Old Boy, Vol. 1

オールドボーイ [Old Boy] #1

by Garon Tsuchiya, Nobuaki Minegishi, Kumar Sivasubramanian (Translator)

Ten years ago, they took him. He doesn't know who. For ten years he has been confined in a private prison. He doesn't know why. For ten years his only contact with the outside world has been a television set and the voice of his jailers. In time, he lost himself... changed... transformed himself into something else... something hard... something lethal. Suddenly one day, his incarceration ends, again without explanation. He is sedated, stuffed inside a trunk, and dumped in a park. When he awakes, he is free to reclaim what's left of his life... and what's left is revenge.

Genres: Manga, Comics, Graphic Novels, Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Crime

210 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 1997

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is about the series, not this volume.

It's more likely that you've seen the 2003 Korean movie Oldboy than read this, so I suppose we must compare the two. For disclosure, I read this having not seen the movie, and then watched the movie the day after finishing this manga series.

I didn't particularly like the movie.


...and I blame that fully on the manga.

The manga has a completely different tone than the movie. Completely. The movie is very much revenge porn. There's lots of violence and death as our lead seeks his revenge. The manga is much more reserved. Our protagonist is driven more by curiosity concerning his imprisonment than a thirst for revenge. Add in that our protagonist wasn't married and didn't have a kid, and our whole motivation changes.

So let's talk about the endings and how they're both stupid. :D Complete spoilers for the movie ending, minor for the manga.

In the manga, our lead doesn't recall what made his adversary hate him with good reason. Because it's stupid. It's a minor event in his life that was a huge event for someone else. But that's the only way the entire story makes sense. It's not satisfying at all, but how could it be and have our protagonist not know why it was happening? Otherwise, you get the movie... where our lead somehow forgets that he caught a brother and sister having sex at school, where she committed suicide later. When you're looking through your entire life trying to figure out why someone hates you, perhaps consider the time you ostracized someone, leading to a death. Even if he didn't know she killed herself, "I bet the guy I exposed for screwing his sister hates me a whole lot" should cross your mind. He comes up with lots of other names that don't get explained in the movie. Why not this one?

But! It does make the reasoning not stupid, like it is in the manga. It just makes our protagonist an idiot, which he only sort of is in the manga. ;)

Anywho, back to the manga.

Overall, this is a good time that gets dragged down by the later chapters, which take three volumes to finish out story elements that should have been in one.

3.5 "half off for the ending" stars... or perhaps they're "this isn't at all the movie so don't expect revenge porn" stars.

[Urbon Adamsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently came across this series in an online auction, and I just had to grab it. Although I hadn't seen any of the "Old Boy" movies, I figured there was no better way to dive into the story than by starting with the original material.

This edition is quite poor. The paper quality is like that of a cheap journal—thin and low-cost—but surprisingly well-preserved considering it's over 10 years old.

I went in with no expectations about the story, but wow, it's incredible! Simple yet fantastic, and absolutely gripping.

The story follows a nameless protagonist who has been imprisoned in an illegal facility for 10 years without knowing why. After his sudden release, he's now on a mission to uncover the truth behind his imprisonment.

We're introduced to what seems to be the antagonist, but so much remains shrouded in mystery. There's still a lot to uncover, and I’m super excited to keep reading!

[Greg · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've never read manga and I never had an urge to read any but I thought maybe I should try and see what it's like. I tried this because it happened to be available to me and I had liked the movie. This is awful, to call it one dimensional is almost a compliment. A kind of moronic morose male fantasy populated with a bunch of cookie cutter characters containing zero depth or believability. This almost makes that Penetrator book I read a few months back read like Hemingway.

[Marcos GM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review conjunta en el Volumen 3, ya que es una historia única y no la puedo valorar por separado.

[Dr. K · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't think that I've ever read such a blatant male power fantasy in my life.

Spoilers ahead because I just don't care: so the guy is trapped in a "private prison" aka a locked apartment for ten years with nothing but Chinese takeout and a tv. He gets incredibly jacked and doesn't lose his mind, obviously. And then, the moment he's released, he first finds a virgin who begs him to sleep with her and then focuses on getting revenge on his mysterious captors. But not before having this woman be 100% obsessed with him for next to no reason. Did I mention he got incredibly jacked while eating only takeout for ten years????

The movie was recommended to me by the guitar teacher I had when I was 14. He was 22 and, after he stopped teaching me, messaged me late at night on Facebook for emotional support around a breakup. Old boy was his favorite movie and like... Yeah I'm glad that I stopped taking classes with him lol.

