人間失格 01

人間失格 / Ningen Shikkaku #1

by Usamaru Furuya

家世顯赫的大庭葉藏，來到東京就讀名校，並且過著好生活。同學們都認為他是個風趣、很好相處的好同學，但實際上，這一切都是害怕人類的葉藏假扮出來的。實際上他只是想靠這種方式來與其他人維繫住關係。某一天，他的好朋友抱持著好玩的心態帶他去參加某個左翼政治活動，從此之後，葉藏開始沈醉於這個政治活動，而自己的人生也開始走下坡…

Genres: Manga, Comics, Graphic Novels, Comics Manga, Drama, Horror, Fiction

192 pages

First published June 9, 2009

About the author

Usamaru 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).

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the most horrific, upsetting manga I've ever read. I'm going to take some time to digest this. I'm preparing to listen to the original book, but I've heard that is even bleaker.

Anyone who struggles with depression, especially chronic depression, can relate to this. I wouldn't advise you read this if you are feeling incredibly depressed, however. I truly haven't felt so understood by art before. It's incredibly sad that the author had to go through this, but at the same time, nice to be reminded that you're not alone.

There's also a Junji Ito version of this which I'm looking forward to reading.

[Jan Philipzig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strangely superficial, contrived, sensationalized story about the rather complex topics of alienation, depression, and extremism. And yet... stuff happens, you know, and somehow I want to know what happens next. Go figure. 2.5 stars if I could.

[Rahul · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars

Some books are only to be self-read and experienced, no amount of word could ever review or explain their significance, this is one of those masterpiece.

[Bella Azam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tw: suicide, nudity, explicit scenes, depression, rape, self harm, violence, misogynistic
For mature audience only

Up to this point, torture of mind is both torturous to the soul and heart. As much as i love Dazai's original prose, this adaptation by Furuya was an interesting take on modern outlook of the protagonist Yozo Oba as he navigates the bleakness of life, poor decisions, horrible antipathy to life and the questions of identity, the struggles to connect with himself. The meaning of being human meant deeper than just the outward figure of a body with mind and soul, its more than just a personality, its more than a mask or a facade to adopt, its the literal definition of human can be confusing to adapt yet we are all human . A flawed being.

In the midst of struggling with a mind that take control of its own most of the times, i read Furuya's adaptation of Ningen Shikaku and found myself despising Oba in a lot of ways. Maybe because im cynical and hate the fact i see myself in bits of him. oba was horrible, treating other people bad, making use of other women and doesnt have good traits about him besides his handsome face yet his clowning and his negativity, oppression of ideas of life scared me when those are the kind of thoughts i have. Why do we live in shame?

reaching the end, ending life is a choice but more choices can be made to presevere even by the thinnest strings of thread. do i recommend this for u to read? I dont since i knew people will hate this. do i like it though? i do but in a weird attachment way to the original novel.

Despair. Negativity. Fear. Sorrow. Human live precariously, death looms

[A. Raca · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Normal ne demek?"
"Mutluluk anlayışının başkalarının anlayışına uyduğunu nasıl anlarsın?"

[Kesa · Rating 5 out of 5]

just read it. a freakin masterpiece

[Yuliia Kravchenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Історія, яка виверне душу навиворіт і пошматує на клапті. Це ніби "Маленьке життя"тільки у форматі манґи.


А кінець то взагалі розрив. Я боялась, шо від сліз розмиється мальовка.

Дуже цікаво, як далі розвиватимуться події

[Fuego · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really liked Osamu Dazai's "No Longer Human," but I didn't like its manga adaptation. Is it truly an adaptation or just an inspired work? I really felt the struggle, the depression, the torment of being a human being in the book, but I didn't feel anything here. The storyline of the manga was contrived, superficial, and forced.

