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MPD Psycho #9
MPD Psycho, Volume 9
As the mysteries surrounding the devious Gakuso Society and the "eyeball murderers" continue to unravel, multiple personality detective Kazuhiko Amamiya seems to have returned from the grave, taking control of the Nishizono clone! Or is this just a ploy for young Tetora to negotiate his release and go off on another killing spree? The thickest MPD-Psycho volume yet brings us over two hundred pages of colorful characters, bizarre deaths, and horrific twists and turns. Lucy Monostone's descendant, a former Gakuso scientist who has a strange, mystical power over people's minds, joins the Isono Criminal Research staff, enraging the bitter, bumbling police detective Sasayama but perhaps providing clues that Sasayama needs to solve the new "angel cult" murders. With its main characters evolving - for better or worse - and new faces coming to the forefront, this inventive manga series continues to earn its reputation as one of the most controversial, violent, and engaging modern crime sagas.
232 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2003
3 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
Eiji Otsuka
363 books143 followers大塚英志
Social anthropologist and novelist. Graduated from college with degree in anthropology, women's folklore, human sacrifice and post-war manga. In addition to his work with manga he is a critic, essayist, and author of several successful non-fiction books on Japanese popular and “otaku” sub-cultures. One of his first animation script works was Maho no Rouge Lipstick, an adult lolicon OVA. Otsuka was the editor for the bishojo lolicon manga series Petit Apple Pie.
In the 80s, Otsuka was editor-in-chief of Manga Burikko, a leading women's manga magazine where he pioneered research on the “otaku” sub-culture in modern Japan. In 1988 he published "Manga no Koro" (The Structure of Comics), a serious study of Japanese comics and their social significance. Also as critic, Otsuka Eiji, summarized the case of the Japanese red army's 1972 murders as a conflict between the masculine and the feminine principles as they were both embodied by women and against women (Otsuka,1994).
Social anthropologist and novelist. Graduated from college with degree in anthropology, women's folklore, human sacrifice and post-war manga. In addition to his work with manga he is a critic, essayist, and author of several successful non-fiction books on Japanese popular and “otaku” sub-cultures. One of his first animation script works was Maho no Rouge Lipstick, an adult lolicon OVA. Otsuka was the editor for the bishojo lolicon manga series Petit Apple Pie.
In the 80s, Otsuka was editor-in-chief of Manga Burikko, a leading women's manga magazine where he pioneered research on the “otaku” sub-culture in modern Japan. In 1988 he published "Manga no Koro" (The Structure of Comics), a serious study of Japanese comics and their social significance. Also as critic, Otsuka Eiji, summarized the case of the Japanese red army's 1972 murders as a conflict between the masculine and the feminine principles as they were both embodied by women and against women (Otsuka,1994).
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 21, 2018
In other hottest trends: the Amamiya craze continues to spread! Special offer: join the cult NOW for half the usual price!! We now skip the torture and get straight to the killing blow/shot!!!
October 17, 2009
I really have very little idea what is going on in this story. Everyone is everyone else, and there's more than one of most of them, and to be honest, even if there wasn't I'd have trouble keeping everyone straight. Still, they're super great - weird and violent and weird. Good stuff.
July 31, 2013
OK, this volume is a little more controlled than the previous one, at least as far as the humor is concerned. When it comes to the SF/Fantasy elements, though, this volume reaches a new high. There just comes a point in this series where it loses all realism despite how it strives to have realistic depictions of every dead body. There is this running theme of the cult surrounding a personality from the 1960's/1970's that barely holds these 9 volumes together (well, 10, since I have read the next one also) and the only way it could last this long is to concoct crazier and crazier conspiracy theories. To a degree, I don't mind the shift in lead character from our MPD detective to Tetora ... but I do need to know where he's gotten all his information.
And see, maybe that's the subconscious level of why this series is just not doing it for me as much as it should. We have gone from having a character who is trying to figure things out (actually, every character trying to figure things out) to having almost every character except our bumbling fool Sasayama know a great deal of what's happening and work accordingly with very little explanation. We also lost one of the big storylines from the first 4 volumes - the MPD detective's past and what actually happened - after volume 6. It wasn't resolved, it just vanished.
It's almost as if by continuing to make things crazier, Otsuka is trying to hide the fact that there is a very simple story being told. I just wish the simpler story could have been told fully.