(He gave me other pretty good recommendations though like Requiem for a Dream and Six Feet Under but also things like Martyrs so 🤷. Anyway, wherever you are John, I hope you've stopped being weird towards teenage girls).

This is a very unserious review of an unserious manga. I was actually looking forward to reading it and may still pick up the movie, but I was largely underwhelmed and annoyed with the manga. 0.75 stars on SG that I've rounded up to a 1 on GR. My life is better without old boy, the manga, in it.

[Himanshu Karmacharya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't know that the critically acclaimed movie was based on a manga.

Here, a man is released after being locked up for 10 years, and he doesn't know why he was locked up at all.

Captivating story, with gorgeous artwork makes this manga a worthwhile read.

[alexis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know it’s not Garon Tsuchiya’s fault that basically the most iconic revenge thriller ever is based off his manga, but yes, I did just re-watch Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy, and yes, I did immediately read this after.

Extremely “of its time”. I think the subtle emphasis on the pitfalls of gambling is interesting but not necessarily unique, and the protagonist’s fixation on boxing feels like a dropped backdoor pilot, like Tsuchiya wasn’t sure if he wanted to write a mystery or a sports comeback story. Speaking of which, I can’t believe how much of the investigation was genuinely like “omg…did this guy lock me up for 10 years………because he’s totally gay and obsessed with me? :/“ The boring 1998 effeminate male villain homophobia is at least balanced out by the way Cooler 1998 hot powersuit female villain homophobia, where a lesbian with shoulder pads stands sinisterly near a straight woman.

[Dragana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nestrpljivo čekam sledeći deo

[Curious Madra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yknow I really really wanted to like this old skool manga so much because I was looking for the damn movie everywhere and it wasn’t on Netflix and I heard a few anitubers talk about it. The opening was promising, with a man trying to find out why he was imprisoned by the mafia in an odd room and why he was set free? The man was actually treated nicely as well as the Mafia giving him 1000 yen. He then meets a girl from a noodle shop and the two hit off. That's where I began to lose interest in the story; I mean, personally, I'd prefer if the romance wasn't so fast-paced because I felt like there were a few plot holes here and there. Okay, we know about Goto, the main character trying to find his identity’s but the author didn't devote much time to the other characters, especially the love interest, who appears in one scene and then vanishes, and vice versa. It just got boring for me to continue after reading 30 chapters of the story.

Sorry to the Old Boy fan club but this ain’t for me chaps unfortunately!

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This certainly starts off well! I've read about Oldboy many times, and I think I may have even seen the original Japanese film years ago, but I don't remember what happened, which is a plus now that I'm finally reading the manga. There was an American movie starring Josh Brolin as well, which I may watch after finishing the manga.

In any case, this is a noir series where a man has been kept imprisoned in a room for ten years and is finally released. He doesn't remember much about his life, nor does he know who imprisoned him or why. That's about all we get in this volume, although he's planning revenge. Great read with great art.

[Vladimir Veškovac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jaka četvorka, jedva čekam nastavak.

[Josephus FromPlacitas · Rating 2 out of 5]

It seems unfair to compare a small book with the sumptuous, intricate and extraordinary piece of filmmaking that was Park Chan-wook's Oldboy, but I don't feel like there's any other choice. The film towers over its source material and is so much more interesting and powerful than at least the first 10 chapters of the series.

The story, for a workaday pulp manga, seems like a relatively original idea, but of course it bogs down in traditional, solitary masculinity. A hyper-macho mega-manly man is out for revenge. He fucks a waitress, works at a sweaty, manly job to earn money for his revenge plot, and poses repeatedly for a low-angle viewer to appreciate his six-pack and laughably big guns. Which makes the film performance by Choi Min-sik that much more admirable, in that it had depth, weirdness, and vulnerability that wasn't part of the original text.

After getting through book 1, I'm not particularly inclined to hunt down the subsequent books in the series.

[Mayank Agarwal · Rating 1 out of 5]

The manga starts with a bang, the intriguing plot & mind games are great. The arts clean and clear, the tension on the faces really showing.

As I got to the middle of the manga that is volume 5 the plotting started becoming silly, by the end that is volume 8 the story is destroyed by the nonsensical ending. Also the art is the same and difficult to look at with panel after panel of close up faces with sweat on them.

One of the most promising starts to a manga with one of the worst ending, the whole journey is spoiled by the second half of the manga.