Why did Furuya leave out the Yozo's childhood part? It played a very important role in the book. The modern-day setting was a huge turn-off for me. I felt like the 17-year-old Yozo was just a super-duper wealthy teenager who was so bored with his life he wanted to fool around with it, to believe he was different. Pretentiously abnormal. We readers were presented with a number of his supposed-to-be-poignant thoughts. Ok, I get it. He was no ordinary human like others, or so he thought, but I just couldn't sympathize with him, at all. Also, why were there several sex scenes? Yikes! Is it really necessary? I know there was sex in the book, but it neither was over the top nor drove me to distraction.

When I took a look at the price of the first volume on Amazon and realized a used one was worth at least a few dozen euros, I was expecting it to be (extremely) good. But after finishing the first volume, I just wanted to tell Furuya's Yozo: "Get your sh*t together, mate."

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has been a Usamaru Furuya month for me, since I read "Lychee Light Club early this month. And I liked it a lot - but this is really my cup of sake. "No Longer Human" is a classic and great Osamu Dazai novel, and Furuya does a good job in updating the story (slightly).

A story of a wealthy young teenager who had everything but quickly loses it due to feelings of severe alienation. Yes, it could be a Who rock opera concept, but in the hands of Dazai its a poetic downsizing of a character slowly losing his sense of identity. His only hope really is becoming a writer. And the book (and graphic novel) is based on Dazai's personal life. I discovered this writer while living in Japan, and at the time (and still does to be honest) makes perfect sense to me. Whenever I write something I think of him first. And its interesting Furuya has taken on this novel as a graphic piece of narration. His work is super great and sophisticated. His "No Longer Human" is a three part series. I can't wait till volume 2.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm really not much of a manga reader, but the plot sounded interesting. It was ok I guess, but the character despondency and general sociopathology left me not really giving a shit. I don't have it in me to appreciate this particular personality type in a character or a person therefore the low rating. All around not my kind of book. Maybe someone that can relate may enjoy this.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Perhaps ultimately it was my nature to sabotage myself no matter where I was."

"To other men, a woman I care for... is a 'sadsack girl' not even worth kissing..."

"'You mean it? You really mean it? You would die with me? You're the first person who's ever said that to me.'
"Dying without registering what it meant seemed like an excellent idea. The notion of a 'double suicide' even cheered up the both of us."

It's startling how long it took me to get 'round to Usamaru Furuya's adaptation of Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human. I think I've been conscious of this manga for about as long as I've been of Dazai's masterwork, if not a little longer: I recall learning of Furuya's manga in a quest to read more of the works published by Vertical, after having discovered Osamu Tezuka's Ode to Kirihito and Buddha when my public library restructured itself a little and moved all the "mature" manga into its own section among the science fiction novels (previously, mature manga and Western graphic novels were interspersed with general prose fiction, not remotely grouped together). As a high school student, I did not have a job (I didn't feel the need for one) and so had no money on my own, but I always planned on eventually buying some things published by Vertical, as well as other "mature" manga published from other companies. At the risk of getting off-topic, I remember finding a wealth of Hideshi Hino and Kazuo Umezu horror manga (mostly out-of-print today, it seems), and branching further into fantasies of buying other horror works, Reiko the Zombie Shop and Lychee Light Club, the latter of which I just learned today was done by the same artist as this adaptation of No Longer Human.

My point is that I wasted about a decade not reading Furuya's manga, and now all the volumes are out of print and reaching prices in the triple-digits!

But that's all hardly important. Dazai's No Longer Human holds the maybe-less-than-admirable distinction of being one of my personal favorite novels. I've read it quite a few times. I've last re-read it a couple weeks ago, and between reading this manga volume and awaiting delivery of Junji Ito's own manga adaptation, I really want to read it again rather soon. It's just a terribly fun book, for reasons many people would probably not consider it to be "fun." And so, bored at work, as I often am, and having not touched my copy of The Book of Disquiet in about nine months because it did not sit well with my being bored at work (it made things harder to stomach), I sought a small outlet to magnify my personal disdain, as is my wont, because I'm hardly a complete person and have never really learned how to fluff myself up and appear "whole," and so practically get off on Dazai's oeuvre, I decided it would be a cute diversion to give Furuya's manga a glance (it's a slow day at work anyway).

