Back When You Called Us Devils, Volume 1

Back When You Called Us Devils #1

by Takashi Sano, Kevin Gifford (Translator)

Yusuke Saito is a normal high school kid...well, normal enough, except that he can't remember anything from his life except the last six months. But when he starts to get confronted by people who insist they're from his past, who allege that he did horrible things to them...suddenly Yusuke's missing memories become crucial to remember. Otherwise, the skeletons in his closet may just make him a skeleton, too...

Genres: Manga, Horror, Seinen, Mystery

190 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 9, 2018

Reviews

[Rebecca]

I can't give this any stars because I honestly don't know how I would rate it. Hefty content warnings for bullying, rape, physical abuse, and emotional abuse.

Truly one of the most disturbing things I have read.

[James DeSantis]

Wow it's been awhile since I read a manga this bad. Awful character, nonsensical plot, super emphasis on rape and ultra violence for the sake of it. Just overall a bad manga that doesn't know what tonally it wants to be. But truly it is shit.

[El]

Do not read this book.
This is offensive and disgusting. It actually made me want to throw up.
It's about a 15-year-old guy who forgot his entire life and discovers he was a monster in the past (understand REAL monster: he raped and tortured dozens of people). Then, his former best-friend (and buddy for all the rape and torture) comes along to shake his memories. Indeed the best friend wants to find all the evidence they had of what they did (the filmed the whole thing each time to pressure the victims into not going to the police) but now that the MC doesn't remember where he hid them, they can potentially be used against them.
It was gruesome and disgusting. And even though, TECHNICALLY, our MC thinks over and over how what they did in the past and what they're doing now is wrong, he still laughs all the time and doesn't feel the slightest bit of remorse. And both of them don't seem to be that condemned by the author, it's more like "oh see how awful these two are, that's so funny". No that's not funny and entertaining at all. It's despicable, and I would urge you never to pick this book up.

[Jeanne]

Ignoble.

[Mylez Soucier]

The first few volumes are a lot of nonsensical violence and sexual violence of all kinds. It does pose a lot of really good questions in my opinion and I think has a lot of good dialogue.
Imagine waking up with no memory of your past, however everyone tells you that you used to be a devil who did all sorts of torture and sexual crimes against all kinds of people. The you now could never do anything like this, even if you tried, but your past will always follow you, even if it feels like it wasn’t you that did any of those things. How do you live your life? How do you keep moving forward? And for what purpose do you live?

I didn’t like the ending at first, but after some time I liked it. In the manga they say that no good deed will save him, and God struck him down anyways, but maybe that was his saving and retribution. He couldn’t die even if he tried, until he truly saved someone. I recommend it to anyone looking for a good edgy manga.

[Việt Hùng]

A high schooler had anmensia and were troubled by the people claimed to be the victims of his devilish acts in the past. Since then, he went on a self-rediscovery journey just to find out that he was nothing but an absolute monster.

The manga has two arcs: the first arc when the main character was first got to high school and rediscovered his evil self with the help of his new friends and old victims. The second part revealed his journey to redemn himself after 10 years, because at the end of the first part, he concluded that he must live on as a punishment for his sins.

The mystery involved really attract attention and drive you to find out what had actually happened, and what how thing would turn out if he recover his memory. Was he really a devil? If he was indeed a devil and that evil self was killed, would it be just for the current innocent, bright self to carry all the sins and bad reputation for the rest of his life? The author spent much efforts on building the deep personality of all characters: their hatred, love, pain, and hope for the future.

The second part was also intersting, as it reveals that there were other devils in human society that felt satisfied only on the pains of others. And on top of that, Yusuke - the main character, with the bad reputation and a dark past on him, became the main suspect for the death and sufferings of many people. Was he really the devil that witness no improvement in his soul, or was there a deeper layer to the surface truth?

Another advantage of the manga is that the art seems to get better and better through time.

Honestly, the story was good, but it is not superior compared to other mystery mangas. I personally feel that the story could have developed even more. However, it does not deserve to be called disgusting and to be ignored by other people. I believe that is how seinen genre is, and you might not seen other stuffs that are much more disturbing. Moreover, the bright personality and the will for good deeds of his new self make the story comfortable to follow.

The only thing troubling my mind is how the characters were still the same, even after 10 or 20 years. Yusuke could not find a way for redemption, and the other characters seems to have the same attachment to the past. Please do not get me wrong, I did not overestimate the trauma that the characters had gone through. However, as time flew by, I believe there would be other problems in life that develop their personality when they encoutered again. But they were still the same people, with the same level of attachment and obssession to the problem. And again, no other end for Yusuke (which I found acceptable), but perhaps he could have been saved by some other means, perhaps through religion or so.

[AHCuteArt]

Why did you read this book?
I purchased it on sale and it looked interesting.

What format did you read this book in?
Read the comic on ComiXology app.

Is this an educational book or a book for entertainment?
I read this book for entertainment purposes.

What genres do you think this book belongs to?
Comics, Crime, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Horror, Manga, Mystery, Psychology, Romance, Suspense, Thriller

What was your favorite part in the book?
When it was over.

Who would you suggest this book to?
No one, unless you’re a sadist.

What is your general opinion/ rating of this book? SPOILERS!
This book was HORRIBLE! Basically, it’s about horrible people doing horrible things and trying not to get caught. Honestly, the main character deserves the worst punishment possible, even if he doesn’t remember what he did. He use to play games where he bully, tortured, and raped people. I should have stopped knowing what the book was about… But I ended up finishing it anyway, which I regret. I was discussed by the rape scene in the last chapter of the book. Hell, I disgusted with the whole book in general and I can’t see why anyone would like to read this.