[DeAnna Knippling · Rating 5 out of 5]

A normal guy locked up for ten years tries to find the reason why.

Minor but important spoiler if you've seen the movie: This isn't the movie; there's no incest motive in the manga. I kept expecting it to show up, but no.

The manga is about meaning, meaning versus meaninglessness. The bad guy is a sociopath, seeking revenge for something that only a sociopath could be bothered by. But how that affects the main character is distorted, disproportionate, and surreal. There are no easy answers or satisfying wrappings up of loose threads here, only damage, personality disorders, and doing your best in the face of it all. I'd think of this as more of an existential book like Camus's The Plague than a thriller.

The art is amazing. The story is upsetting. The sociopath is more realistic than is comfortable.

Recommended for people who want more mental twists than they do violence. An ambitious series.

[Ivan Jovanovic (Valahiru) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nedavno nas je Golconda obradovala i novim manga serijalom. U pitanju je Oldboj - Stari momak.

Ovo je urbani triler koji me od početka zainteresovao. Imamo glavnog lika koji je deset godina proveo zatvoren u privatnom zatvoru. Nije svestan zašto. Nije svestan ko ga je zatvorio. Sada kada je konačno slobodan, u jedno je siguran. Želi osvetu.

Prvi tankobon je napet i misteriozan, a radnja zanimljiva. Sadrži puno toga što se čitaocu može dopasti, poput nekih akcionih filmova. Ova manga je čak i poslužila kao inspiracija jednom režiseru. Crteži su dobri. Neki likovi mi izgledaju previše slično, pa sam imao problem u raspoznavanju u nekim scenama. Za uvod u priču je svakako sasvim zadovoljavajuće. Iskreno, jedva čekam da nastavim serijal i saznam nove detalje.

[Oscar Leal · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 estrellas ☆ ☆ ☆
Nada fuera de lo común en el primer volumen. Es apenas el inicio de lo que parece ser un thriller bastante bien planteado en una serie de 6 tomos con el misterio y las preguntas a cuenta gotas , apuesto a que golpea más fuerte si se lee de un tirón. Me parece a mi que el planteamiento de un hombre que fue secuestrado y puesto en cautiverio durante 10 años en una clase de prisión que consta de un simple cuarto con baño y televisión, con nadie en el exterior que logre recordar, siquiera su nombre, pinta para muchas preguntas, pero que carece de realidad ¿Para qué se iba a gastar una cantidad ridiculamente grande de dinero en un hombre para mantenerlo encerrado y luego soltado? Habrá venganza, de eso estoy seguro; Me da que es una fantasía ridículamente llena de testosterona, pero que habla de los principios de un hombre, de lo que consta su libertad. Con la vida perdida y apenas unos cuantos duros en el bolsillo, nuestro personaje principal en desarrollo se las apañará en una buena aventura de acción y misterio. En teoría, debería prometer. La introducción dejó algunas preguntas en el aire. El dibujo es regular en comparación a otros mangas seinen, incluso abusa de fondos blancos o dibujo poco detallado fuera del primer plano.

[Yuri · Rating 1 out of 5]

Crítica da série:
Nem trisca em nenhum dos tabus que o filme investiga com coragem e franqueza, o desenvolvimento da trama é de uma lentidão sofrível ou pura encheção de linguiça como se diz, vários palhaçadas que não levam a lugar nenhum, personagens sem nenhum tipo de consistência ou carisma, nada da putaria, da violência, do clima de tragédia grega que o cinema sul coreano recente traduz tão bem, tampouco apresenta para compensar isso. Uma pedra que o Park Chan-Wook ordenhou até a última gota. Lixo.

[Brújulo]

¡Una pasada! No suelo leer manga, pero Oldboy me enganchó completamente. Y si además has estado en Tokyo, lo disfrutarás especialmente, porque las referencias a la ciudad son constantes.

[Parteno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bastante guapardo

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had watched old boy ages ago and enjoyed it's dark and cynical view on the world and a revenge tale worth watching. This one lacks all of that, the tone being way different, kind of goofy, without a character I can back. A 2 out of 5.

[Felipe Sarmiento · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very intrigued! The plot is developing well and keeping me invested.

[Alex Quinonez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is like an old friend. The story is fantastic from the start and the art is amazing.