First, this is clearly more intended to be a "reimagining" of the novel than a straightforward adaptation. Everything is modernized to the twenty-first century. This, I think, ruins an important theme to the original novel, having been published some years after we (America) fucked Japan in the ass in WWII, where we might imagine the character Yozo's inability to connect with other humans might act as a distillation of the nation of Japan as a whole, displaced from history, "disqualified" (to better translate the novel's title) from being a superpower after the West clipped their balls and forbade them from ever again having a real standing army. I suppose we can argue that Yozo's story is timeless (a sentiment with which I would certainly agree) and so it does not need the political backdrop. Anyway, the main changes are that Yozo's story was published as an online blog, seemingly by the man himself (very different from the novel having him leave some notebooks with a friend who later gives them to a curious author), and the blog is discovered by a young manga-ka (Furuya?) looking for a story for his next work. The beginning of this frame-story is roughly the same as Dazai's original: our unnamed narrator sees the three disparate photos of Yozo in different times of his life (childhood, high school, and his mid-20s), and he is compelled to read Yozo's life story because of the apparently missing links between the goofy child with a fake smile, the handsome and dignified-looking teenage student, and the withered old man who is actually only 25. Usamaru Furuya then proceeds to entirely omit the novel's "First Notebook," chronicling Yozo's childhood, jumping instead to his teenage years, skipping over the character of Takeichi in order to hasten the introduction of Horiki, a plot-critical character for the bulk of Yozo's story, who is made either to be a high school student now, or otherwise Yozo is taking extracurricular painting classes alongside his basic studies (but either way it's a change from the novel). From here, the manga follows the novel somewhat more closely, expanding a bit on the political activism (not explicitly branded "communist," likely due to the Party's irrelevance in this more-modern setting) to eat up some page-count before getting to a climax with the attempted shinjuu (an aside: I should probably be fired for how often I've googled "shinjuu" at work to double-check the spelling).

While it is unfortunate Furuya limits the First Notebook's events to flashbacks, he does well with their use. Yozo gets a startling flashback to the time Takeichi prophesied his troubles with women while mid-coitus. He gets another regarding his father while staring into space at a socialist meeting. This latter is most significant as it compiles all the bits about Yozo's relationship with his father into a condensed sequence of a few pages, jamming everything together to highlight Yozo's filial anxiety, and better establishing the Kafkalike (fuck you, I refuse to say "Kafkaesque!) theme of the burden/pressure of being a son, an undercurrent charging the energy of Dazai's novel, but which often feels inconsequential when referenced between the story's very beginning and very end (the singular "fault" of the novel).

There is also a curious twist by which Yozo's resentment toward his father is brought up while on the verge of drowning in the river ("Dad... your plaything... just broke..."). It stuns me that I cannot recall the novel so clearly now, after having read it so often, and having last read it a couple weeks ago, but I cannot immediately recall Yozo seeing his suicide attempt as rebellion against his father, only that his survival brought him greater shame and I believe led to his being disowned (which happens earlier in this manga).

It's not exactly relevant to my appraisal of the overall quality of this volume, but there's a lot of somewhat graphic sex here and I was reading it at work, which was just absolutely hilarious to me. A surprising amount of cunnilingus! Dicks are censored, of course. Cunts aren't seen in too close a view, but have pubic hair blocking anything more notable. Classic Japan.

