Hikaru Nakamura (中村光) is a Japanese manga artist who is mostly known for "Saint Young Men" and "Arakawa Under the Bridge". According to a magazine article in Nikkei Entertainment from August 2011 she is the 9th most successful manga creator by sales since 2010 (5.54 million copies sold). She is married to the voice actor Hiroshi Kamiya and has one child.
Miharu Hino è un giovane apparentemente senza un particolare talento. Vive la sua vita solitaria lavorando in un konbini (minimarket, ndt) con un capo severo e un collega attaccabrighe. Non è stato neppure ammesso all’università e da tre anni si mantiene con il part-time. Persino il giorno di Natale è costretto a lavorare. Pare che non abbia una prospettiva per il futuro, quando, dopo aver commesso un insolito quanto inaspettato furto, si imbatte in uno strano tipo: un Babbo Natale vestito di nero!
Knecht, così si chiama il Babbo Natale in nero, è un personaggio misterioso. Non si conosce la sua identità, si sa soltanto che lavora con il Babbo Natale rosso. Si occupa dei bambini cattivi, coloro che ricevono ugualmente un regalo. Dopo aver rapito Miharu, che si è comportato da “bambino cattivo”, lo convince a lavorare in quella che sembra un’azienda losca e che dovrebbe occuparsi dei regali per i più piccoli.
La fabbrica è composta da diversi reparti, utili ad individualizzare i bambini cattivi e i regali adatti a loro. La sua peculiarità è che ogni dipendente deve lavorare per un determinato periodo di tempo (per esempio, un anno) in base alla brutta azione che ha commesso, come se dovesse scontare una pena. Il senso di colpa e un atto deprecabile si trasformano in qualcosa di positivo o quantomeno utile alla società.
Grazie al Babbo Natale in nero Miharu scopre di avere del potenziale: ha la capacità di riconoscere le situazioni deludenti, essendoci passato a causa di Kaiser, il suo collega al minimarket. Viene impiegato nel reparto carbone dove deve prendere i panni di un bambino in una strana simulazione.
Ma non è l’unico ad aver commesso delle azioni sbagliate in passato: anche Shino e Teppei nascondono dei segreti e delle ferite che li hanno portati nella misteriosa azienda.
Il colpo di scena finale getta le basi per un secondo volume emozionante e focalizzato sulla caratterizzazione del protagonista, un ragazzo che saprà sorprendere tutti.
Black Night Parade è un manga molto originale. Sono stata attirata dalla trama interessante e non ne sono rimasta delusa. Mi piace l’atmosfera enigmatica e onirica, che lascia spazio a tante domande. I personaggi sono tutti eccentrici e imperscrutabili. Il primo volume invoglia il lettore a continuare la lettura per conoscere i segreti che gli sono stati celati. Inoltre, ha la sensazione di essere stato catapulto in un sogno particolare e inquietante. Cosa accadrà quando aprirà gli occhi? In conclusione, posso dire che Black Night Parade è un’opera dalle tinte dark, differente da molte altre.
I'm a super fan of Christmas, Christmas lore, and nutcracker and this series has it all plus twists and darkness and a smidge of gore. I love it. The main character is a little cringe at times with a real self defeatist attitude and he's a little whiney but having read more of the books he actually grows which is fantastic
Red Santa is for the good kids. Black Santa is for the bad kids. And for that delightful array of mischievous cretins who work for Black Santa, they too have a history of bad behavior. Working for one of the Santa-folk is less of a timeless honor and more of twisted, sycophantic inevitability wrought by fitful and disingenuous egos. Ah, Christmastime.
BLACK NIGHT PARADE v1 is a raucous, chatty, flamboyant manga that pairs the sardonic sweetness of adult fairytales with contemporary Japan's legendary culture of hyper-stress and perpetual overwork. Readers keen to identify every throughline of satire will surely have their hands full: Santa Clause House is rough work, has long hours, awkward employees, a strict dress code, and an utterly cryptic modus operandi. BLACK NIGHT PARADE v1, to this end, is moderately entertaining.
Miharu Hino's inability to snag either a decent full-time job or a roster spot at a reputable college sees him stuck as a cashier at a low-rent corner store known for degenerates. Luckily for Miharu, the owner of said store is a somewhat mythical creature who remits bad presents to bad children during a certain, festive, holiday season. "Luckily," here, unironically accounts for the fact that Miharu is a serial complainer, never stands up for himself, has medial problem-solving skills, and possesses no real motivation to be a decent human being.
