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De la creatividad retorcida de Shintaro Kago nace una avalancha de historias raras, misteriosas y sombrías en la frontera entre la cordura y la demencia.
Yukie Sakai es una joven alegre que cuida a personas mayores. Lo que parece rutina se convierte en una serie de aventuras surrealistas que ponen a prueba su ingenio. En uno de los relatos de este volumen ella asume la tarea de cuidar sola a tres ancianas, pero cada día aparecen más y más personas mayores, hasta que se hace el caos. Luego descubrirá que otro cliente con senilidad del que se hace cargo tiene poderes sobrenaturales que podrían provocar el fin del mundo y también tendrá que pelear contra unas dentaduras postizas empeñadas en controlar las mentes de los ancianos.
Una serie de historias llenas de humor negro que a primera vista parecen ser solo entretenimiento, pero que tratan también problemáticas sociales, relacionados en esta ocasión, con la tercera edad.

Traducción: Víctor Illera Kanaya
Medidas: 170×240 milímetros
Encuadernación: Rústica con solapas. Cosido.

296 pages, Paperback

First published June 8, 2011

71 people are currently reading
1686 people want to read

About the author

Shintaro Kago

143 books348 followers
Kago Shintarō ( 駕籠真太郎) is a Japanese illustrator and manga artist. Kano was born in Tokyo in 1969. He debuted in 1988 on the magazine COMIC BOX. Since then his comics, usually short stories, have been published in several adult manga magazines, gaining him considerable popularity around the world.
Kago specialises in ero-guro, a Japanese visual genre that puts its focus on eroticism, sexual corruption, and grotesque body horror. Many of Kago's manga have strongly satirical overtones, and deal with grotesque subjects such as extreme sex, scatology and body modification. His unique style has been called "fashionable paranoia".

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5 stars
442 (36%)
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529 (43%)
3 stars
199 (16%)
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39 (3%)
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10 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 187 reviews
Profile Image for Talie.
328 reviews49 followers
October 14, 2023
کمک پرستار سالمندان با دهشت‌های پیری مواجه می‌شود. چروک‌هایی که کل شهر را می‌گیرند، دندان‌های مصنوعی که بدن‌ها را تسخیر می‌کنند، چروک‌هایی که اشیا و آدم‌ها در آن گم می‌شوند و به بدن‌های چروک دیگر راه دارد. تم‌ اصلی بدن‌های پیری است که همه می‌خواهند از دستشان خلاص شوند. تم دیگر کمک پرستاری است که برای گرفتن نمر‌ه‌ی بالاتر باید کارهای طاقت فرسا انجام دهد. طنز تلخ و انتقادی کتاب محشر است. آرت‌ش هم  با سادگی و کارایی اید‌ه‌های محشرش را همراهی می‌کرد.

Profile Image for Stewart Tame.
2,476 reviews120 followers
December 19, 2019
Weird. But it's a good weird.

Yukie Sakai works for Green Net, a company that provides in-home elder care. Most stories begin with her being assigned a new job caring for some senior citizen, but really everything is just an excuse for Kago to unleash his ferocious visual imagination. Perhaps there will be a plague of wrinkles, or maybe Yukie’s charges will multiply when she isn't looking. Then there's the senior version of Ultraman. And the pachinko episode … Surrealism, comedy (mostly of the black variety), horror, SF … all are grist for Kago’s mill.

The book also includes an interview with the artist, but it's disappointingly brief. Basically, he prefers to let his work speak for itself. The interview is accompanied by some stunning illustrations, though.

“End Volume One” appears at the end of the final story, which implies more of this glorious insanity in the future. I, for one, am looking forward to it. Highly recommended!
Profile Image for Melina Souza.
357 reviews1,970 followers
April 20, 2020
Que livro louco!
A protagonista se chama Yukie Sakai e trabalha em uma empresa especializada em cuidado com idosos. Após se destacar como a mais bem avaliada pelos clientes, uma de suas colegas resolve dificultar as coisas pra ela.
Yukie se vê em casas com situações extremamente bizarras e perturbadoras a cada novo idoso que é designada a cuidar.
Esse primeiro volume é composto por 17 histórias curtas.

A editora Todavia fez um ótimo trabalho com essa edição. Espero que traga mais títulos desse autor e outros mangás/quadrinhos para o seu catálogo :)
Profile Image for Eric.
188 reviews10 followers
December 8, 2018
What a weird concept that is incredibly executed. A series of dangerous and surprising episodes of a senior home-care provider. Definitely for the fans of the bizarre and uncomfortable style of Japanese psychological horror.
Profile Image for Zai Zai.
810 reviews18 followers
September 12, 2024
This is beautifully unhinged and, oftentimes, hilarious. The concepts here are lowkey super creative and unique. Huge potential for thievery hahaha
Profile Image for Rod Brown.
7,362 reviews282 followers
November 1, 2018
Sick day! Chest cold and laryngitis. Time to rest, read, and review.