[hamna · Rating 3 out of 5]

They are so gay for each other

[Bailey Renalds · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[Tulip · Rating 3 out of 5]

[review cho cả bộ chứ ko chỉ 1 tập]
so với phim thì kém rất nhiều. Nhân vật chính đáng lẽ phải là 1 người cứng rắn thì vẫn còn mềm yếu quá, còn đối thủ anh ta, so với trong phim thì kém xa.

[Pelidelasemana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compilado de los primeros 29 capítulos del Manga escrito por Garon Tsuchiya e ilustrado por Nobuaki Minegishi, 'Oldboy 1' sigue la investigación de un hombre que busca encontrar al malnacido que lo encerró diez años en una especie de prisión clandestina completamente fuera de la ley. Dibujado con maestría y haciendo gala de una estupenda edición de las secuencias, tanto de acción como de introspección, en las que el duelo psicológico entre presa y captor se intensifica conforme se van descubriendo los hilos que mueven tanto al héroe como al villano, Oldboy hace honores a su título de manga legendario.

//////////

NOTAS DE USO PERSONAL

Los capítulos del 1 al 29 abarcan el encierro del protagonista, su eventual puesta en libertad dentro de una maleta en un parque; su incorporación como albañil para ganar dinero; el encuentro con una chica que lo lleva a su departamento y se convierte en su confidente y amante; los subsecuentes esfuerzos para evitar que lo sigan (eliminando un chip de su espalda y posteriormente de la suela de su zapato); el reencuentro con un viejo conocido que lo hospeda en su bar; el reencuentro con la mujer con la que iba a casarse y a la que dejó plantada en el altar al desaparecer un día antes de su boda; la localización de la cárcel clandestina; el intento por infiltrar el mundo Yakuza para conseguir información; y finalmente la renuncia a escapar para seguir jugando el juego de su captor, que gradualmente le suelta pistas hasta que al final del libro le envía a una mujer que lo lleva a contactar al Yakuza que lo encerró (un mandado del verdadero villano) y que tras regresarlo a su casa le dice que debe buscar en sus años de adolescencia para resolver quién fue el que lo encerró.

DIFERENCIAS CON LA CINTA DE Chan-Wook Park

Hasta el momento no se sabe si el protagonista tiene o no una hija.
El protagonista no forza a la chica joven para que tenga sexo con él. En realidad ella le ofrece quedarse en su departamento conscientemente.
No son quince años de prisión, son diez.
No lo liberan en una azotea, lo liberan en un parque dentro de una maleta.
Se elimina en la película todo lo relacionado con el trabajo de construcción del protagonista, su estancia en el bar del amigo y su contacto con la que habría sido su esposa (ya que en el filme sí se casa con ella y lo secuestran cuando su hija es pequeña).
En el manga no todo parece un plan perfecto ideado por el villano, éste tiene dudas y va actuando sobre la marcha.

[Nouru-éddine · Rating 3 out of 5]

::انطباع عام::
========
بداية القصة لطيفة، وفعلاً مثيرة للانتباه ومليئة بالحماسة والجذب، ورغم قلة الحوارات أو النص، إلا أن الرسومات معبرة للغاية. أما عن الترجمة فهي ممتازة، وأتمنى من دار المحروسة استكمال ترجمة السلسلة كاملة، خصوصًا أن المترجمة تترجمها عن اليابانية. والإخراج الفني للقصة ممتاز وملفت، وفي جلسة واحدة التهمت القصة كاملةً!
***
::في سطور::
========
أولدبوي أو الزميل هي سلسلة مانغا يابانية كتبها جارون تسوتشيا ورسوم نوبواكي مينيجيشي. تتبع القصة بطل الرواية شينيتشي غوتو، وهو الرجل الذي تم إطلاق سراحه فجأة بعد حبسه في سجن خاص لمدة عشر سنوات دون أن يعلم السبب. بعد إطلاق سراحه، يجب على غوتو العثور على من قام بفعل ذلك واكتشاف سبب حبسه. تحتوي السلسلة على 79 فصلاً تقع في ثمانية مجلدات مجمعة. تم تحويل المانجا أيضًا إلى فيلم كوري حاز على جوائز عدة، من إخراج بارك تشان ووك في عام 2003.
***
::القصة::
======
يجد شينيتشي غوتو البالغ من العمر 25 عامًا نفسه مخمورًا ومرتبكًا في غرفة صغيرة داخل سجن خاص بعد اختطافه وسجنه خلال ليلة واحدة لأسباب غير معروفة. وعلى الرغم من توسلاته، لن يخبره أي من الحراس بمن اختطفه أو سبب احتجازه. مع مرور الأيام، تؤثر عزلته القسرية ببطء على سلامة عقله. يجد منفذًا من خلال تدريب عقله وجسده لليوم الذي سيتمكن فيه من الانتقام.
بعد عشر سنوات من الحبس الانفرادي في زنزانة شديدة الحراسة، مع جهاز تلفزيون فقط، تم إطلاق سراحه فجأة. بمجرد خروجه، يواجه عالمًا متغيرًا كثيرًا. لقد أدى سجنه الطويل إلى عزله عن المجتمع ومنعه من التمتع بالحياة الطبيعية التي كان يرغب فيها. مع عدم وجود ما يخسره، يبدأ مهمته في البحث عن هويات خاطفيه وكشف السبب وراء سجنه. ومع ذلك، يبدو أن الشخص المجهول الذي يقف وراء أسر شينيتشي لم ينته منه بعد، وبالتالي يبدأ لعبة ملتوية حيث ينجو الفائز فقط، ويتحول الانتقام إلى لعبة بينهما.
***
::الشخصيات::
========

