's distorted lines and impressive, dramatic spreads are more fully realized in this volume and certainly make it a worthwhile read. However, Happiness has yet to develop into anything startlingly original. The story is at its best when developing the main characters through their dialogue, although the action scenes, thanks to Oshimi's exciting illustrations, are also compelling. This volume improves upon the foundation laid in the first one, introducing elements that will hopefully flesh out in the next volume. Some scenes felt a little rushed or forced, but the potential for another strong series from Oshimi remains. 3.75.

[Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Getting better! Things get a little less predictable in this volume as things shift away from school life and focus on Makoto's changes, both socially as he gets more acquainted with his new friends, and physiologically as his body goes through changes. The world expands a bit as we get introduced to a new vampire and learn more about vampirism and their customs. Surprisingly a lot of action here too. The art is even better this time around, and the bulk of the story is told through the art rather than text. I am especially fond of how Oshimi's style gets deliberately sketchier and messier as Makoto's hunger grows.

All in all I'm having a blast.

[Rachel Kathryn Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought book 1 was good and it was just setting up for the rest, and this book was so good. The plot really picked up and I loved the addition of the side characters in this. My favorite character isn’t the main character but Yuuki, it was great to learn more about him. Also, him and Makoto becoming friends was very sweet. I’m also really enjoying the art style of this series, because it matches really well with the story.

[melike · Rating 3 out of 5]

abi geldiler abi

[Ethan · Rating 5 out of 5]

omllll OMLL THIS IS SO SCARY AAAAAAAH

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book via Kindle Unlimited.

Okay, so things have started to change for Makato. He stood up to Yuki, his main bully and hit him and now Yuki has started to retreat into himself, embarrassed by the whole thing. When Nao asks Makato to help Yuki stand up to some older kids, he saves Yuki who then becomes a strange kind of friend. We find out Yuki has a sad, misunderstood popular boy backstory and to be honest, I actually grow to like him quite a lot in this book. However, this book again is mainly about Makato and the changes he is undergoing after being turned into a vampire (which he doesn't fully grasp yet) by Nora.

I think I would have enjoyed this volume more if the plot moved a little faster. It feels like we're really taking things day by day here and not by plot point by plot point. I will however continue with this series as I'm doing a manga readathon and it is very well written...Just different to what I expected.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things are getting a bit more interesting now... but hasn't quite proven itself yet.

I'm enjoying the characters; even the ones I disliked in the first one. Still curious about the more mysterious girl who caused Makoto all of his issues... guess I'll move to the third one!ha

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure if I will continue with this series. By the end of book 2 it barely captured my attention enough to wanna buy the rest of the collection.

[Alice4170 🌙 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5 ⭐️

[Kesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extravagant manga with a simple plot time. Only been this astonished by Shuzo Oshimi. The art is just spot on.

[MargReadsManga · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading it a second time, I think I'm going to give it 3 stars instead of 4.

[Tesutamento · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kimi zaman diyalogsuz sahneleriyle kimi zaman da bulanık bakış açısıyla gerilimi çok iyi yansıtan bir ciltti. Dönüşümü reddetme ve kendini yabancı bir dünyada bulma temasıyla biraz Tokyo Ghoul'u andırsa da ondan çok daha ayakları yere basan bir hikaye.

[MarinaLawliett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Protegan a los bebés

[Brandon Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts to get pretty crazy here.