I've written too much on the subject of what Furuya does with the story as opposed to Dazai's original, but the most important contribution is Furuya's art. To me, the purpose of any given artistic medium is to play into the strengths of that very medium. Dazai must do what can only be best performed in prose. Furuya's chosen form allows for flourish in illustration. He does wonders with this. Yozo's idea of "clowning" is evolved into a concept of a clown-puppet and there are times when Yozo's fear of humans + personal shame + detachment activate a portrayal of Yozo as ball-jointed marionette, complete with strings stretching from his wrists and elbows and shoulders up into the black nothingness above him. There are times when his eyes are shown completely white, as if unpainted. Or hollow, with no eye-ball whatsoever, as when we see the clown-puppet breaking apart underwater during the suicide attempt. There are also a couple choice panels where we see humans from Yozo's perspective, with faces contorted like the classic Munch painting. And while Dazai's novel spent a good amount of time discussing Yozo's childhood paintings of the horrors he sees in mankind, Furuya limits these illustrations to a single example: Yozo's interpretation of his father's face.

(It's quite odd and unsettling to have written so much about this volume when I kinda-sorta refuse to review the novel proper. I think my belief is that I hold Dazai's opus in such high esteem that my filthy words can only sully its holiness.)

[LG (A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions) · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is technically the first volume of a manga adaptation of Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human. However, in reality it’s more like a work inspired by Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human. It has a lot of the same characters and a lot of the same events, but also enough important changes that the impact of certain familiar scenes and characters is completely different. I’m not sure how I feel about that.

The volume begins with Usamaru Furuya as a character in his own manga. He’s trying, and failing, to think up an idea for his next serial when he suddenly gets an anonymous email pointing him to an online “ouch diary.” The website contains three images: one of 6-year-old Yozo posing with his family while wearing a wide fake smile; one of Yozo at age 25, his expression lifeless and worn down; and one of Yozo at age 17, cool and handsome. Furuya proceeds to read the diary that goes with those images, to learn how Yozo fell so far so quickly.

Then readers get the story of Yozo’s life, starting with a few pages showing him as a child and middle school student, behaving like a class clown in order to get people to like him. The story quickly progresses into Yozo’s high school years, when he is befriended by Horiki, who Yozo believes is truly what he has spent his life pretending to be, a friendly and shiftless clown. Although Yozo starts off with everything in life handed to him on a silver platter, things rapidly fall apart, and the volume ends with Yozo’s first suicide attempt (I’m assuming the manga will include the next one).

When I reviewed Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human, I said that the beginning of the book, which dealt with Yozo’s childhood, worked best for me. Furuya opted to either skip most of that or include it as vague flashbacks. I thought, at first, that I’d be okay with this, until I realized that it really changed the overall tone. In the book, Yozo started off as a child who couldn’t empathize with others, had trouble figuring out what other people were thinking and why they acted the way they acted the way they did, and was terrified that people would see through his desperate attempts to fit in. The manga wasn’t as successful at setting the stage, and so high school Yozo was even more insufferable. Readers basically only saw Yozo at his absolute worst, looking down on everyone around him, drinking, skipping class, and paying for sex and doing his very best to not get to know the women he had sex with as actual people.

A few things I should add, at this point. First, Furuya aged Yozo down a bit. I don’t think Yozo met Horiki until college in the book, whereas in the manga they became friends during high school (with Yozo, the word "friend" can be assumed to mean nothing more than "acquaintance with whom he spends time"). Also, unlike the book, which alluded to sex but never mentioned anything in detail, there is quite a bit of on-page sex in the manga. One scene in particular did a good job of getting across the kind of guy Yozo was: he found himself distracted by thoughts of something a friend from school told him while he was having sex with a girl who’d just told him she wanted him to be her boyfriend. Then he couldn’t understand why she was so upset with him. I don’t know that the other sex scenes (four, total) were strictly necessary, though.

Now, back to the story/character changes. Another thing Furuya did was add a bit more to the plot. In the book, Yozo hung out with Marxists and took part in meaningless (to him) meetings and activities. The work annoyed him, but he stayed with the group because he couldn’t quite figure out how to leave and because others expected him to do things. In the manga, Yozo actually kind of liked being involved with the Japan United Labor Association, although he looked down on its members. He gradually realized that they wereplanning terrorist activities, and he might have become even further involved if it hadn’t been for an incident involving a jealous boyfriend.

