オールドボーイ

OLD BOY

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
8
RELEASE
January 1, 1998
CHAPTERS
80

DESCRIPTION

Ten years ago, they took him in. He doesn't even know who. And for ten years, he has been confined in a private prison. He doesn't know why. For ten years, his only contact with the outside world has been a television set and the voices of his jail mates. In time, he lost himself. He changed...transformed himself into something else...something hard...something lethal. Suddenly, one day his incarceration ends, again without explanation. He is sedated, stuffed inside a trunk, and dumped in a park. When he awakes, he is free to reclaim what's left of his life...and what's left is revenge.

(Source: Dark Horse)

Includes an epilogue in the final volume.

CAST

Shinichi Gotou
Takaaki Kakinuma
Tsukamoto
Kurata Kyoko
Yamashiro
Saijo
Eri
Kawabe
Kashima
Suzanne Hirose
Hirado
Kataoka Kyoko
Nambu
Mitsuko

CHAPTERS

REVIEWS

serime
60/100
A good premise, that ultimately stumbles on the "trying to be psychologically deep", failing miserably
I like to keep my reviews spoiler-free, and this is no exception, even though it's gonna be hard, if not for one thing: the main issue I have with this piece of media is the ending.

Story: 4/10

To sum it up, the story revolves around a man called Shinichi Gotou, who wakes up one day only to find himself imprisoned - he doesn't know why, he doesn't know who did it, he doesn't know what's going on. After 10 years he gets released, and that's where the story unfolds from: he obviously wants answers.

You, as a reader, might be intrigued already, or at least I was; it could be anything and anyone - who is this Shinichi? Did he make someone angry? What kind of life did he lead? Blah blah, brain doing its thing.
And so here it goes, Shinichi's journey to find the man or the woman who did this to him.

Friends and foes, new and old will surface and slowly but surely give a hint here, a suggestion there, and the puzzle steadily completes itself, one piece at the time.. or that's what I'd like to say.
First of all, there's a gigantic buildup to the "reason" for why he was jailed for ten years; me, as a reader, I kept expecting the worst and when it gets revealed.. it's weird, it's basically what you already knew. The villain's feelings are pretty clear from a certain point onward and there's really no much you could add when they personally explain themselves. They try to tell you how important small things can change a life, but it's such a stupid and unrealistic example that it's barely understandable.

But, you'll be wondering, at least the ending gives some clarity, right? Not even, everything is left on a cliffhanger. Without spoiling, let's say that Shinichi is and always will be haunted by things, and he won't be able to ever get rid of them, living in constant anxiety and fear. I get that this was the writer's intention, to make you feel never at ease, not ever at the end of the story, but considering what our main character went through, this is the opposite of satisfactory.

Characters: 7/10

The characters weren't badly written, but so many of them are half-developed, and so many completely forgotten instead of bringing them back when things started to get stale and boring.

Art style: 7.5/10

Maybe a tad too focused on trying to look like Urasawa, but it's not bad by any means. The characters' expressions are really nice and you can clearly feel what the author is trying to convey in most of the places, be it rage, happiness or discomfort.

Conclusion: 6/10

In the end, this felt like a completely wasted opportunity. It starts out unbelievably strong, uses as many plot twists as it can and by the time you're at the end they've used up all of their shots, and it feels like a completely different piece of work than the start. But even without plot twists, I am of the idea that one or two more chapters, carefully unveiling the story with more appropriate ways, and this could've been a strong 8/10. Maybe I didn't understand shit, and a future rereading will open up my eyes. For now, this is a read I'd recommend only if you're bored but don't wanna commit to anything long, as this is pretty short anyway: the first 2/3 are good, really nice actually, the end is just a confusing mess.
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