1_ شينيتشي جوتو: بطل الرواية الذي تم القبض عليه في ظروف غامضة واحتجازه كرهينة في الحبس الانفرادي لمدة عقد من الزمن.
2_ تاكاكي كاكينوما: الشرير، زميل غوتو في الصف السادس والذي يسعى الآن للانتقام من غوتو الذي حطم عن غير قصد إحساسه بقيمة الذات.
3_ يوكيو كوساما: كاتب ومعلم الصف السادس لجوتو وكاكينوما.
4_ إيري: الفتاة التي أصبحت صديقة جوتو. إنها في الواقع ممثلة مدفوعة الأجر تحت التنويم المغناطيسي الذي فرضه عليها كاكينوما.
5_ كيوكو كاتاوكا: من أتباع كاكينوما.
***

[مصطفي سليمان · Rating 4 out of 5]

مفاجاة جميلة جدا جدا اني اكتشف ان واحد من أحب أفلامي في الاساس كان مانجا كلاسيكية عن طريق الصدفة
طبعا اللي مشفش فيلم
OLDBOY
ينصح به بشدة وطبعا مش النسخة الأمريكية انا بتكلم علي النسخة الكورية
القصة الغريبة لخطف واحتجاز شخص لمدة عشرة سنوات كاملة ثم الافراج عنده دون فهم ما حدث ليقسم ع ان ينتقم من فعل به ذلك
رحلة مثيرة للغاية ونهاية مذهلة
الجزء الاول هنا حتي خروجه وبداية عمله هناك بعض الاختلافات ما بين الفيلم و القصة المصورة
شكرا المحروسة علي الاختيار المميز

[P.H. Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Real rating: 2/10
Manga/GN rating 5/10
********************SPOILER*****************************
Old boy the manga proves that even poorly crafted material can inspire greatness. Having seen the film first I sought out this work only to find the premise of the film. What lies beneath is meant to be a mystery with paranoia undertones, but that never gets translated across. Instead we get relationships that one would find in a gas station stretched out into romantic entanglement.
For the first six volumes a reader could skip every second page of this work and still keep in complete rhythm with what is being presented. The low panel count coupled with the stretching of a story that feels like it goes nowhere not because it is meant to but because the author had no idea beyond the premise.
What makes this tale so weak is the finale when we finally find out how this supposedly elaborate plot began we discover the most ridiculous reasoning outside of a story for prepubescents one could possibly encounter.

[Juan Carlos malik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haberme leído 623 paginas en 2 días, y no haberme aburrido y no haber sentido pesada la treama, habla muy bien de esta novela gráfica.

¿para qué leer OLD Boy?
1. La trama de misterio esta muy bien estructurada.
2. Los personajes son inteligentes y seductores.
3. Las escenas de acción son estupendas, te saca la testosterona que llevas dentro.
4. La manera que evolucionan los personajes te dejan con un buen presentimiento, que la historia va ir creciendo y enredándose a la vez.
5. Los escenarios de la historia esta ilustrados con un arte muy respetable.
6. 29 capítulos tiene este tomo y cada uno aporta algo importante a la historia.
7. las escenas de sexo, son muy bien cuidadas y no caen en lo vulgar.
8. Los temas de valores, poder y lucha interna, son las redes que tejen esta historia de frustración, venganza y amor, de manera muy creíble y aceptable.