Furuya also ascribed emotions to Yozo that I’m not really sure he actually felt in the original book. For example, in the manga Yozo indicated that he actually cared about Ageha (I can’t remember if that was her name in the novel, too). I don’t know that the Yozo of the original novel truly cared about a single person, especially enough to admit it to himself. He cared about how people made him see himself, and that was pretty much it.

This was a funhouse mirror sort of adaptation, although the end result was still largely “miserable people doing self-destructive things." I’ll read the next volume because I already have it on hand, but I doubt I’ll be putting in an ILL request for the third and final volume.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

[voiceofmadness · Rating 3 out of 5]

A disturbing trilogy that follows a young man who cannot feel empathy. He struggles with connecting to people and forming lasting bonds. The main character uses women throughout the story in order to survive. Ultimately, things always fall apart because of his inability to feel empathy, accompanied by his own ego. Everything revolves around him, instead of the others in his life who are effected by the bad choices he makes. He just gives up and moves on when things get hard or uncomfortable. It's a frighting tale because I feel that it ultimately serves as a warning to others, to not follow his path and to be kind to those who help you.

[Daria Bezzub · Rating 5 out of 5]

Купуючи перший том манги, я не звернула увагу, що це адаптація однойменного твору Осаму Дадзая. І вже тільки вибравши читати цей том на челендж від Rork, нарешті звернула увагу і дуже зраділа. Я знайома із твором пана Дадзая із іншою назвою "Бракована людина", тому спочатку не поєднала ці дві назви.

Осаму Дадзай неординарна особистість. Неодноразово він вчиняв спроби самогубства і остання призвела до "успіху". Приймав участь у комуністичній партії і був заарештований; під час другої світової війни двічі втрачав домівку; був одружений на гейші і мав із нею дітей; у 38 років скоїв подвійне самогубство із іншою жікою.

Манга "Крах людини" - автобіаграфічна робота. Повість передостання в бібліографії автора. Я вже була знайома з біографією автора, але прочитання манги зовсім не зіпсувало враження, а більше доповнило їх. Емоції і думки автора, причини і наслідки, що призвели до такої розв'язки - це все ти аідчуваєш читаючи цю мангу. Всього планується три томи манги, що і покриють цю історію. Перший том закінчується на першій подвійній спробі самогубства, де головний герой виживає, а жінка з якою він це зробив - ні. Як на мене то, потужне завершення першого тому.

Усамару Фуруя - це мангака, що адаптував повість пана Дадзая і осучанив її. Він на початку і сам предестає перед нами героєм сюжету, що знаходить щоденник головного героя Йодзо Ооби, де і розповідається історія. Повість написана у 1948 році, і мангака доволі чудово вписав в сюжет смартфони і комп'ютери осучаснив історію і дав пояснення чому цих речей у головного героя - немає.

Малюнок мені сподобався, є щось в ньому гнітюче. Деякі фрейми чудово передають атмосферу, обличчя героїв наче трохи спотворене і додає емоційності. Сцени, де присутній секс промальовані дуже похмуро, що натякає на початок краху головного героя, в цьому стилі намальвана і перша спроба самогубства.

Чудова робота, планую зібрати всю серію.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Непоганий початок історії про падіння людини, яка почала цей шлях вже давно. Висвітлення того, що є люди, якими рухає інша мотивація, бажання зрозуміти себе через інших
Відверті сцени сексу, терористичний рух, проституція, бомжування, замах на вбивство не зробили для мене цю мангу цікавою. Читати наступні частини не буду - не бачу для себе сенсу

[ComicBookCult Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[chey · Rating 3 out of 5]

okayyyyy letter box for books

[⋆.˚ Ariana ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀི · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boy had everything but he just had to toss ‘em all away. Mental health’s ill being and depression would do that to you.