Hard working home health aide Yukie Sakai is the protagonist of this odd collection of satirical horror stories featuring senior citizens. Each story starts with Yukie meeting a new client. Things escalate as bizarre scenarios involving body horror, super powers and even aliens are introduced. And when each scenario has been escalated to an over-the-top point of absdurdity, the story ends without dealing with any of the many, many consequences that would ordinarily have to be dealt with. Turn the page, watch Yukie meet a new client, and repeat.

Sure some social and political issues are addressed, but in the end this is just weirdness for weirdness' sake.
Profile Image for Maggie Siebert.
Author 3 books284 followers
April 19, 2020
fantastic art and some really great writing. a lot funnier than i was expecting too
Profile Image for Link.
116 reviews8 followers
March 17, 2024
Good weird is all I can describe it as
Profile Image for Arthur Marchetto.
67 reviews23 followers
July 27, 2025
Mangá esquisito e engraçado que aborda as violências sofridas pela população idosa nas situações mais absurdas e surreais possíveis, desde uma mulher com demência com poderes de explodir tudo aquilo que esquece até o concursos nacionais em suas mais variadas formas.

É um tipo de narrativa muito peculiar, que une uma trama crítica, com uma representação corporal grotesca e um humor estranho em capitulos curtos que retratam a rotina de uma cuidadora.

Por ser episódica, tem capítulos irregulares, mas é interessante.
Profile Image for Chris.
107 reviews10 followers
November 12, 2018
amazing as always. hope to see more of these officially translated in the future
Profile Image for Andre.
53 reviews2 followers
June 18, 2020
Shintaro tem um algo grotesco e incoerente, incomum e avesso à visão de mundo ocidental. Leitura totalmente fora da caixa, para abstrair quaisquer perspectivas anteriores de mangás.
Prepare-se para lidar com o absurdo em todos os níveis, imagináveis ou não.
Profile Image for Chloe.
127 reviews8 followers
October 11, 2025
I am conflicted on my feelings on this series so far! I liked some of the stories but some were just too weird!
Profile Image for Timothy Bakita.
42 reviews
July 2, 2022
I think many people are introduced to Kago Shintaro's work because of the curiosity of finding more dark and scary stories akin to Ito Junji. I actually don't feel they're similar at all aside from being categorically "mature." While Kago's more notorious works are focused on gore and shock, Dementia 21 is not that. Sure, there's some gruesome art and surreal imagery. Honestly, though, I was surprised at the times I laughed out loud (which I feel is hard for me to do while reading).

While each chapter wraps up it's own arc, the overarching story follows Yukie as she strives to be the best at elderly care. While she has very little character, she is usually the stand-in for the audience as she helps these elderly people and gets tangled in weird situations. All of these situations revolve around some type of concept or concern of elderly people.
Fear of wrinkles that consumes people and things.
Not being able to drive but finding roads of bad driver.
Finding a good retirement home even if it means a battle royale.
Demented dentures...yea....
Really simple concepts but with a bizarre twist.

This is definitely not for everyone. It's not even really something for some. Really only those with eclectic tastes for the strange, borderline disturbing, and occasionally absurd would truly enjoy this.
Profile Image for Erika Neves.
125 reviews3 followers
May 9, 2021
Esse já foi um dos mangás mais loucos e bizarros que eu já li em toda minha vida. E olha que eu sou fã de Junji Ito.

A história acompanha as aventuras de Yukie Sakai, uma jovem cuidadora de idosos, que ao lidar com seus clientes se vê enfrentando os mais diversos e insanos desafios como idosos que se multiplicam, são alienígenas gigantes ou controlados por dentaduras.

E em meio a essa insanidade, o autor Shintaro Kago vai tecendo severas críticas à sociedade japonesa. O cardápio de absurdos é tão grande que em determinadas histórias eu simplesmente gargalhei sem conseguir parar. Achei um pouco parecido com Junji Ito, mas ao contrário dele, as histórias não são tão violentas e perturbadoras. Bem algumas são, principalmente se, como eu, vc sofrer de tripofobia.

Deixando claro que o limite para o grotesco simplesmente não existe Dementia 21 é recomendado pra todos que amam uma bizarrice sem o menor sentido.
Profile Image for Ostrava.
909 reviews22 followers
December 1, 2022
Dementia 21 is a very original concept executed very well. A lot of these issues are horror comedy masterpieces, most of them are at the very least great. That is quite the feat!

I’m not sure what I expected, maybe something derivative of Ito, but this to me is more lynchian in nature. Lynch of course couldn’t be more different from this manga, but both share a love for unique concepts and situations as the driving motor for their surrealism. Lynch also has more emotional texture and depth, but that’s okay. What this manga lacks in emotional gut punches, it makes it up through hilarious jokes. And hell, sometimes it even goes for a bit of satire too! But the distance the author keeps makes it always hard to pin up its meaning. It discourages easy and digestible readings.