What style of graphic novel is this?
It’s in the Japanese manga style (you need to read the book from right to left).

Is the comic colored or is it in black and white?
This comic is in B&W tone.

What is your opinion on the artwork?
The artwork is heavily penned/toned which gives the manga art a gritty quality. It’s very detailed and well done.

How is the type setting? Is the comic easy to read?
The fonts were great, and it was easy to read.

Is this comic a part of a series?
Yes, I will not be reading the rest of them.

Any trigger warnings?
Mental Health: Scars, Trivializing Mental Illness, Romanticized Mental Illness, Emotional Abuse, Trauma, Confrontation Rapist/Abuser, Nightmares about Traumatic Events, Non-consent behavior
Disabilities: Lifechanging injury, Detailed Medical Talk,
Sexual Content: Explicit Sex Scene, Nudeness, Sexual Predator, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Assault, Dubious Consent, Violent Sex
Violence and Death: Death, Murder, Extreme Violence, Gore, Torture, Mutilation, Escalating Violence, Described Blood, Graphic Violence
Other: Slut Shaming, Body Shaming, Female Oppression, Kidnapping, Hostage Situation, Abortion, Bullying, Profanity

[Storm ↟]

The hole in thats guy's hand pisses me off so much it's stupid and unrealistic. He said he has nerve damage? My friend you have much more things going on there than just nerve damage and since you can move your fingers around you might have invisible bones and tendons as well. It wouldn't bother me that much if it was just there but I swear if I see him looking at another character though his hole one more time I'm gonna lose it.

And why are there so many unnecessary and unfunny jokes in the middle of serious situations? In case you don't know we can handle a serious dialogue, this is a thriller after all, Im here for that. You don't need to put chibi characters on every page! Its distracting, ruins the atmosphere and deffinitely does NOT make a scene more interesting.

The plot is very similar to 'my dearest self with malice' and if it weren't for the things I mentioned I'd probably find it interesting but I just can't take this seriously.

Artstyle: 2/5
Characters: 1/5
Plot: 4/5
Writing: 1/5

[Shaoroun]

I’m gonna review the entire manga here so spoiler warning ahead:

So this manga is comprised of 3 arcs, the high school years where Saito forgets his memories, his adult years, and when his daughter tries to find out what kind of person he was.

I tettered back and forth between liking and disliking the manga. I think the first arc could have been cut out or merged with the second in the form of flashbacks which is commonly used throughout the chapters, giving more of a sense of “is saito really committing these acts or is someone framing him?”. But because the first arc explained how he’d reformed it was obvious from the get go it wouldn’t have been him.

I really appreciated the final arc commenting on people’s prejudices against others based solely on their past rather than their interactions with someone.

[Aaron]

Read all 154 chapters in about a day. I really can’t recommend this book at all. Found myself sick to my stomach after every chapter. The manga delves deep into redemption and punishment. Interesting premise on paper but the plot overshadows the meaning in a negative way. In my opinion it could do without most of the graphic scenery to get its point across. To give it its flowers, the story had me hooked and rooting for yusuke to change and atone for his sins. The story will drown you with sorrow and misery the whole way through, offering only a brief respite at the literal end of the manga. Only read this if you are in a sound state of mind because it will get the better of you.

[Jester, King's Favorite Fool]

Who is rating this higher than three stars? I ignored the low rating because of the interesting premise. My mistake. Heed the low ratings. 2.5 stars, generously rounded to three. There isn't much I like about the manga, but there are many things I hate about it. I really don't understand why Yusuke's "friend" is so keen on having him regain his memory. I know it is explained, but it's just ridiculous. And a hole in the palm of that size with working fingers is just unrealistic.

Note: Using new rating system starting 2025.

[Eros]

As messed up as this sounds, I did enjoy this manga to SOME extent. I do agree that the amount of rape, torture, etc. is disgusting and honestly not even needed. BUT the concept is interesting, I’m not fully done with the manga but honestly it is a very interesting read. It just makes you think and wonder on how the manga will end. I personally wouldn’t recommend it though becuase the amount of rape, sa, and torture is insane, but if you can mentally take it then yea you should. It’s a very interesting concept.

[Mavis Lee]

This was not bad. (I’ve only made this review like ages after I’ve read it so I kinda had forgotten about the plot) but I remember it being not too bad and it was about the boy dealing with guilt and forgetting who he was. It was a great manga but again it was very deep and very depressing and slightly slow. But nonetheless it was a decent read !

[prollybusyreading]

i read the other reviews and i can feel that people dont really appreciate all the dark themes in this manga. i have personally read so much worse things that these felt like a walk in the park. i just didn't like the male lead's attitude towards the things he had apprently done in the past.

[Mina ☾]

The feeling I got when I was reading this book was ''it is a 5 stars'' however upon further analysis and because I was a bit chocked with the hardcore things that were brought in this story (various trigger alerts) I decided to bring down the rating a bit to 4.5 stars;

[Pam Z (Pam's Shenanigans)]

pretty sick concept with just as sick (the bad kind) characters. made me want to read volume 2 because of the intrigue.

[Snail]

Nooope.

[Oni 媛馨]

Just dont read it, believe the comments

[scarlettraces]

OTT and not in that good way. One assumes some kind of fakeout and/or redemption arc? But I really did not want to take the train ride to get there.

[Annie O’HALLORAN]

I feel queasy after reading. It takes a lot to disturb me and I’m disturbed. It’s a no. Nope.

[kina ♡]

evoked a similar feeling in me as "a clockwork orange" - disturbing but i really liked the moral quandary at the root of the series

[spinach]

what is ts 💔💔💔💔

[Satta]

3.5