27/07/2020: Depressing Manga To Make You Sad

Sometimes, regardless of whether you're already in a bad mood and want to wallow in self-pity or if you're in a good mood and want to spoil your day, you might want to consume some depressing media.

1) Goodnight Punpun (Inio Asano)

A coming of age story that follows Punpun from a kid to a young adult. The strange thing is that Punpun is depicted as a bird-like creature although everyone else is shown as normal people. Anyway, besides that it's a standard story but it's very realistic and explores many aspects of the human condition, including sex, depression and other unpleasant things. It's a very good story and I heartily recommend it.

2) Bokutachi ga Yarimashita (Akeji Fujimura, Muneyuki Kaneshiro)

Three boys and their older friend lead a contented existence until some boys beat one of them up. They plot their revenge but it gets out of hand and it's a struggle to conceal their act. Very tense but it's more about the crushing guilt of your actions and how they mess with your life, almost like a modern "Crime and Punishment" (although there's a manga adaptation of that, too!). I found the ending particularly depressing. That last chapter really f***ed me up sooooooo bad!

3) Himizu (Furuya Minoru)

A middle-schooler is abandoned by his parents and has to live at a boat rental shop. He resolves to lead a good life and become a good person but things keep falling in his way. There's a very compelling romance with a girl who comes into his life and he has a close relationship with his friends but the manga also just beats down the main character (and with him, you readers) at every turn until there is no hope left. Although it's depressing, the ending really stays with you forever and teaches an important lesson (at least, depending on how you interpret it). It's a really, really, really impactful final frame.

4) Homunculus (Hideo Yamamoto)

A homeless man gets his head drilled open as an experiment subject for a young doctor. He ends up seeing peoples' homunculii, which are their manifested inner demons. It's not scary, but the chapters explore various characters' insecurities or fear or guilt which is a good way to tell a lot of depressing stories. Quite a good examination of human character and it's a very compelling read.

5) Ichi the Killer (Hideo Yamamoto) (EXTREME SEX AND VIOLENCE - WARNING!!!)

Ichi is a special master karate assassin who can kill people with his deadly kicks and he wears a motorcycle suit (with his signature "1") and his metal boots with blades to enhance his killing power. The thing is, he's actually a very gentle person and normally can't even stand up for himself. It's only when he's pushed to enter his "killing mode" that he begins bawling like an infant and butchers his opponents and anybody unfortunate enough to get caught in the middle. The action is truthfully very good and you get to see the action in all its gory glory - and it's not just done for shock value because it really is a work of art. However, this series makes the list because the violence is depressing since it occurs to characters you grow to like (and it's usually quite horrific like castration or mutilation) but the story really focuses on the blackness of the human soul and how people are terrible.

I don't think depressing manga should only be read if you want to be put in a bad mood. In fact, they might even help you feel better since they tackle subject matter that might be relatable or relevant to you. They're good ways to examine such topics and help you go through certain things in your own life. Even if you're not using them that way, these stories are usually quite unique and worth experiencing as a kind of art, just like any other kind of manga.