[howie · Rating 3 out of 5]

the junji ito version goes much more in depth, but this is still a good version of the story.

[Gambrinous · Rating 2 out of 5]

Furuya pretended to rewrite Dazai's story in modern times. While it is not a bad manga, it is not a good adaptation.

See, Dazai wrote a very sordid novel (for different reasons...). The prose is astonishingly beautiful and it has a great literary value. This book doesn't. It oversimplifies the main character and skips crucial parts of the plot. As a result, some things just don't make any sense. Not to mention the racist undertone in one scene. The only positive thing is the metarreflexive inclusion of the author itself.

If you have the chance, read the original novel instead. And if you really, really want to read a manga adaptation, read Junji Ito's one; it is closer to the original feeling of horror and desesperation that Dazai intented to express.

[Dies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rispetto al romanzo (incentrato sugli inadeguati tentativi di Yozo nel trovare una posizione all'interno del tessuto sociale) si calca la mano sulla psicopatia del protagonista, sorta di alieno fra gli uomini. Il risultato non è affatto disprezzabile; riesce anzi a calare agilmente all'interno del vortice di paura e disistima nei confronti dell'umanità, senza sfociare nella misantropia, focalizzando l'attenzione sull'opprimente assenza di empatia che Yozo incanala in un malessere del tutto personale. Credo che la riuscita del racconto sia dovuta proprio a questa sua dolorosa consapevolezza che buca la pagina e colpisce il lettore allo stomaco. Thumbs up!

[Edward Lebowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tratto dall'omonimo romanzo.
Primo volume.
Angoscia, disperazione, vergogna, schematicità, ripetizioni, sesso, ideologie politiche, annichilimento, suicidio, disagio.

Non vedo l'ora di avere fra le mani il secondo numero.
Prima volta che gli amici japponesi mi incantano e mi fanno addirittura smaniare!

[Kingston Lor · Rating 5 out of 5]

MUST-READ, manga which is modernly adapted which depicts the story of osamu dazai - such a tragic story of a life lived of questioning himself, what does it truly mean to be human? Human nature itself is ugly, disgusting, cruel - these are one of the aspects this manga adaptation explores. A very gripping story that is only 3 volumes, i recommend this very depressing story to others.

[Bogdan Balostin · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[MangUA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Людська цінність — не завжди те, що видно на поверхні. Вона ховається в дрібницях, у боротьбі з самим собою, у самопожертві на благо інших, у здатності долати біль і падіння. Але що, якщо ця цінність поступово руйнується, і людина, здавалося б, ідеальна на вигляд, насправді тоне у власній порожнечі? А що, якщо в когось її й не було ніколи?

«Крах людини» — історія про те, як легко можна загубити себе, навіть коли здається, що все ідеально. Це гіркий портрет людини, яка втрачає своє «Я» в нескінченній спіралі саморуйнації.

Йодзо Ооба — золота дитина. Народжений у заможній сім’ї, надзвичайно вродливий, розумний і вихований хлопець. Його обожнюють учителі, а однокласники прагнуть бути з ним друзями. Ідеальний — комар носа не підточить. Здається, що в нього безтурботне, щасливе життя: жодних проблем, турбот чи негараздів. Та що, якщо це лише ілюзія? Принаймні сам Ооба вважає себе блазнем, який носить безліч масок, ховаючи справжню сутність.

За алкоголем, безладними статевими зв’язками, сумнівами в собі і грою з людськими долями Ооба падає все глибше і глибше. Чуже життя для нього — лише іграшка, з якою можна пограти й викинути, коли набридне. Жінки, яких він обдурив; чоловіки, які йому заздрять; спільноти, в яких він ніколи не стане своїм. Життя, що мало безліч перспектив, перетворилось на тяжкий тягар, а сміливості припинити страждання у Йодзо бракує. Як бракує і сили, щоб виправити все.