To me this was an instant winner. A dissatisfying ending aside (my onliest real nitpick), the manga is a masterpiece.
Profile Image for Wombo Combo.
574 reviews13 followers
December 15, 2018
This was an excellent dark, absurdist comedy. This is a collection of stories about a woman who cares for the elderly and gets sucked into bizarre scenarios. For instance, one elderly woman causes anything she forgets to stop existing. One elderly man causes time to loop because of a manga he drew. One elderly superhero our protagonist is tasked with taking care of ends up meeting up with a bunch of aliens who are his old villains. All the stories have crazy premises, which I love. I saw one review which called this a psychological horror, which I don't agree with. There's an obvious Junji Ito influence, but I really don't believe this book is trying to scare the reader. Really, I feel like calling this a mix between Junji Ito's work and Monty Python sums it up pretty well. It's really goofy and it's really good.
Profile Image for donna_lebowski.
56 reviews1 follower
February 25, 2021
Ohhh finalmente ci hanno portato anche Dementia 21 in Italia.
E per giunta con entrambi i volumi in uno.

Shintaro ci - rallegra - ancora una volta con il suo linguaggio paradossale e inquietante.

Stavolta, la protagonista è Yukei Sakai, una giovanissima assistente sociale che nel corso della sua esperienza
lavorativa sarà sottoposta ad un serie di disavventure tutt'altro che ordinarie.

Alle prese con la cura di anziani, verrà risucchiata in scenari insoliti e del tutto grotteschi.

17 racconti imprevebili e un'intervista di sorta, dove niente si scopre in più di Shintaro.
Anzi si conferma quanto di più riservato e determinato ci possa essere nel suo genio.
Profile Image for Shazia.
269 reviews14 followers
August 14, 2022
dementia 21 is a collection of comics that center around home aide yukie sakai and her various clients, each one more creepy and bizarre than the last.

i don't read a ton of manga but when i do, it tends to be horror. some of the stories in this collection gave me junji ito vibes, and there's definitely some dark humor in some of the stories which i was not expecting at all, given that i went into this without knowing what it was about.

a definite recommendation to people who enjoy horror manga, and even for people who haven't read read a lot of manga but want to get into it.
Profile Image for daph pink ♡ .
1,301 reviews3,281 followers
February 5, 2024
A home care helper who assists old individuals who are unaware of how strange things might get is the subject of the incredibly weird manga Dementia 21.
I find the artwork to be rather appealing because it is so detailed. Since each chapter is a storyline in and of itself, there isn't really a plot, but I believe this is a manga that places a greater emphasis on the artwork than the story.
Profile Image for Ondřej Halíř.
386 reviews18 followers
April 15, 2021
Skvělý surrealismus tak jak ho japonci umí nejlépe. Pokud máte rádi Junji Ita a chcete bizarnost z prostředí důchodců a holky co se o ně stará a zajímá vás útok protéz či Battle Roayal s důchodci o ubytování v důchoďáku zadarmo, tak do toho !!!
Profile Image for insert-a-snoopy.
182 reviews16 followers
January 23, 2024
I’m familiar with Shintaro Kago’s ero-gore artwork and I was intrigued when I saw he made a manga with an interesting premise of a young help aid working in a wonderland/ nightmare sort of conditions.

Although good, it does become a little monotonous in its central theme, Kago’s satirical and absurd take on elderly care or lack-of. The artwork is also just fine, which is a let down since the quality of Kago’s older artwork was one-of-a-kind in level of stylistic detail and shock value. 3.5 ⭐️
Profile Image for nika.
62 reviews
January 22, 2023
várias histórias engraçadinhas de terror surrealista sobre uma cuidadora de idosos disposta a fazer qualquer coisa pra conseguir avaliações positivas no trabalho, alguns capítulos muito bons e outros nem tanto. apesar das comparações com junji ito não achei os autores tão parecidos assim.
Profile Image for MargReadsManga.
558 reviews82 followers
October 20, 2025
DNF’d at page 245 of 290… I don’t know why I didn’t like this as much as I think I should have. I kept checking to see how much longer does this go on. I’m not sure if I’ll pick it up again to finish it. There are other things I’d much rather read right now.
Profile Image for Enoch Troglin.
10 reviews1 follower
June 6, 2024
ros rec #2! this one was super cool, too. first of all- the art is so well done. second of all- absolutely insane concepts. had me wondering how kago thought of these things. no matter the answer, it had me thinking about these things, too. I don't think I've ever read a manga that was set up in this way, either. it made it more digestible. I'd say my official rating is 4.5 stars because while I didn't care for all of the stories, I did care for considerably more than I didn't. plus- the art. the covers, the dividers, the colored ones in the back. masterful. anyway, I hope yukie catches a break sometime.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 187 reviews

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