Knecht, the Black Santa, recruits the wimpy Miharu with the plan of carving him into something worthwhile. The options, oddly enough, are numerous: whether that means Miharu develops into a special operations monitor in the Chimney Department, spying on bad kids, or as a child research facilitator in the Coal Department, matching crappy presents to crappy children.
As a raw concept, BLACK NIGHT PARADE v1 is strange and funny. But one struggles to settle in and get comfortable. For one, Miharu never shuts the hell up. The guy yells, screams, and drunkenly mumbles his way through the whole volume. He's neither a likeable nor a relatable character in the slightest. He also has an absolutely lousy haircut.
Further, the book's art style vacillates wildly. Sarcastic, dream-like scenes frequently abut dead-eye horror-styled panels. The deliberate inconsistency is a function of the book's self-satisfied satirical perspective; however, since the contexts in which these inconsistencies occur also vary widely, the effect is more annoying and cringeworthy than comical and compelling.
The manga's secondary characters are far more intriguing than its yammering, spasmodic protagonist. Shino is a bubbly young woman with pigtails who works in the Chimney Department; she's cheerful and insightful, but also holds deep grudges and is kind of on the hook for burning down a massive Buddhist temple. Teppei is a handsome devil; he's stoic, attentive, and saddled with multiple jobs at Santa House, from kitchen duties to internal security. And then there's the fruitfully peculiar Mr. Hat, who runs the Coal Department; he's grouchy, overly sincere, and dresses up as a massive holiday hat.
And so, this strange contingent of inconsiderate weirdos is responsible for conceptualizing, manufacturing, and disseminating gifts to all of the bad boys and girls throughout the world. Pirating video games? Transporting organ meat? It's all part of the job, here at Santa Clause House. And some folks, quite frankly, will be stuck in this place a whole lot longer than others.
Je remercie les éditions Kurokawa pour cette lecture. Ça faisait un moment que j’avais envie de découvrir l’univers de ce manga au nom très intriguant. De plus, nous sommes en pleine période de Noël, idéal pour se plonger dans l’ambiance !
Nous suivons le personnage de Miharu. Il n’a que 22 ans, mais sa vie est misérable. Il n’a pas réussi à rentrer à l’université, mais pour lui cela n’était pas un problème, il allait trouver un boulot rapidement.
Mais tout ne s’est pas passé comme prévu. Il a négligé la crise actuelle ! Les seuls emplois qu’il trouve sont des CDD pitoyables. Il trime vraiment pour vivre correctement. N’en pouvant plus, même si cela est interdit, il décide de prendre un gâteau qui est un invendu et de l’emmener chez lui. Sauf que quelqu’un va très rapidement remarquer ce faux pas…
Le père fouettard. Oui, l’acolyte opposé du père Noël. Son but ? Donner des jouets aux petits vauriens. Du charbon, des tripes ou même des jouets, mais le plus décevant possible. Le but est d’atteindre un but d’insatisfaction, afin que l’enfant ne recommence plus.
Sans savoir comment, ni pourquoi, Miharu va se retrouver plongé dans cette entreprise et bosser pour eux. Après tout, il cherchait un CDI et c’est ce qu’on lui propose. Mais il va vite se rendre compte que l’entreprise du père Noël et du père Fouettard, ressemble énormément à une grosse industrie…
L’univers abordé est intéressant. On ne parle pas réellement du père Noël, mais de son opposé, de celui qui est en charge de punir les mauvais enfants, ceux qui ne sont pas sages. J’ai vraiment beaucoup apprécié le contexte.
De plus, les autres personnages ne sont pas mis de côté, on va même apprendre le passé d’un des personnages secondaires, les raisons de sa venue ici. L’univers est riche et vraiment intéressant.
En bref, c’est un manga idéal pour se plonger dans l’ambiance de Noël actuel ! L’univers est original et innovant ! J’ai apprécié les personnages et le style graphique du mangaka. L’histoire est très intriguant et on se pose beaucoup de questions, surtout sur le fameux père Fouettard ! 😉
Le gros point fort de ce manga, c’est l’univers… il est déjanté, il suffit de penser au père Bonnet et à ses bonnet-lutins. Je n’en dis pas plus, c’est un personnage aussi fou que glauque. En ce qui concerne l’atmosphère, c’est typique de Noël avec ses décors, l’usine du père Fouettard au Pôle Nord, etc. J’ai trouvé que c’était parfait en cette période de fête : pas trop joyeux, loin d’être neuneu, un brin sombre sans être excessif. Un juste milieu. Une histoire comme je les aime. C’est un coup de cœur pour cette lecture et il me faudra absolument la suite ! https://psylook.kimengumi.fr/2021/12/...
