Manga/anime is a huge part of my life!
I’ve been watching anime since I was a little boy, back when Robotech first hit our screens…back then I had no idea what anime even was or where it came from…all I did know is that it was bloody awesome.
Manga/anime for those of you who don’t know are Japanese cartoons, which evolved in Japan since…well pretty much since the Americans invaded their island home…and thus instilling the original Disney style drawings into their earlier cartoon artwork.
The latest manga that has grabbed my attention is called Shamo…and let me tell you it’s not for the faint of heart.
First off let me warn you that this is a seinen manga, meaning that this is for mature readers only.
Shamo is the story of a young, rather disturbed boy named Ryo Narushima!
Ryo comes from a wealthy family and is one of the highest achievers at his Ivy league school…the problem is Ryo can’t take the pressure and he feels as if his parents are smothering him and judging him to the point of mental breakdown…which is pretty much what happens, he has a mental breakdown that takes the form of the violent assault of his parents.
Both his mother and father die in his vicious attack, he only spares the life of his younger sister who can’t believe what has happened.
Ryo Narushima is then arrested and thrown in a seriously hardcore youth jail, where even the violent young men who live there are disgusted by Ryo’s actions.
Life in the youth prison is not easy as he is small and timid compared to the dangerous boys around him who beat him to a pulp and abuse him on a regular basis.
Because Ryo is a junior offender the youth prison can only hold him until his 18th birthday, where after he is released back into society…it’s kind of a loop hole in the Japanese penal system.
Ryo has to now survive two years in the jail with 99% of the inmates wanting him dead.
The only way for him to make it out alive is to become stronger and more deadly than the other boys, he finds his only chance to survive in the form of a mysterious martial arts instructor who takes the youths for karate lessons intended to teach them discipline.
But for Ryo this man is more than an instructor, he is a small glimmering hope in a vast sea of darkness.
Shamo is an interesting, extremely hard hitting manga about shattered youth and the ultimate fight for one sown personality.
Ryo Narushima is NOT a nice person, he’s a murderer and obviously twisted to the core…but he is an antihero supreme….we love to hate this character and we often find ourselves rooting for him.
How can you care for somebody as evil as Ryo, shouldn’t we want the other prisoners to get their hands on him?
Shamo makes your mind move in mysterious ways and challenge everything you consider “normal” or “right”.
Is Ryo a random case of insanity, does he have a chemical imbalance? Is he a product of society?
Earlier I mentioned that Shamo is for mature readers only, it has violence, swearing and the odd bit of sex thrown in…but, all of this doesn’t serve to heighten the depravity of the story, rather to enhance the realism of the plot and deepen the characters of Shamo.
Another cool thing about Shamo is that the artwork is all top notch and brilliantly composed.
If you are up for reading Shamo CLICK HERE.
Duncs.
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