Головний герой — боягузливий, ниций та брудний у всіх сенсах. Кожне його слово — повільна отрута, яка неминуче вб’є кожного, хто вжене її у надмірній дозі. Він не викликає співчуття — і це правильно. Ви зневажатимете його, але не більше, ніж він ненавидить самого себе.

«Крах людини» — історія про саморуйнацію, ненависть до себе, безжальність і жорстокість. Розповідь про людину, що народилась із золотою ложкою в роті та чорною душею в тілі. Будь-яка спроба змінитися, стати нормальним, віднайти в собі сили — лише новий виток спіралі, що стрімко веде вниз. І найгірше — ця спіраль затягує з собою всіх, хто мав необережність йому повірити.

Манґа «Крах людини» — витончена та чесна адаптація однойменного твору Осаму Дадзая. Надзвичайно красивий, відвертий і місцями моторошний малюнок передає весь відчай і біль, які відчуває Ооба та його «жертви» протягом усього життя. Ця історія — мов скальпель, що розрізає гнійний нарив: буде огидно, неприємно і боляче, але після завершення стає легше.

На мою думку, цей тайтл повинна прочитати кожна свідома людина. Це своєрідний посібник життя — ось що станеться, якщо дозволити собі впасти на дно. Ось що буде, якщо ви спробуєте врятувати потопельника, який не бажає бути врятованим — він затягне вас із собою.

[の僕にもう言葉はなく、夢みたいにうまく行かずに、静かに待っていた奇跡の上、落ちた、モノクロームの水滴はひどく、冷たく、アルビレオ程気が遠のく 浮かぶ駅までつれていって、たとえばあの夢のように、動くことももうないから、黒い空 蠍座の星は、悲しい程に遠く赤く、そっとつぶやいたあと君が残していった、横顔と · Rating 4 out of 5]

٤.٢٥
يوزو دايم يدور على المثاليه ورضى الناس وحبهم ويقدم حب الناس له على ذاته وحياته
يزيف ذاته الحقيقه في سبيل السمعه ورضى الناس
بس في حالات تكون الذات المزيفه افضل من اظهار الذات الفاسده
عديم الذات دايم يخاف ومايفهم اللي عندهم ذات حقيقيه وي��يشون حياتهم زي الناس ويفهمون وش تعني السعاده بالنسبه لهم
"قضيت السبعة عشرة سنة الماضية احاول ارضاء الناس اكسو وجهي باقنعة النفاق"
مضيعه العمر معناه تزييف الذات في سبيل ارضاء الناس والناس بتتعود على تصرفات ذا الشخص من يوم ما عرفوه واذا صادفو منه تصرف مختلف بيسحبون على امه وبيجحدونه ولا كانهم طبلو له قبل
"رغم انني مرتعب من بني ادم، لكن خيط النفاق الرفيع يجعلني قادرًا على التواصل معهم"
عديم الذات او المنافق ما يقدر يتوصل مع غيره الا اذا زيف ذاته ونافق
يوزو حس انه عاش سنين تكفي انه يمل من حياته ويقتل نفسه بس يلقى نفسه مايبي يموت ولا يبي يعيش وحتى ماعنده هدف معين عشان يكمل حياته عليه او سبب للعيش
لاحظت ان حياه يوزو تحسنت شوي شوي حتى خويه قال له انت عايش بجنه حرفيا
ويوم تزوج يوشينو حياته تحسنت بشكل ملحوظ بس بعدين حياه يوزو انخسفت مره وحده وشيب شعره وطلعت له تجاعيد خفيفه بين حواجبه وذا يفسر ليه ببدايه المانقا كانت له صوره وهو عمره خمسه وعشرين وحالته حاله حتى مو باين عليه انه خمسه وعشرين (يوم تزوج البنت كان عمره ٢١)
اشوف ان الشيء الوحيد اللي خرب يوزو خويه وهو يجره للبنات والمخدرات والادمان والتعاطي
الادمان والتعاطي مايعطونه الا سعاده لحظيه واذا انتهى مفعولهم يرجع لاكتئابه وسلبيته وببساطه بيدمر نفسه وبيجرد نفسه من كونه انسان بشري طبيعي الى متعاطي
بعدين ليش يوشينو متمسكه فيه وهو مختل ومتعاطي ويوم حملت شك فيها شك مب طبيعي
وبخصوص ان يوزو اناني وما يفكر الا بالفلوس ومستعد يسوي المستحيل عشان يشبع رغبته بالفلوس
حرفيا محد وصل يوشينو لحاله انها تقص شعرها الا يوزو ويوشينو كانت تستاهل واحد افضل من يوزو
يوزو مريض نفسي ومتعاطي ومدمن عشان كذا خسر جاذبيته بعمر ٢٥ وحياته كانت جحيم حرفيا ولو نجح بالانتحار ذاك اليوم ما كان عاش جحيم الادمان والتعاطي والكابوس هذا والمعاناه
بنهايه المانقا الولد لقى يوزو مشرد وبحاله يرثى لها وواضح عليه سوء التغذيه وانه عانى لين قال بس