Miharu goes from an awful part-time job at a convenience store to a potentially awful job working for Black Santa (who gives naughty children gifts).
3.5 stars - this is nicely bizarre. I like Miharu, who gets stuck with a contract that he maybe should have read better, as well as Black Santa and his magical bag that eats people. Miharu's coworker Shino I very actively don't like. She's a cute bubble-headed girl; wait she's a cruel girl; wait she's a daughter of a Buddhist nun - I don't get it. I'll give the second in this series a try to see if the mangaka is able to plot a course through all this weirdness.
Hino Miharu spends Christmas the same way every year, working alone at a dead-end part-time job at a convenience store. He’d do just about anything to land a full-time gig, but when he runs into a shadowy Santa Claus dressed all in black, he has no idea he’s encountered the real deal. Well, almost. While the normal Santa Claus who dresses in red and white oversees Christmas for all the good boys and girls, his dark counterpart is in charge of handling the bad children—and Miharu just wound up on the naughty list.
Colpita dalla copertina scura e attraente, non avevo immaginato di trovarmi di fronte a una storia così alternativa e outsider. Un babbo natale rosso e uno nero, uno per i buoni e uno per i bambini cattivi. Ma il protagonista cosa scoprirà? A chi dovrà credere?
Storia intrigante e molto curiosa, dalle tonalità dark e talvolta difficili da portare avanti ma tutto sommato è un manga ben riuscito!
Je ne savais pas trop à quoi m’attendre en prenant ce manga, mais c’est une bonne surprise. Un manga fun et très intéressant. J’aime beaucoup les personnages, mais aussi l’histoire. Un tome qui donne tout de suite envie de lire la suite, c’est vraiment top. J’ai ri, j’ai passé un bon moment, et c’est entraînant. C’est sûr je lirais la suite.
Le manga est drôle et plutôt cool mais il manquait quelque chose...
J'ai beaucoup aimé le concept, l'idée était vraiment originale et intéressante mais c'est pas super approfondi et j'ai pas pu m'attacher aux personnages parce que je les ai trouvés pas trop développés... Mais ça reste un bon manga qui est drôle et qui pour le coup fait bien passer le temps!
2.5/5 rounded down. I was enjoying it and halfway through or maybe 3/4 into it, found myself getting very annoyed with the main character and it was getting just a bit too weird for me and not in a good way. Just silly and random, in my opinion. I may try the next volume next Christmas and hope it’s better.
A comedy series where a down on his luck boy gets taken by a Krampus-type character to work for him disappointing children on Christmas. It's sort of a workplace comedy with the lead playing straight man to the eccentric characters and setting.
It's by the author of Arakawa Under the Bridge and it has a similar comedy vibe.
L'univers déjanté nous permet de plonger dans l'histoire. Franchement c'est plutôt sympa comme lecture de Noël. Il se lit vite, par contre ça ne vient peut-être que de moi mais j'ai mis au moins 50 pages à comprendre que Miharu était un homme... 🫣 Voilà j'ai hâte de trouver la suite 😊
Not your average Christmas story from the creator of Saint Young Men. This was okay. A bit bland sometimes but with some quirky funny moments. Interestingly, the story is infused with Dutch mythology and language relating to Sinterklaas, the origins of Santa Clause.
I have no idea how I ended up in another Japanese convenience store just one day after reading Convenience Store Woman but here we are. This is weird comedy horror Christmas shit… and I’m here for it. Loved it. No notes. Can’t wait to read the rest! 🎅🏻👹
It's a basic shonen manga with a Christmas theme. The only girl in the book had the typical shonen treatment and her backstory was interesting. However I can't find the mc likeable since he's literally the "black hair self insert" archetype.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This was a weird, light horror-ish, fever dream of a manga about the Black Santa and the Red Santa (red = rewards good kids, black = punishes bad kids). Very strange story so far but I own book 2 so I’ll be diving into that one at some point.