Thoughts about "Shishou Series" manga.

(Originally posted on Twitter)

Around 2-3 days ago, out of boredom while waiting for something, I randomly picked up Shishou Series manga volume 1 from my bookshelf and started to lightly re-read it. Skimming. I dunno what exactly spurred me to do it initially lmao.

Perhaps it's partly due to Phenomeno's influence too, who knows. But as it went on, I got...addicted, you can say. I continued to volume 2 all the way to volume 7 (last) in the span of 2-3 days. It's clear how much I enjoyed it to keep going like that.

It's been a few years, so my memory of the details are vague, enabling me to enjoy it again. Some things I previously didn't notice also became apparent. Partly because I'm older now and that I binge read it instead of waiting for months like before.

There are certain subtleties in the stories that can be hard to grasp. When I finally grasp it, it feels like reaching an enlightenment after all of these years.

I went: damn, whoa, holy shit, almost mindblown. It changes my views and feelings. It's beyond words.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is, this manga is fucking amazing lmao. And I'm sure the original novel is even better. I've always loved it, but now that I understand more, it's even more amazing. It's also inspiring, as I want to try writing something like it.

I want to talk about the things I just noticed, but first of all, I want to talk about its charm.

First, the chapter "Fly". I remember, when I initially read it back then, I didn't understand, saying "what the fuck is this lmao" and tossed it aside, but now that I'm older, I finally understand it. It's still quite absurd, but I finally get what is it about. What is it trying to say.

There's other things, but what strikes me the most is: life and death. The border of life and death. The border between this side and the other side. The protagonist was afraid and couldn't take a step forward to that other side while Shishou was stepping there already. That might make Shishou sad because he realized he's all alone, and will always be.

Upon realizing this, my mind exploded.

Holy shit. What an amazing way to say it! Quite subtle, melancholic, and profound. Beautiful. I love it.

I won't ramble in detail because this is too long already lmao but I only understand it now because, although I've always been interested in such things, only quite recently do I actually explore them thanks to flamedoc - gambling of one's life, between life and death...

Plus, there's also Phenomeno, notifying me even further about "this side and the other side". I only just get the implications after I got enlightened, in a way.

But the presentation in Shishou Series was more beautiful than anything else I've ever seen, it's beyond words.

Moving on before that gets too long lmao.

Second, some events on later chapters were actually already hinted in previous chapters. In the chapter "Pursuit", protagonist and Shishou's girlfriend (Ariku) seek out the missing Shishou, with a book written by Ariku 2 years ago serving as their guide.

Ariku has mysterious powers and sharp instincts, sometimes she can even she the future, and that book contains the future events that she foresaw 2 years prior in short stories. The story about Shishou's disappearance is the title of the book "Pursuit".

Only snippets of 2 other stories were shown, "Dream" and "Ningen Modoki". These snippets seem like harmless, passing absurd stories inside a story at first, until the next volumes and chapters came out, revealing that they're too, future events.

And both the protagonist and Ariku don't remember them when they happened in reality.

Or, well, "Dream" did actually happen inside a dream, but holy shit was it so damn scary and disturbing. I'd say it's forgivable if you miss the connection between "Dream" and the chapter "Sumaki Story" when it happened, because there's some additions not in the snippet, and because it's a manga, it's presented in a different way.

"Ningen Modoki" and "4 Faces" however, are not subtle at all, though it only became clear at the end. It sent shivers down my spine.

By the way, "Ningen Modoki" is more or less like fake human/philosophical zombie/swampman. Humans that look like humans but are not actually humans somehow.