ما توقعت ببدايات المانقا اني بوصل وانا اقرا لكميه السوداويه ذي وتوقعت المانقا بتكون سخيفه وعاديه وبس مضيعه وقت بس ماتوقعت تكون عميقه وسوداويه بشكل
خلصت المانقا بنفس اليوم
❤️

[ayanami · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty solid volume about a depressed teen who feels alienated from the world and believes that he needs to play a role in order to fit in (hello, younger me). I totally related to the main character's feelings of not understanding other people and his whole existential crisis. The story is fast-paced with some intense moments, and the art does what it needs to do. I do feel that everything goes by pretty quickly, I would have liked to delve further into the protagonist's head, as dark a place it would have been... but I would probably have to read Dazai's original work for that (actually, the reason I picked this one up was because I was already interested in the original novel).

[Hilda · Rating 4 out of 5]

All I can say is wow. This version of " no longer human" is was better than Junji Ito version, not that I didn't love that one, but this one is something else.
Don't get me wrong, Junji Ito's version was way more detailed. In this version, no information was given about his childhood. He had a very tough childhood. I'm not going to spoil it, but I can say it's something that makes you want to vanish from this world and cry your eyes out because of how sorry you feel for him. We didn't have that in this one which may be made him sound like a spoiled naggy rich kid ( which HE IS NOT).
Overall I'm looking forward to the 2nd volume.

[Tena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the last time I'll be reading anything that's connected to Osamu Dazai's No longer human. Not because it's bad but because I can't take it. I was left in a fit of shivers upon finishing this and I've never had that reaction before.

I read almost a hundred books each year and never have I felt the despair this clearly. I hate the main character and I hate the story which is precisely why I love the book and Furuya' adaptation. Perhaps I have had this much of a reaction because of my own inability to relate to other human beings, the utter terror I feel at the thought of socialising. Humans are strange to me too.

It doesn't help that the original story consists of every childhood fear I've ever had. Alcohol, smoking, drugs, living on the streets as a result of that, being alone... How close are we all to being Yozo? How close could I be?

Cold shivers.

[Yar ★ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me sorprende que la adaptación de Usamaru sea menos votada que la de Junji Ito; tal vez se debe al prestigio y reconocimiento que este tiene, y Usamaru es menos popular.

En lo personal adoro a Ito, pero la adaptación de Usamaru es tan buena que hasta da escalofrios. Sus dialogos no son exactamente como lo muestra el libro, sino que él lo interpreta y lo plantea en el manga. Por otro lado Ito se apegó bastante al libro original y le dió su toque terrorifico y comico en partes en especifico; parecido a Souichi.

Adoré esta adaptación. Capta totalmente la esencia de Yozo en su lado más oscuro.