Ie, un liceale che sogna di diventare un pittore, viene rapito mentre sta tornando a casa con l'amico Kazu e, al suo risveglio, si ritrova all'interno di una struttura in cui, come in un girone infernale, gli esseri umani vengono trasformati in cibo. Ma chi c'è dietro a tutte quelle atrocità? Ha inizio un survival horror in cui è in gioco la sopravvivenza del genere umano... Ryuzo Kiryu, medico creatore del gruppo della Bonaccia Serale, la squadra addetta al mantenimento dell'ordine pubblico nella struttura, ha inviato dei sicari alla ricerca di Ie e gli altri. Questi ultimi, catturati da uomini mutanti che hanno ottenuto particolari capacità grazie a operazioni chirurgiche proibite, si troveranno ben presto sul lettino operatorio di Kiryu. Sta per avere inizio un agghiacciante esperimento su cavie umane...
This manga is absolutely crazy and the gore is extremely absurd. Too much assault on the heart and imagination. What dark places does one has to go to conjure up such horrid,hopeless,cold imaginations? I don't want to know.
Very interesting snippets from Yamabiki's past and cool fighting scene with Natsune. This volume makes the experiments from the previous instalment seem like child's play.
I’e and his friend Kazu are taking the bus home from high school just like any other day. After they mysteriously pass out while aboard the bus, they wake up in a new bus full of dead bodies which are being transported into an underground facility utilizing butchered human meat for stomach-churning purposes. The place is run by dangerously powerful people serving an even more terrifying master.
Aligning themselves with other survivors, I’e and his new companions make it their mission to break out alive while being confronted with one nightmare after the other within the demonic facility. The truth of what’s truly going on underground is even more awful than they’re prepared to handle, however.
Starving Anonymous starts off as a pure gross-out gore manga, but progresses into an insane science fiction psychological thriller with some genuinely fascinating characters and surprisingly emotional moments. Even through its weaker plot elements, the series keeps up a constant momentum of explicit horror, brutal action and bizarro nightmare fuel.
The villains are chilling, but the heroes aren’t exactly right in the head either. The two leading men Natsune and Yamabiki who support I’e with his escape are extremely disturbed while still being empathetic and very interesting. Natsume is a monstrous combat expert with a childlike understanding of the world while Yamabiki is a deranged genius whose morbid fascination with science often overrides his morality. The relationship between these crazy guys is what really brings the mystery, thrills and tension of the story to their full potential.
There’s a few moments where the logic behind the facility and the reasoning behind the strange world-building is a bit iffy, but the ridiculousness of the plot and the strong character work is solid enough to make up for its shortcomings. There’s some harsh commentary about global warming, treatment toward livestock for meat consumption and the increase of health problems in the modern world due to the way our environment is treated and the garbage that’s put in our food every day.
The finale is also surprisingly emotional and satisfying, being ambiguous enough to leave some of the darker themes up to the imagination.
POPKULTUROWY KOCIOŁEK: Czwarta odsłona serii to nic innego jak kolejna porcja mocnych wrażeń i przerażających scen. Autor łączu tu gore, thriller psychologiczny i science fiction w spójną całość. Ten tom pozwala ponadto głębiej poznać postacie i ich motywacje.
Poznajemy tu między innymi lepiej profesora Kiriyû i jego powiązania z Yamabikim. Retrospekcje ukazują przeszłość obu bohaterów. Dzięki temu dowiadujemy się, skąd bierze się ich obsesja na punkcie eksperymentów. Profesor Kiriyû wyjawia również nazwę ośrodka, gdzie rozgrywa się cała akcja. To odkrycie wprowadza nowe napięcie i wyjaśnia, jak powstały istoty zniewalające ludzi.
Natsune w tym tomie ratuje przyjaciół w dramatycznym momencie. Choć nie ratuje ich od śmierci, chroni przed jeszcze gorszym losem. Jego działania dodają napięcia, a jednocześnie pokazują złożoność moralną bohaterów. Sceny te łączą akcję, horror i tajemnicę, zwiększając emocjonalne zaangażowanie czytelnika.
Duża część tomu poświęcona jest wspomnianej retrospekcji. Historia jest przez to dłuższa niż w poprzednich tomach i momentami trochę zbyt przewidywalna. Mimo to pozwala lepiej zrozumieć psychikę postaci i ich motywacje....
It just gets better with every volume! In this one we get an official name for the experiments going on in the facility I’e and acquaintances are stuck in named “The Cradle.” We also get a little backstory into how Yamabiki and Kiriyu came to be who they are, which is great but I do wish we had a little more insight into I’e’s old life since he seems to be the main character. Maybes there’s more build up to that, so I’m excited to see what lays ahead!!
Ie è stato catturato e sta per finire sotto i ferri del dottor Kiryu. L’uomo modifica gli esseri umani in dei mostri dalle abilità spaventose... Ie cerca di fermarlo, ma in realtà sarà l’intervento a sorpresa di Natsume e Yamabiki a salvare lui e gli altri. In questo frangente si scoprirà anche che Yamabiki conosce il dottor Kiryu e anzi è stato il ragazzo a far finire li quell’uomo, distruggendogli la carriera... Non dico altro se non che questo flashback che occupa metà volume è davvero molto bello. Anche se raccontato dal dottore vediamo e capiamo un pochino il comportamento di Yamabiki e la sua genialità. Si trattano temi di genetica e della sua modifica per creare esseri umani, in maniera attuale e che fa un filo riflettere visto che è un tema discusso dall'opinione pubblica oltre che dalla comunità scientifica. Mi piace molto come questo manga affronti molti temi diversi senza essere banale o dando risposte, quanto più degli spunti di riflessione... A parte ciò ho adorato Yamabiki e voglio capire di più su di lui. Anche il mistero degli esseri giganti sembra essere svelato, ma non ne sono sicura... Siamo a metà della serie e sono curiosa di vedere come andrà a finire.
I figured yamabiki had to have some kinda messed up back story and now I know. Right now the only normal character is Ie but I still find them all interesting.
Even after finishing this series I'm.......still not entirely sure what I read.
Gross. So gross. And weird. But also kind of fun? It's definitely not going to be for everyone, but if you enjoy Junji Ito's work this might be for you.