And see, maybe that's the subconscious level of why this series is just not doing it for me as much as it should. We have gone from having a character who is trying to figure things out (actually, every character trying to figure things out) to having almost every character except our bumbling fool Sasayama know a great deal of what's happening and work accordingly with very little explanation. We also lost one of the big storylines from the first 4 volumes - the MPD detective's past and what actually happened - after volume 6. It wasn't resolved, it just vanished.
It's almost as if by continuing to make things crazier, Otsuka is trying to hide the fact that there is a very simple story being told. I just wish the simpler story could have been told fully.
November 9, 2012
MPD Psycho = favorite manga of the moment, serial killers and personality disorders. The best volume yet The artwork..the artwork is great, one of the few mangas that actually has Japanese citizens looking Japanese! (seriously,this one is rare) Mind games, Machiavellian methods, and mass murders. If you found either of these titles interesting, you might want to also try out the other one since both involve unorthodox detectives hunting down serial killers. However, MPD Psycho is definitely not for the faint of heart with its sexual imagery, explicitly gory death scenes, and mentally unstable characters
March 12, 2015
I have such mixed feelings about this series. I liked this volume better than the last, as it started to pull together some of the threads, and it almost started to make sense. On the other hand, I feel like there is a lot of false complexity, i.e. the author is trying to imply that the situation is very complicated with layers and layers of conspiracy, and different characters all seeming to know things, except of course the one bumbling detective, but there isn't any real structure to it all. He's just throwing around a lot of implications, and surprise reveals, and figuring we'll all make up the grand story ourselves. One more volume to go.
June 20, 2016
Another great volume and finally (maybe because I'm just slow catching up) I got my answer about Miwa. Everything finally seems clear to me except for who exactly was Lucy Monostone and why people try to revive his soul. Another intrigue is about Machi who's working under Minister for some time now. Spotlight changed to Sasayama so we can't avoid "comical" moments but with him I'm kinda used to it already. 5 out of 5 easily.
October 13, 2012
After the dismal 8th volume my hopes were high for the last 2 I own. This one did not disappoint. New twists, a deepening mystery and all the gore and grue to satisfy 20 Lucio Fulci movies. This has given me hope for the rest of the series!
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July 29, 2011The best volume yet. Shame that Dark Horse seems to have decided not to publish the rest of this.
February 28, 2019
** Amazing and NOT for the faint at heart **
Eiji Otsuka's MPD Psycho is one of the most brutally bloodiest, psychologically dark, mind fucked mangas I have ever read. The complex array of socially dysfunctional psychopaths committing brutally creative, straightforward morbid homicides borderline erotic and disturbing at times left on mark on me while reading this series for nearly 5 years.
The art fresh with simple clean lines, macabre to say the least, hypnotized me with detailed expressions and backgrounds. That said, the illustrator kept most of the cast true to the Japanese background, a rare feat in today's mangas.
The plot felt realistic to a certain degree when excluding the Lucy Monostone ensemble (especially in the finale). There isn't much comedy as it is very dry, with no useless characters and a dark environment.
Unfortunately, the translators stopped a few years back and no english volume has been release in some time. Fortunately, the french version of the series had been completely serialized in France so I was able to grab copies and read the ending finally. Although I can read french this is the one downfall for those that cannot...
If you can muster the first chapter, you're in for a treat. This is just one of the novels where you need to fully pay attention to each sentence.
Do I recommend it:
YES!!!
Eiji Otsuka's MPD Psycho is one of the most brutally bloodiest, psychologically dark, mind fucked mangas I have ever read. The complex array of socially dysfunctional psychopaths committing brutally creative, straightforward morbid homicides borderline erotic and disturbing at times left on mark on me while reading this series for nearly 5 years.
The art fresh with simple clean lines, macabre to say the least, hypnotized me with detailed expressions and backgrounds. That said, the illustrator kept most of the cast true to the Japanese background, a rare feat in today's mangas.
The plot felt realistic to a certain degree when excluding the Lucy Monostone ensemble (especially in the finale). There isn't much comedy as it is very dry, with no useless characters and a dark environment.
Unfortunately, the translators stopped a few years back and no english volume has been release in some time. Fortunately, the french version of the series had been completely serialized in France so I was able to grab copies and read the ending finally. Although I can read french this is the one downfall for those that cannot...
If you can muster the first chapter, you're in for a treat. This is just one of the novels where you need to fully pay attention to each sentence.
Do I recommend it:
YES!!!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews